Kim Mundy departs NCR for Amazon physical retail technology role
Kim Mundy has taken on the role of Senior Tech Business Developer within Amazon’s Just Walk Out technology subsidiary.
In a LinkedIn post, she said: “Today is my last day at NCR and working with Sainsbury’s.”
“I am incredibly proud of all that Team Orange and I have achieved over the last two years, just the best team who I will really miss. Next week I will be joining Amazon and the Just Walk Out team!”
“It’s expensive to get into retail”
Amazon recently put the brakes on the expansion of its UK Just Walk Out tech powered checkout-free convenience stores, due to sales falling short of expectations and fit out costs being multiple times higher than with a standard location.
According to a report by The Sunday Times, the US giant is understood to have walked away from talks on dozens of sites for Amazon Fresh stores, and has stopped its search for more locations.
There will still be a handful of openings this year at sites where Amazon had already committed to a lease.
In a LinkedIn post, Martin Heubel, an Amazon strategy consultant, said: “Not a major surprise amid the current economic climate. It’s expensive to get into retail and even more expensive to remain.”
“With inflation at all time highs, customers are prioritising to save money. Even the most advanced self-checkout technology won’t revert this trend in the short-term. It seems, Amazon has come to realise this, too.”
Amazon’s first checkout-free store in the UK opened in March last year, in Ealing, west London. Since then, it has opened another 18 stores, predominantly in the capital.
A spokesperson told RTIH: “I can confirm that we will continue to open Amazon Fresh stores and look forward to opening more in the future.”
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