Sprouts Farmers Market delivery and brick-and-mortar outlets to growSprouts Farmers Market delivery and brick-and-mortar outlets to grow

Online and delivery efforts will continue to expand but will not dramatically change Sprouts Farmers Market and its leadership’s outlook on the chain as a growing natural grocery retailer.

In the near future, the Amazon Prime Now partnership will expand to 20 stores by the end of the year. CEO Amin Maredia said that while the program might have been slow to start, delivery service will ramp up quickly and continue into 2018. Over time, the service could become available in 30 percent to 40 percent of Sprouts Farmers Market stores.

Maredia told investors on the Sprouts second-quarter earnings call that the partnership is "very productive; I will leave it at that.”

Yet as the grocery landscape changes and delivery grows, don’t expect big transformation from Sprouts. Maredia said the image of Sprouts as a specialty retailer has shifted as it gains grocery market share and becomes known as a convenient, healthy grocery store that offers a fuller shop. Improved deli and meat departments have been keys to making Sprouts a one-stop shop for customers and increasing sales.

As such efforts increase and brand equity grows, the “opportunity to open more stores has become more and more evident,” Maredia said.

The move to e-commerce might make management smarter about store placement, but it won’t reduce the 1,200-plus stores that leaders believe the chain can reach.

Meanwhile, second-quarter highlights include:

Additionally, the company revised its full-year 2017 outlook.

New guidance includes: