Amazon is to permanently close 14 of its high street food stores but says it remains committed to the UK food sector and will be boosting its online offering.
The stores trade under the Amazon Fresh brand and use advance camera technology and apps to allow customers to shop without scanning individual items or queuing to pay.
Five of the stores set to be closed will be converted to Amazon’s Whole Foods Market brand.
Amazon says it will be expanding its online grocery shopping service including by offering Same-Day Delivery for perishable items, a service it recently launched in the US and will bring to the UK next year.
In addition to its own grocery service, Amazon enables customers to to shop with Morrisons, Iceland, Co-op, and Gopuff direct from its own website and has set a goal to “more than double” the number of customers who have access to three or more such options.
“Since 2008, we’ve worked hard to innovate to help our customers save time and money when shopping for groceries and household essentials,” said John Boumphrey, Country Manager, Amazon UK.
“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.”