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  • Have you closed your Amazon Fresh service? Email: Ruth.Stainer@mailonline.co.uk

Amazon has shut down another ‘contactless’ grocery store due to decreasing enthusiasm for this novel ‘Go-Store’.
Walk Out
โ€™ technology.

The Richmond Amazon Fresh outlet was the tech giantโ€™s tenth store in the UK, which made its debut slightly more than three years ago, back in December 2021.

The one that was initially released was
London
In March 2021 at ‘s Ealing Broadway, the distinctive shopping experience aimed to provide customers with a ‘new convenient grocery format’.

When customers enter the store, they scan a smartphone application which ensures they get charged automatically when they exit with their purchases, eliminating the need for a conventional check-out process.

The cutting-edge stores employ ‘Just Walk Out’ camera sensor technology, enabling them to monitor items purchased as customers move through the supermarket.

The early attraction of the new technology led to reports that Amazon was allegedly
plan to launch numerous outlets throughout the United Kingdom
.

However, interest soon waned, leading to the closures of Fresh outlets in Ealing, Wandsworth, and East Sheen during 2023. The latestFresh store opened in West Hampstead inNovember 2024.



Currently, with the closing of the e-commerce leader’s location in Richmond, the total count of Amazon Fresh stores in the UK now stands at only 19 nationwide.

When the Ealing flagship store closed down, Amazon stated that this decision was reached after an evaluation of their ‘range of stores,’ yet they emphasized that this doesn’t imply stagnation, as the company continues to be ‘dedicated to expanding our involvement in groceries.’

Nevertheless, retail analysts informed MailOnline earlier that Amazon was “facing challenges in expanding its presence offline,” with one commenter anticipating additional store closures in the near future.

Jonathon De Mello, the founder and CEO of JDM Retail and an authority on retail and retail properties, informed MailOnline in July 2023 that he was not surprised by the closure of Amazon Fresh stores and predicted that ‘further closings will occur over the coming months’.”

Dr. Mello thought that a mix of ‘ineffective location planning’ and ‘underestimating the power of the local market’ contributed to why Amazon was unable to stay operational.

In the meantime, Robert Carruthers, who serves as the director of research at ConsumerCastโ€”a retail and consumer analysis firmโ€”commented that Amazon has ‘historically faced challenges when dealing with brick-and-mortar establishments.’

Mr. Carruthers additionally thought that the ‘intrusive’ camera monitoring in their shops, along with higher costs, might have discouraged customers from coming back to this distinctive grocery store.

Privacy advocacy organizations such as Big Brother Watch have also voiced concerns about the technologies employed in retail outlets, stating that many aspects remain unclear.

Jake Hurfurt, who leads research and investigations at the organization, stated to MailOnline in 2023: “Amazon Fresh”
provides clients with an all-encompassing surveillance shopping encounter that is now being replicated by rival stores.
.

Free checkout stores depend heavily on advanced AI-driven monitoring and data analysis to track shoppers, yet it frequently remains unclear how these businesses utilize such collected data.

Regarding the shutting down of the Richmond location, an Amazon representative stated
The Grocer
:’ Certain stores perform better than others, and following an evaluation of our offerings, we’ve decided to close our Amazon Fresh location in Richmond.’

‘Customers in the region can
Continue shopping for a broad range of grocery items at Amazon.co.uk/grocery using same-day delivery services, or choose from various Amazon Fresh locations throughout London.

‘We stay dedicated to Amazon Fresh and plan to proceed with our efforts.’
enhance our collection of stores
As we discover which places and characteristics appeal most to our customers.

In 2021, Amazon
It offered its cashless technology to other supermarket chains, with Sainsburyโ€™s launching a ‘contactless’ grocery outlet at their Holborn Circus location.

Yet, only a few weeks ago, it declared that the store would be discontinuing the cashless model in favor of adopting a conventional check-out process.

In the meantime, while major supermarkets like Tesco and Aldi have adoptedcheckout-free grocery stores, some have moved towards whatโ€™s known as ‘hybrid models.’
include both self-checkout stations as well as traditional checkout options
.

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