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Amazon is exerting more control over Whole Foods Market, largely ending the independence the grocery chain had retained since being acquired eight years ago.

In a June 9 email to customers, a representative said the company is “working toward the goal of returning to full operational capacity by” June 15 or sooner and apologized for any disruption.

United Natural Foods has taken some of its systems offline while it investigates “unauthorized activity” with outside cybersecurity help.

Buechel, a former management consultant, joined Whole Foods in 2013, and led efforts to unify the formerly decentralized chain’s technology and record-keeping systems.

Amazon .com Inc. is tacking on a delivery fee for Prime members who shop at Whole Foods Market in several U.S. cities, an indication that the economics of grocery delivery continue to pose a challenge for even the world’s largest online retailer.

NEW YORK — Amazon is rolling out pay-by-palm technology at some Whole Foods grocery stores near its Seattle headquarters to make paying quicker and more convenient.

Whole Foods Market on Sept. 1 opened a location in Brooklyn that it’s calling a store — except shoppers won’t be welcome to walk the aisles.

Amazon is soft-launching a new supermarket Aug. 27, with a shopping cart that tallies up items as it enters the basket and enables instant checkout, and Alexa stations throughout the store that can answer questions.

When Amazon.com’s $13.7 billion bid to buy Whole Foods was announced, John Mackey, the grocer’s CEO, addressed employees, gushing about Amazon’s technological innovation.