Amazon news

Amazon is to close eight of its Amazon Go stores, with locations in Seattle, San Francisco and New York shuttering. This will leave chain with 21 stores. We look at why these closures are being undertaken and if it’s a signal of any larger changes underway within the retailer’s physical stores business. Amazon threw down the autonomous store challenge Amazon Go launched in Seattle in 201...

In an interview with the Financial Times, Amazon CEO Andy Jassy has extinguished rumours that Amazon’s grocery store business has been put on hold long-term. Contrarily, the tech giant hopes to “go big” on bricks-and-mortar stores later this year. The pandemic led to setbacks Many of Amazon’s grocery stores opened during the pandemic and a “lack of normalcy” during these times caused severa...

It’s almost five years since the first Amazon Go store opened in Seattle in 2018. We recently visited the first store to launch in San Francisco later that year to see how the format has evolved. Chain has grown to 28 stores The Amazon Go chain stands at 28 stores, spread across Seattle, San Francisco, Chicago, New York and Los Angeles. In the latter it has focused on a suburban version of ...

We review Amazon’s fourth quarter and full year results and pick out six things shaping its medium-term strategy. Q4 and full year key numbers Q4 total revenue up 9% to $149.2 bn, with full year up 9% to $514 bn North America segment increased 13% to $93.4 bn in Q4 and 13% to $315.9 bn for 2022 International segment decreased 8% to $34.5 billion in Q4 and a -8% (to $118 bn) for...

On 24 January, Amazon opened an new format Amazon Fresh store in Croydon and on 26th January, it opened another new format Amazon Fresh store in Monument, London. During the same week, Amazon permanently closed its Amazon Fresh store in Dalston, London after 18 months of operating. The new format Amazon has introduced a hybrid checkout experience at the two new stores in London. Unlike t...

The cost-of-living crisis has affected shoppers from all walks of life, with many trading down and making more cost-conscious decisions as 2022 has progressed and budgets got tighter. Amazon Fresh has seen double digit growth year on year across tinned meats, fruits and vegetables as shoppers’ budgets are stretched by the cost-of-living crisis. Tinned ready meal usage also rose as shoppers r...

Short-form user-generated video is the content of the moment. Retailers and social platforms are investing to be in this space. Amazon is the latest to make a move, taking on TikTok with its new Inspire programme. What does this mean for the retailer and can it work for grocery? Personalised content feed Amazon Inspire is a new in-app shopping feed that provides uses with customised shoppab...

We review Amazon’s third quarter results and the outlook for the year ahead. Q3 key numbers Total net sales increased 15% year-on-year (YoY) to $127.1bn North America segment sales increased 20% to $78.8bn International segment sales decreased 5% to $27.7bn, but increased 12% excluding changes in foreign exchange rates Operating income fell from $4.9bn to $2.5bn year-on-year ...

The checkout area continues to a focal point for new innovations and pilots. We look at the latest partnership between Standard AI and Compass Group, and round-up some of the other key developments in this space. Targeting the educational sector Standard AI is one of the leading tech-firms driving the development of checkout-free concepts globally. Its autonomous solution can be deployed in...

Amazon has halted the roll-out of its Amazon Fresh stores in the UK, as reported by The Sunday Times. Lower than expected sales Amazon has reportedly paused the expansion of the Fresh stores due to sales being lower than anticipated and the weaking economic environment. Amazon opened its first Fresh convenience store in March 2021 in Ealing. It has since opened 18 more stores. 18 of thes...