Amazon is planning to shut down its physical Amazon Fresh and Amazon Go stores as part of a broader strategy to reshape its grocery business.
This move will allow Amazon to concentrate on expanding its Whole Foods Market and enhance its grocery delivery services.
As per multiple reports, Amazon is closing around 70 of its Fresh and Go stores in the United States.
The company acknowledged that while these stores showed positive results, they didn't deliver a distinctive customer experience and profitable model to grow on a large scale.
Amazons aims to grow its grocery business by opening over 100 new Whole Foods stores, using the well-known brands to better competes with big retailers like Walmart and Kroger as well as with grocery services such as Instacart.
The company said in a statement, noting, “We’re grateful to our team members for their many contributions over the years and are working whenever possible to help them find roles elsewhere in Amazon, including across our vast operations network, as we make this transition."
Reports also revealed that Amazon is experimenting with new types of physical stores including a combined Amazon Grocery and Whole Foods store in IIIinois and building a large store in Chicago suburb modeled after Walmart as parts of its effort to innovate and grow its physical grocery space.
