Amazon Shutters All Fresh and Go Stores
Amazon is closing all of its Amazon Fresh and Amazon Go brick-and-mortar stores across the United States. The move marks a retreat from its physical grocery experiment to renew focus on its online delivery business and the expansion of its Whole Foods Market brand. The closures reflect ongoing pressures in the grocery sector and a strategic shift back to the company's e-commerce roots.
- The closures involve all 57 Amazon Fresh and 15 remaining Amazon Go stores across the United States. A limited number of the shuttered locations are expected to be converted into Whole Foods Market stores. - Amazon's foray into physical grocery began with the first Amazon Go store opening to the public in Seattle in January 2018, featuring "Just Walk Out" cashierless technology. The first Amazon Fresh grocery store followed in 2020. - Despite early ambitions to open as many as 3,000 Amazon Go locations by 2021, the concept peaked at 26 stores. - The company's $13.7 billion acquisition of Whole Foods Market in 2017 brought over 400 physical stores into its portfolio and was a significant move into the grocery sector. - Amazon stated the reason for the closures was the failure to create a "truly distinctive customer experience with the right economic model needed for large-scale expansion." - The "Just Walk Out" technology developed for Amazon Go stores has been licensed to over 360 third-party locations, including sports arenas and hospitals. - Looking ahead, Amazon plans to open more than 100 new Whole Foods stores in the coming years and is developing new physical store concepts, including a large supercenter-style retail model. - The company's grocery strategy will now heavily emphasize its online grocery delivery service, which is available in thousands of U.S. cities and towns.
