Amazon Go and Fresh stores are closing as Amazon focuses on grocery delivery and Whole Foods

Amazon is rethinking its grocery business, and as part of that, it will close all of its remaining brick-and-mortar Amazon Go and Amazon Fresh stores. The company will convert some locations into Whole Foods Market stores.

« While we have seen encouraging signs in our physical Amazon-branded grocery stores, we have yet to create a truly distinctive customer experience with the right economic model necessary for large-scale expansion, » the company wrote in a blog post. Amazon added that it would help workers at Go and Fresh stores find positions elsewhere within the company.

For now, Amazon is focusing its efforts on grocery delivery, Amazon Now (a 30-minute-or-less delivery option it recently introduced to compete with DoorDash and Instacart) and Whole Foods. It plans to open more than 100 new Whole Foods Market stores over the next few years.

Amazon also says it will introduce new types of physical locations in the coming years. One concept he’s considering is a « supercenter » that would offer a wide selection of Amazon goods, including household items, groceries and « general merchandise. » I don’t know, that just sounds like a supermarket to me.

Meanwhile, the Just Walk Out checkout-free technology that the company rolled out at Go and Fresh stores is still being used at third-party locations, including hospital cafeterias and sports arenas. Amazon has also implemented it in break rooms in dozens of its warehouses to help « employees maximize break time by grabbing food without delay at checkout. » I’m sure it’s definitely not to keep a closer eye on the workers.