Amazon is halting the expansion of its cashless Fresh supermarkets in the UK. The sales figures are disappointing and the costs are too high. That is a serious streak through the account of the American retail giant.
Dozens of negotiations suspended
The British rollout of supermarket chain Amazon Fresh is halted. Amazon opened its first store in March 2021, combining a traditional supermarket with the cashless ‘just walkout’ technology that Amazon Go pioneered. There are no cash registers, the products that customers take with them are automatically recognized and settled via the Amazon app.
Originally, there would be hundreds of similar stores in the UK, but after just nineteen branches, those ambitions are already falling into the water. Amazon is said to have stopped negotiations on dozens of new properties and abandoned the search for more locations, the Sunday Times newspaper reports. Only where rental contracts have already been signed Will there be new branches.
Can not compete
Sales in the cashless supermarkets would remain below expectations and the cost of the high-tech infrastructure too high to compete with other convenience stores. The current uncertain economic climate is certainly not helping: British consumers are hit hard in their pockets by double-digit inflation and very strong increases in food prices. In addition, there would be a reorganization on the management level and, according to Business Insider, tensions are rising with Whole Foods, the organic chain that Amazon acquired in 2017.
Amazon is “looking forward to opening additional Amazon Fresh stores in the near future,” a spokeswoman told The Sunday Times. The plans would be re-evaluated in a good year and a half. However, it means that Amazon is largely giving up the United Kingdom: a few months ago, the e-commerce giant announced that it would close all of its 4 online and book stores, some of which are also in the UK.
