Amazon launches new attack on supermarkets

Amazon is attacking the supermarket landscape with several concepts at the same time: after the growth of home delivery during the corona crisis, the cash-less Amazon Go concept is expanding further, while “regular” supermarkets are also being added.

With or without cash register

Amazon has the wind in its sails during the corona crisis: e-commerce is exploding and the demand for home delivery of food products (AmazonFresh) has also increased significantly in recent months. However, this does not prevent the retail giant from continuing to focus on physical growth, particularly in food retail. The company of the world’s richest man, Jeff Bezos, plans to open at least six more physical supermarkets in the United States in the near future.

Amazon Go’s convenience stores, which mainly focus on a lunch offer for office workers in large cities, have been given a big brother in relative silence: Go Grocery. The first branch has already opened in Washington, and there is one more planned in the region, a spokesperson confirms to Grocery Dive. Striking: not only will the branches be located fairly close to each other, there will also be a Whole Foods supermarket nearby – that other Amazon food chain since 2017.

Amazon is also adding company offices in Washington near the location, so the company can keep a close eye on the store. The investment in Amazon Go is also reflected in the no fewer than 187 vacancies currently open. Today there are 26 Amazon Go stores, which with their non-contact concept are scoring well during the corona crisis.

Traditional or online

Yet Amazon is also focusing on more “traditional” supermarkets: in Chicago and Los Angeles, the e-commerce player is building two manned and cash register-rich supermarkets, which also have a dining area with seating and a highly automated mini distribution centre. At least two additional branches would be planned there, even though the concept doesn’t even have a name yet.

On the other hand, two locations in California, which were originally planned as supermarkets, are now being converted into additional distribution centres. As a result of the corona-pandemic, the online delivery service AmazonFresh is suddenly on the rise, even though this branch had previously struggled to make a real breakthrough. The fact that Amazon does not care about turning retail locations into online hubs shows that the retail group sees all types of food retail as a whole, and makes no distinction between online and offline.