Amazon is closing the individual grocery storefronts it operates for retail partners on Amazon.com, the company told Grocery Dive. The move affects a limited number of jobs, Amazon said, but it did not give a closing date or say how many storefronts are involved.
“We’re simplifying the shopping experience and evolving how we work with our grocery partners across several countries by transitioning from individual grocery partner storefronts to other collaboration opportunities,” the company said.
The partners have included Winn-Dixie, Metropolitan Market and Weis Markets in the US and Morrisons in the UK. Amazon is offering grocers three other kinds of work:
Amazon Lockers and return points inside their stores
Amazon operations co-located at their stores or warehouses
AWS services for ecommerce, supply chain and data analytics
Amazon extended Winn-Dixie delivery to nine Florida metros in April, seven months after launching in two regions. In June, Bashas’ launched Amazon delivery and pickup at four Arizona stores, offering 15,000 items. It was Amazon’s first third-party grocery partner in the state.
The change comes as Amazon expands other grocery services. Its same-day delivery service for fresh groceries reaches more than 2,300 US cities and towns, according to Grocery Dive. Earlier this year, Amazon announced it would close its Amazon Fresh and Amazon Go stores and focus on Whole Foods Market and grocery delivery.
Other platforms are building grocery partnerships. Uber Eats added more than 375 Wakefern supermarkets, including ShopRite and Fairway Market, to its platform in September.
Amazon said it would notify shoppers before the storefront changes take effect.
