Amazon is closing down its physical Go and Fresh locations. Sort of. Some of them are becoming Whole Foods Daily Shop outlets.
The e-tail giant turned grocery chain said it plans to step away from Amazon-branded physical locations in order to focus on the online Amazon Fresh grocery business. More folks will have access to same-day delivery for groceries and household essentials as a result of the change in tack.
The loss of the Amazon Go stores is notable as they pioneered some pretty neat technology. Users were able to just grab and go from the shelves. The Walk Out tech included an entirely checkout-free solution that Amazon launched in five countries.
Amazon said it hasn’t seen enough positive signs to adopt “large-scale expansion” of its Fresh and Go locations, but isn’t backing away from physical branded locations entirely, just away from the high street it has worked to decimate over the last quarter of a century.
Also by turning some of the current locations into Whole Foods, the company will benefit from the greater brand affinity. Sometimes I forget to join the dots between Jeff Bezos and Whole Foods.
“Over the coming years, we plan to introduce new store concepts that we think customers will be excited about,” the company said in a blog post today.
“For example, we are exploring a new super centre physical retail concept designed for customers to conveniently shop Amazon’s broad selection and low prices across fresh groceries, household essentials, and general merchandise. Through it all, our goal remains: to make grocery shopping easier, faster, and more affordable for customers.”
