Amazon's attempts to unite brick-and-mortar grocery with its hulking e-commerce operation might have struck fear into the industry when it announced its acquisition of Whole Foods five years ago Thursday, but it has been a bit of a shaky marriage so far. Since that 2017 buy — and amid redoubled attempts at securing an omnichannel grocery foothold with newer brand Amazon Fresh — the company is learning the hard way that chucking a package of toilet paper onto a stoop is far easier than delivering an insulated bag of raw chicken and fragile produce, and that building customer loyalty can’t be solved with technology and its name alone. 
Amazon is throwing everything it has at the stable, lucrative grocery market, according to retail analysts. But as Amazon Fresh stores open more slowly than expected and Whole Foods struggles to find its post-acquisition footing, the company might need to put in a lot more legwork to land a permanent…  Read the full story here. | 
