Amazon.com Inc. single-handedly sent grocery company stocks tumbling in June when it made the surprise announcement that it would be acquiring Whole Foods Market Inc. for $13.7 billion. Now, after receiving approval from the Federal Trade Commission for the deal on Wednesday, that merger will be done come Monday.

According to Amazon, Whole Foods customers will already see some major changes taking effect on Monday, as the company plans to slash prices on a number of products immediately. Amazon will also begin selling several of Whole Foods’ store brands through Amazon.com, Prime Now and Prime Pantry, and it will begin installing Amazon delivery lockers at select Whole Foods locations.

“We’re determined to make healthy and organic food affordable for everyone,” said Jeff Wilke, chief executive of Amazon’s Worldwide Consumer business. “Everybody should be able to eat Whole Foods Market quality – we will lower prices without compromising Whole Foods Market’s long-held commitment to the highest standards.”

To start with, he added, “we’re going to lower prices beginning Monday on a selection of best-selling grocery staples, including Whole Trade organic bananas, responsibly farmed salmon, organic large brown eggs, animal-welfare-rated 85 percent lean ground beef, and more.”

Wilke added that reduced prices are only the beginning for Whole Foods, as Amazon also plans to replace the grocery chain’s rewards program with Amazon Prime once it can be integrated with Whole Foods’ point-of-sale system. After the technical challenges are ironed out, Prime members will gain access to exclusive discounts and in-store benefits, which Amazon plans to reveal in the near future.

“It’s been our mission for 39 years at Whole Foods Market to bring the highest quality food to our customers,” said John Mackey, Whole Foods Market co-founder and CEO. “By working together with Amazon and integrating in several key areas, we can lower prices and double down on that mission and reach more people with Whole Foods Market’s high-quality, natural and organic food.”

Whole Foods, sometimes called “Whole Paycheck,” has a reputation for premium prices that turn off many consumers, so Amazon’s new discounts could broaden the grocery chain’s customer base. Offering Prime discounts could also win more customers over to Whole Foods.

But perhaps most important, Amazon gets something else out of the deal: user shopping data. Once Amazon can integrate Prime into Whole Foods’ sales system, users will likely need to sign into their Prime account at the register during checkout, which means that Amazon will gain access to their purchase data every time they visit the store. Amazon could use this data for a wide variety of purposes, including targeted advertising, supply logistics and product pricing.

Photo: Whole Foods