Amazon is planning to close some Amazon Fresh supermarkets and Amazon Go convenience stores, reports CNBC. The retailer notes it is rethinking its grocery strategy and looks to cut costs.
“We’re continuously refining our store formats to find the ones that will resonate with customers, will build our grocery brand, and will allow us to scale meaningfully over time,” Brian Olsavsky, Amazon’s finance chief, said during the company’s fourth-quarter earnings call, Thursday. He noted that the company, “decided to exit certain stores with low-growth potential.”
Additionally, the company will halt the expansion of Amazon Fresh until it finds a format that differentiates it.
“We’re optimistic that we’re going to find that in 2023,” said Amazon CEO Andy Jassy. “We’re working hard at it. We see some encouraging signs, and when we do find that equation, we will expand it more expansively.”
The retailer currently operates 44 Amazon Fresh locations and 28 Amazon Go convenience stores.
The news comes in the wake of the company laying off 18,000 of its global workforce, which concentrated on those who work for the main online site and field operations, warehouses, physical stores, and consumer-related teams. Earlier this week, Amazon also increased Amazon Fresh delivery fees. Full Story
Related: Amazon to Layoff 18,000; Amazon Fresh to Modify Delivery Fee Threshold