Amazon is to close all 19 of its UK Fresh stores as it looks to prioritise online grocery delivery.
The move comes less than five years after the company introduced its checkout-free stores featuring ‘Just Walk Out’ technology.
The retail giant confirmed five of its 19 stores would be converted to the Whole Foods Market brand.
In the first quarter of 2025, the company reported that its everyday essentials category - including groceries and household items - grew nearly twice as fast as all other categories in the UK and now accounts for almost one in every three units sold on Amazon.
In response to strong customer demand, it plans to grow its grocery offering online and expand its delivery services to new areas.
By next year, Amazon aims to more than double the number of its UK Prime members who have access to three or more online grocery delivery options through partners Morrisons, Iceland, Co-op and Gopuff.
The expansion would result in more than 80% of UK Prime members being able to shop at one or more of its grocery partners, it said.
In 2026, the company is set to make grocery shopping “even more convenient” with same-day delivery, it added.
The service would offer customers fresh grocery items including fresh produce, dairy, meat, seafood, baked goods and frozen foods alongside everyday household essentials, all within their Amazon basket and “delivered within hours”.
Amazon said 250 employees worked at its UK Fresh stores and that it had launched a consultation regarding the closures. Its goal is to offer ”redeployment opportunities” to as many affected employees as possible, added the company.
“Since 2008, we’ve worked hard to innovate to help our customers save time and money when shopping for groceries and household essentials,” said John Boumphrey, country manager at Amazon UK.
“We continue to invent and invest to bring more choice and convenience to UK customers, enabling them to shop for a wide range of everyday essentials and groceries with low prices and fast delivery through Amazon.co.uk, Amazon Fresh, and Whole Foods Market stores, alongside our third-party grocery partners, including Morrisons, Co-op, Iceland and Gopuff.”
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