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Amazon today revealed plans to close all of its Amazon Fresh grocery stores in the UK, putting up to 250 workers at the retailer at risk. The US-based firm said it plans to shut its 19 Amazon Fresh stores, but is proposing to convert five of these into Whole Foods stores. It said the move is part of a wider overhaul of its UK grocery operations which will shift focus more towards its online business, with bosses saying that it is still ‘deeply invested’ in the UK.
Amazon added that it has now launched a consultation process proposing the closure of the Amazon Fresh UK stores. It is consulting with employees at the sites, which employ around 250 staff. All the branches are in Greater London apart from one in Sevenoaks, Kent. However, it said not all workers are set to be impacted and it plans to offer affected employees new roles in other parts of the business.
Amazon first launched the Fresh brand in 2021, opening its first till-less store in Ealing, with technology that allowed customers to walk out with their shopping without having to use a till. Shoppers used an app to enter the store and were then billed to the platform when they left, with a range of cameras and other technology used to work out which products they purchased. However, the group slowed down significant growth ambitions for the business as shopper demand waned at the end of the coronavirus pandemic.
As part of the proposals, the company is seeking to convert five of the 19 stores to its Whole Foods Market brand, which focuses on organic produce. It said the conversion plans and two further new sites are expected to grow the Whole Foods business to 12 stores by the end of next year. Today, Amazon also said it plans to double the number of Prime subscription members with access to at least three of the retailer’s grocery options, through its partners Morrisons, Iceland, Co-op and Gopuff.
It also said it will introduce fresh groceries including dairy, meat and seafood to Amazon.co.uk from next year. John Boumphrey, country manager for Amazon UK, said: ‘Since 2008, we’ve worked hard to innovate to help our customers save time and money when shopping for groceries and household essentials.
‘We continue to invent and invest to bring more choice and convenience to UK customers, enabling them to shop for a wide range of everyday essentials and groceries with low prices and fast delivery through Amazon.co.uk, Amazon Fresh, and Whole Foods Market stores, alongside our third-party grocery partners, including Morrisons, Co-op, Iceland, and Gopuff.’
Reacting to the news, Steve Dresser, chief executive of consultancy firm Grocery Insight, tweeted: ‘Whilst Amazon Fresh is sad (Waitrose et al may be interested et al) was this ever a workable format? ‘There were huge numbers of closures and churn too. Still felt like tech looking for a problem to solve, until it wasn’t… Sad for the team involved.’
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