AUSTIN, TX – A new Whole Foods pilot program is cutting produce prices in its Austin stores.

The Austin American-Statesman reports that the retailer has cut prices on all produce products in its five Austin stores.  That is approximately 400 items.  Executives tell the Statesman that the company also plans deeper discounts in about a dozen special deals each week.

This price cut comes after Whole Foods’ announcement that it will be adopting a customer loyalty rewards program by the end of 2015, a move that surprised many with the retailer’s three decade resistance to adopting such a program.

Bloomberg suggested that rising competition from other retailers like Wal-Mart and Kroger, which are increasing their natural foods categories, has pushed Whole Foods to look at new strategies.

The Austin Business Journal reports that this move is part of an investor-driven emphasis to find ways to boost same-store sales, which have been slipping.

Whole Foods’ stock saw a large decline in the past year, falling from a high of $64.47 on November 6, 2013 down to a low of $36 per share in July, according to the Journal.  As of today at 12:36 p.m. Eastern Time, the stock is at $37.87 per share.

If this new pilot program is successful, it could eventually be expanded to other stores in the chain.  Only time will tell if these new strategies will be successful, but I will definitely be keeping a close eye on this retailer.

Stay tuned to AndNowUKnow for future updates on Whole Foods and the retail industry as a whole.

Whole Foods