Amazon Presses Pause Button on Groceries and C-Stores

The top executive at online retailing giant Amazon (Seattle) has revealed plans to close some Amazon Fresh grocery and Amazon Go convenience stores, and pause any new openings, Business Insider reports.

CEO Andy Jassy made those disclosures in the company’s fourth-quarter earnings call. The company would not name the number or locations of the stores being shuttered.

Despite the closings and pause, Jassy said Amazon will press ahead with its food-related, bricks-and-mortar offerings.

“We’re not going to expand the physical Fresh doors until we have that equation with differentiation and economic value that we like, but we’re optimistic that we’re going to find that in 2023,” he said. “When we do find that equation, we will expand it more expansively. But I think that we have a very significant opportunity in the grocery segment.”

Some analysts remain skeptical.

For example, the Managing Director of GlobalData Retail told BI that Amazon’s stores “are solving a problem that doesn’t exist.” Others say Amazon has put too much focus on the technology in its stores, rather than the retail experience.

Read more at Business Insider.