The Gist: Whole Foods Market has not experienced a change in favorability since it was purchased by Amazon in June of last year. With the lower prices and special sales the acquisition brought to the grocer, is this a red flag?

After hearing about empty shelves at Whole Foods reported by Business Insider last week, we looked for any changes in the grocer’s favorability. Many, including employees, are calling the lack of inventory out on the floor a big issue for both employees and customer satisfaction. And that it just looks sloppy.

However, with empty shelves and all, our data shows that people’s favorability to the brand hasn’t changed as a result as some may suspect.

But what we really noticed was favorability hasn’t changed at all since Amazon took over the grocery retailer. Should it have?

Here is the yearly percentage time view of Whole Foods favorability.

The above chart shows that the brands’ favorability was volatile for a while. Stability was not its strong suit, and now it’s stable. But since  Amazon swooped in last June, a huge effort has been made to bring daily deals and lower house-brand items to Whole Foods shoppers. You’d think it would go from stable and then uptick in favorability, but maybe that’s just us. The needle hasn’t moved much in one direction or another. This could be good or bad news for the brand, depending on how you look at it.

There is a slight uptick in favorability, and with it a decrease in unfavorability, beginning in 2018, but again, it’s slight. That could be an effect of the new year, new you mentality and people shopping for healthier options.

When we looked at our question tracking just how often consumers shop at Whole Foods, there is absolutely no change in frequency, lower prices and all.

The main takeaway, though? There are two: Whole Foods’ favorability hasn’t changed for the worse from its current empty shelves debacle, but it has remained flat since its Amazon acquisition. 

Has Amazon bitten off more than it can chew with this acquisition, or has it simply not taken off quite yet? We’ll let you know if and when this changes.