SEATTLE, WA – Reports have surfaced that Amazon is consolidating its AmazonFresh and Amazon Prime Now divisions, streamlining its fresh food delivery operations in an effort to perhaps better accommodate Whole Foods Market and improve delivery experience through the recently-acquired brick-and-mortar retailer.

According to Yahoo! Finance, AmazonFresh’s $14.99 a month grocery delivery service and Prime Now’s free two-hour delivery service to Prime members will now be combined under a single rubric—which, the news source speculates, may help Whole Foods improve delivery experience.

News of the merger follows just weeks after Amazon announced plans to launch same-day grocery delivery at select Whole Foods locations. And the company made several moves to consolidate its leadership model over the course of the last year.

As we reported earlier this week, in connection with this consolidation effort, the company is currently laying off “several hundred employees” at Amazon’s Seattle, Washington-headquarters.

“As part of our annual planning process, we are making head count adjustments across the company—small reductions in a couple of places and aggressive hiring in many others,” an unnamed spokesman told The Seattle Times. “For affected employees, we work to find roles in the areas where we are hiring.”

How will the consolidation of these two business units play out, and will the synergies involved give Whole Foods an additional edge in the competitive grocery market? AndNowUKnow will continue to report.

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