Amazon and Whole Foods have a fairly cohesive relationship: You can pick up and drop off your Amazon purchases at most Whole Foods locations, and you can order from Whole Foods from your Amazon account, but can you use Amazon gift cards at Whole Foods?
Can You Use Amazon Gift Cards at Whole Foods?
You cannot use Amazon gift cards at Whole Foods, whether it is an online purchase or in-store. Even though Amazon technically owns Whole Foods, Amazon gift cards are not a valid form of payment for any Whole Foods order.
In this article, we are going to break down Amazon’s gift cards and find out where you can and cannot use them, as well as whether or not you can use a Whole Foods gift card on Amazon.
Can You Use Amazon Gift Cards at Whole Foods Online?
Unfortunately, you cannot use Amazon gift cards at Whole Foods online.
Many consumers are confused by the fact that Amazon not only owns Whole Foods but that the two businesses seem to work in conjunction without allowing payments to either brand with the other’s gift cards.
But that’s just how it is! Even though you can buy an Amazon gift card at Whole Foods, you will not be able to use it there.
An important fact to understand is that you can use an Amazon gift card to order with Amazon Whole Foods Market, their grocery delivery system, for purchases from Whole Foods!
Can You Use Amazon Gift Cards at Other Food Stores?
The Amazon gift card can buy you a variety of items on the Amazon site, app, or in-person stores. However, you cannot use an Amazon gift card at any other food store.
Apart from using your Amazon gift card with Amazon, you can also use it at any online retailer that accepts Amazon Pay. It is a fairly new feature, but there are already quite a few companies jumping on board.
Recently, some online apps such as Doordash and UberEatshave started offering Amazon Pay, so if you’re hungry and only have an Amazon gift card, you can order food through these companies to be delivered to your door!
Why Can’t You Use Amazon Gift Cards at Whole Foods Stores?
Amazon doesn’t seem to give a clear-cut answer as to why you can’t use your Amazon gift card at their affiliate Whole Foods stores.
From what we can tell, Amazon wants to keep the purchasing separate between the two, even though they work in conjunction to offer Amazon Whole Foods Market, and you can purchase a gift card from each company at the other one.
Can You Use Whole Foods Gift Cards on Amazon?
Once again, you cannot use Whole Foods gift cards on Amazon, as the two companies are keeping their finances separate.
Even more surprising, you can’t even use a Whole Foods gift card for online purchases, i.e., on Amazon Whole Foods Market.
You can only use a Whole Foods gift card in a physical Whole Foods store.
Benefits From Amazon Prime at Whole Foods
One of the reasons why most people are so confused by the seemingly two separate businesses is that you can actually get benefits at Whole Foods by having an Amazon Prime membership.
If you are an Amazon Prime member and want to take advantage of the benefits Whole Foods offers, here’s what you need to know:
- If an item in Whole Foods has a yellow sticker, it means it is 10% off for Prime members.
- You can shop on Amazon for items from Whole Foods and have them delivered within two hours.
- You can download the Whole Foods Market app on your phone, sign in to your Amazon account, and use Alexa to help you find deals and place an order.
Although it can be annoying that you cannot use your Amazon gift card at Whole Foods, at least you can get discounts by being a Prime member!
Conclusion
Even though Amazon technically owns Whole Foods, Amazon gift cards are not a valid form of payment for any Whole Foods order, either in person or online. No matter the situation, you cannot use Amazon gift cards to purchase anything from Whole Foods.