Amazon Revises Strategy For Physical Grocery Stores

Amazon is winding down 57 Amazon Fresh and 15 Amazon Go stores after failing to create a distinctive physical grocery model since acquiring Whole Foods in 2017. Bloomberg Opinion columnist Beth Kowitt argues Amazon prioritized cost-cutting and centralization over Whole Foods’ in-store expertise, producing only modest average annual sales growth. The company is instead pushing delivery, reporting a 40-fold rise in same-day perishables and testing 30-minute fresh delivery, while planning supercenters and over 100 new Whole Foods locations.