Strategy: I visited Whole Foods on the day it was acquired by Amazon — and it's clear it'll never be the same (AMZN)

Amazon now officially owns Whole Foods — and the grocery chain is already transforming.

Amazon now officially owns Whole Foods — and the grocery chain is already transforming.

On Monday, Amazon's $13.7 billion acquisition of Whole Foods formally went through.

It was immediately clear that this wasn't a gradual transfer of power and slow evolution. Instead, overnight, Whole Foods slashed prices. The price of grass-fed ground beef dropped to $6.99 a pound from $10.99, bananas went from 79 cents to just 49 cents.

Amazon and Whole Foods announced plans to cut prices last Thursday, but didn't get into the nitty gritty of how the experience of shopping at the grocery chain would change.

So, on Monday, Business Insider visited a Whole Foods in Brooklyn, New York to see exactly how Amazon's acquisition was immediately impacting the grocery chain.

The Whole Foods location, which opened in 2013, looked unchanged when I showed up at 7:59 a.m., prior to its 8 a.m. opening.

However, the moment I entered the store it was clear that Amazon had taken over.

Nestled next to the local veggies was a "pick of the season" of a different kind: the Amazon Echo and Echo Dot. According to Amazon, the popular voice controlled speaker system will be available at select Whole Foods locations.

Amazon's logo wasn't limited to the Echo.

Every item that had its price slashed on Monday was accompanied by a sign that read "New Lower Price," with the tag "Whole Foods Amazon."

It seemed like the signs where everywhere. The entire leafy greens shelf was covered in orange tags, and "low prices, great quality" signs hung from the ceiling across the store.

Amazon isn't solely responsible for Whole Foods' game plan to win over budget shoppers. The grocery chain has been trying to ditch its expensive "whole paycheck" reputation for a while.

Last year, for example, Whole Foods began stamping paper shopping bags with the tagline "great everyday low prices" — a slogan that seems to draw some inspiration from Walmart's famous "everyday low prices" motto.

However, post-acquisition, Whole Foods is putting budget shoppers front and center. And, it's also putting Amazon in the spotlight — both in its signage and in the form of the Amazon Echo.

Whole Foods hasn't done much to advertise the acquisition, with zero posts Monday about the price cuts on Facebook or Twitter. And, Amazon has emphasized that Whole Foods co-founder John Mackey will stay on as CEO. However, starting Monday, any customer who walks into Whole Foods — or at least this location in Brooklyn — will realize that the retailer is never going to be the same again.

Amazon now officially owns Whole Foods — and the grocery chain is already transforming. Read Full Story