"Amazon launched its first Fresh store in 2021 in Ealing, west London, that allowed customers to walk out with their shopping without having to use a till. Instead, shoppers use an app to enter the store and are charged when they leave, with a range of highly sensitive cameras and sensors used to monitor which products they picked up while in store."
"Amazon is preparing to shut down all of its Amazon Fresh stores in the UK, just four years after the US tech company launched its first grocery shop in London. The company plans to close all 19 Fresh stores, with plans to convert five of these into Whole Foods Market shops, the US organic grocery chain that it bought in 2017."
"However, the concept has struggled as demand for contactless shopping waned at the end of the coronavirus pandemic and Amazon has not been able to pose a serious threat to the likes of Tesco and Sainsbury's. Amazon did not confirm how many staff would be affected by the closures but it said it planned to offer workers new roles in other parts of the business."
Amazon will close all 19 Amazon Fresh stores in the UK and convert five into Whole Foods Market locations. The Fresh concept launched in 2021 in Ealing with a walk-out system using an app and sensitive cameras and sensors to charge shoppers automatically. Demand for contactless shopping declined after the coronavirus pandemic, and Fresh failed to challenge major supermarkets like Tesco and Sainsbury's. Amazon plans to offer affected staff alternative roles within the company. Amazon is shifting grocery strategy toward greater emphasis on Whole Foods and expanding Prime-linked grocery partnerships and online fresh grocery sales.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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