Besides the latest move to close eight Go locations, the company has shuttered book stores and novelty shops around the country. Since then, the company has launched its own chain of Amazon Fresh supermarkets, arguing that it needed its own distinct format to increase grocery sales.Īmazon’s efforts to crack physical retail have been beset with challenges. The format was a victim of the pandemic because so many people worked from home and still go to the office only a few days a week.Īmazon made its biggest move into physical retail in 2017 with the $13 billion acquisition of Whole Foods Market, which has more than 500 locations. The company unveiled its first cashierless store near its Seattle headquarters in 2016, offering salads, sandwiches and snacks for busy office workers seeking a meal-on-the-run option. “We remain committed to the Amazon Go format, operate more than 20 Amazon Go stores across the US and will continue to learn which locations and features resonate most with customers.” “Like any physical retailer, we periodically assess our portfolio of stores and make optimization decisions along the way,” Amazon spokesperson Jessica Martin said in an emailed statement. Jassy noted that many Fresh locations opened in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic and as such Amazon hasn't 'had a lot of normalcy.The affected stores will remain open until April 1, the company said.

It has closed several of its Fresh supermarkets and put plans to open new ones on hold as it tries to find a format and formula that works. Many of the layoffs Amazon recently announced were in its grocery division. And then, when we find something that we like, doubling down on it, which is what we intend to do.”

We have a history of doing a lot of experimentation and doing it quickly. “We’re hopeful that in 2023, we have a format that we want to go big on, on the physical side. “We’re just still in the early stages,” Jassy told the Financial Times. The company's physical store division accounts for 3.4 percent of overall business and has grown only around 10 percent since the Whole Foods acquisition.

The company intends to “go big” on its brick-and-mortar grocery store business, CEO Andy Jassy told the Financial Times.Īmazon bought Whole Foods in 2017 for $13.7 billion, but the company is far from dominating the grocery market like it has so many other sectors. Despite pumping the brakes on some growth plans and recently saying it would lay off more than 18,000 people, Amazon is still looking to expand its empire.

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