Amazon to shut 8 of its cashierless Go comfort shops

“Like any physical retailer, we periodically assess our portfolio of stores and make optimization decisions along the way,” an Amazon spokesperson stated in an emailed assertion. “We remain committed to the Amazon Go format, operate more than 20 Amazon Go stores across the U.S., and will continue to learn which locations and features resonate most with customers as we keep evolving our Amazon Go stores.”

The tech big stated it will work to seek out new positions for the affected staff inside Amazon.

In February, Chief Financial Officer Brian Olsavsky warned Amazon
AMZN,
+3.01%
would shut some Go and Fresh shops “with low-growth potential” as the corporate seemed to chop prices following its worst annual loss on document.

Amazon Go shops debuted in 2018 with out cashiers or checkout traces, as clients paid robotically by a smartphone app. At the time, Amazon reportedly deliberate to open 3,000 such shops by 2021.

But pandemic shutdowns and a lagging financial system have soured a few of Amazon’s brick-and-mortar plans. Last 12 months, the e-commerce big closed dozens of its bodily shops — together with the Amazon 4-Star, Books and Pop Up traces — whereas refocusing on Amazon Fresh, Whole Foods Market, Amazon Go and Amazon Style shops.

Last 12 months, Amazon introduced plans to launch larger-format Go shops in suburban areas, and in February, Chief Executive Andy Jassy informed the Financial Times that Amazon nonetheless needs to “go big” on sure bodily shops.

Amazon introduced it will lay off about 18,000 staff in January, and final week, the Seattle-based tech big paused building of its second headquarters in Arlington, Va.

Amazon shares are up 13% 12 months so far, however have sunk 35% over the previous 12 months. In comparability, the S&P 500
SPX,
+1.61%
is up 5% in 2023 and down 6.5% over the previous 12 months.