For a while, Amazon’s cashierless convenience stores were pitched as the future of grocery shopping. Walk in, grab what you need, walk out, no checkout, no waiting. This week, that experiment quietly came to an end. Amazon has announced it is closing its Amazon Go and Amazon Fresh brick-and-mortar stores, signaling another major shift in how the company approaches physical retail.
The decision reflects a reality Amazon has been inching toward for years: innovation alone doesn’t guarantee scale, and convenience doesn’t always translate into loyalty.
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Amazon confirmed on Tuesday that it will close its Amazon Go and Amazon Fresh locations, affecting about 70 stores across the United States. In a blog post, the company acknowledged that while there were “encouraging signals” inside its branded grocery stores, it failed to build “a truly distinctive customer experience with the right economic model needed for large-scale expansion.”
These closures won’t affect customers who rely on Amazon for grocery delivery. Instead, the company is shifting resources toward expanding same-day grocery delivery and growing its Whole Foods Market footprint, where customer loyalty is already stronger, as per a report by CNN and TechCrunch.
Amazon has steadily reduced its physical retail presence in recent years. When some stores closed in 2024, a company spokesperson admitted Amazon “couldn’t make the economics work with the lease cost,” a challenge that appears to have persisted.
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Amazon Go stores were built to showcase the company’s cashierless Just Walk Out technology, which tracks what customers pick up and automatically charges them. While the technology worked, it didn’t become the draw Amazon expected.
Amazon is now pivoting by offering the technology to third parties, such as concession stands at sports stadiums, rather than using it as the foundation of its own retail brand.
According to Neil Saunders, managing director of GlobalData, the issue wasn’t just technology. Amazon Fresh stores were “too similar” to competitors, and Go’s cashierless model wasn’t something shoppers “really care about,” he said.
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Rather than exiting physical retail entirely, Amazon is consolidating its grocery strategy under the Whole Foods name. Some closed Fresh and Go locations will be converted into Whole Foods Market stores, with about 100 new locations planned in the coming years, as per a report by CNN.
That expansion includes a smaller-format concept called Whole Foods Market Daily Shop. Amazon is also “testing new physical store experiences,” including a store-within-a-store model in Illinois that blends Amazon Grocery and Whole Foods Market.
In a Chicago suburb, the company is building a 229,000-square-foot retail space that resembles a Walmart-style layout, signaling that Amazon is still experimenting, just more cautiously.
Amazon also addressed employees affected by the closures, saying, “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."
Despite the closures, analysts say Amazon’s grocery business is far from failing. Saunders noted that Amazon’s grocery operation is now a $150 billion business with more than 150 million shoppers and continues to gain market share, even against Walmart, as per a report by CNN.
Amazon has tried multiple grocery strategies, including partnerships with local stores, private-label brands like Amazon Grocery and Amazon Saver, and same-day fresh food delivery in more than 2,000 cities. Some efforts caused confusion with separate checkouts and fees, but the company continues to refine its approach.
ALSO READ: Quote of the Day by Fyodor Dostoyevsky: 'The mystery of human existence lies not in…'—Inspiring quotes by one of history's greatest novelists
FAQs
Will Amazon grocery delivery be affected by the closures?
No. Amazon says grocery delivery customers will not be impacted.
Is Amazon abandoning physical grocery stores entirely?
No. Amazon is consolidating under Whole Foods and testing new in-store concepts.
The decision reflects a reality Amazon has been inching toward for years: innovation alone doesn’t guarantee scale, and convenience doesn’t always translate into loyalty.
ALSO READ: Word of the Day: Petrichor
Why is Amazon shutting down Fresh and Go stores?
Amazon confirmed on Tuesday that it will close its Amazon Go and Amazon Fresh locations, affecting about 70 stores across the United States. In a blog post, the company acknowledged that while there were “encouraging signals” inside its branded grocery stores, it failed to build “a truly distinctive customer experience with the right economic model needed for large-scale expansion.”
These closures won’t affect customers who rely on Amazon for grocery delivery. Instead, the company is shifting resources toward expanding same-day grocery delivery and growing its Whole Foods Market footprint, where customer loyalty is already stronger, as per a report by CNN and TechCrunch.
Amazon has steadily reduced its physical retail presence in recent years. When some stores closed in 2024, a company spokesperson admitted Amazon “couldn’t make the economics work with the lease cost,” a challenge that appears to have persisted.
ALSO READ: Word of the day: Clishmaclaver
What happened to Just Walk Out technology?
Amazon Go stores were built to showcase the company’s cashierless Just Walk Out technology, which tracks what customers pick up and automatically charges them. While the technology worked, it didn’t become the draw Amazon expected.
Amazon is now pivoting by offering the technology to third parties, such as concession stands at sports stadiums, rather than using it as the foundation of its own retail brand.
According to Neil Saunders, managing director of GlobalData, the issue wasn’t just technology. Amazon Fresh stores were “too similar” to competitors, and Go’s cashierless model wasn’t something shoppers “really care about,” he said.
ALSO READ: Word of the Day: Kafkaesque
Why is Whole Foods now the centerpiece?
Rather than exiting physical retail entirely, Amazon is consolidating its grocery strategy under the Whole Foods name. Some closed Fresh and Go locations will be converted into Whole Foods Market stores, with about 100 new locations planned in the coming years, as per a report by CNN.
That expansion includes a smaller-format concept called Whole Foods Market Daily Shop. Amazon is also “testing new physical store experiences,” including a store-within-a-store model in Illinois that blends Amazon Grocery and Whole Foods Market.
In a Chicago suburb, the company is building a 229,000-square-foot retail space that resembles a Walmart-style layout, signaling that Amazon is still experimenting, just more cautiously.
Amazon also addressed employees affected by the closures, saying, “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."
Is Amazon struggling in groceries overall?
Despite the closures, analysts say Amazon’s grocery business is far from failing. Saunders noted that Amazon’s grocery operation is now a $150 billion business with more than 150 million shoppers and continues to gain market share, even against Walmart, as per a report by CNN.
Amazon has tried multiple grocery strategies, including partnerships with local stores, private-label brands like Amazon Grocery and Amazon Saver, and same-day fresh food delivery in more than 2,000 cities. Some efforts caused confusion with separate checkouts and fees, but the company continues to refine its approach.
ALSO READ: Quote of the Day by Fyodor Dostoyevsky: 'The mystery of human existence lies not in…'—Inspiring quotes by one of history's greatest novelists
FAQs
Will Amazon grocery delivery be affected by the closures?
No. Amazon says grocery delivery customers will not be impacted.
Is Amazon abandoning physical grocery stores entirely?
No. Amazon is consolidating under Whole Foods and testing new in-store concepts.
