Amazon has a 'contactless' supermarket closed in the midst of falling interest in the innovative 'Just Walk Out' technology.
The Richmond Amazon Fresh Shop was the 10th British store of the technology company, which was opened just over three years ago in December 2021.
With the first launched in London Ealing Broadway in March 2021, the unique shopping experience wanted to offer customers a 'new convenience business format'.
When entering the store, customers scan a smartphone app, which means that they are automatically invoiced when they leave with their articles, instead of using a traditional scanning cash system.
The innovative stores use 'Just Walk Out' camera -Sensor technology, which can keep track of what people buy when they walk around the supermarket.
The initial allure of new technology meant that Amazon is said to open hundreds of stores in the UK.
But the interest fell rapidly, with new stores in Ealing, Wandworth and East Sheen that were closed in 2023. The most recent opening of a new store was in West Hampstead, in November 2024.
Amazon's Fresh Richmond Supermarket Store (photo), which was opened in December 2021, is the newest in a series of branches that are abruptly closed
Amazon opened his first fresh supermarket store in the Ealing Broadway of London in London and wanted to 'offer new convenience messages'
The company uses 'Just Walk Out' camerasor technology, which can keep track of what people buy when they walk around the supermarket, instead of using a traditional processing system
Now the closure of the Richmond Store of the e-commerce giant has taken the Richmond store from Amazon UK to just 19.
At the time of the flagship Ealing Store Closing, Amazon said that the decision was made after an assessment of the 'portfolio of stores', but that it 'does not mean that we will not grow', whereby the company remains 'dedicated to our investment in supermarket'.
Retail experts, however, previously told MailOnline that Amazon “struggled to make the movement offline,” in which he said he expected more stores to close to the 'medium term'.
Retail and Retail -Aonroitage expert Jonathon de Mello, founder and chief executive of JDM Retail, told MailOnline in July 2023 that the Amazon Fresh Store closures 'no surprise' came and expected that 'more will close in the medium term'.
Dr. Mello believed that a combination of 'poor location strategy' and an underestimation of 'the strength of the local market' until the reasons was that Amazon was not open.
In the meantime, Retail and consumer analyst Robert Carruthers, director of research company Consumercast, added that Amazon 'had always struggled with physical stores'.
Mr Carruthers also believed that the 'intrusive' camera surveillance in their stores, in addition to high prices, has made customers possible to return to the unique supermarket.
Products to buy in an Amazon Fresh Store, which is managed by camera sensor technology
Concern about the technology used in stores have also been raised by privacy campaign groups, including Big Brother Watch, who said that much of it is a 'mystery'.
Jake Hurfurt, head of research and research at the organization, told MailOnline in 2023: 'Amazon Fresh offers customers a total surveillance shopping experience that is now being copied by other retailers.
“Checkout free shops rely on intense ai driven tracking and data mining to check customers, but it is often a mystery that companies do with this information.”
Thinking about the closure of the Richmond Branch, a Amazon spokesperson told The Grocer: 'Certain store locations work better than others, and after an assessment of our offer we decided to close our Amazon Fresh Store in Richmond.
'Customers in the area can continue to shop from a wide selection of shopping products on Amazon.co.uk/grocery with delivery options on the same day, or from our other Amazon new stores in London.
“We continue to work for Amazon Fresh and will continue to refine our portfolio of stores while we learn which locations and functions are most resonating with customers.”
In 2021, Amazon offered his illustrations to other supermarket chains, with Sainsbury opening a 'contactless' supermarket store in their Holborn Circus Store.
Last month, however, it announced that the chain had to leave the chain in favor of a more traditional cash register system.
In the meantime, while other large supermarket stores, such as Tesco and Aldi, have used checkout-free supermarkets, there have been several shifted to so-called 'hybrid models' that both contain self-controls, in addition to regular checks.
