Amazon Fresh makes key appointments in physical stores push
Claire Peters has been appointed Vice President, Worldwide Amazon Fresh, and Peter Bowrey Vice President, Amazon Fresh Store Operations.
Peters joins from Woolworths Supermarkets where she served as Managing Director.
Her CV also includes a stint as Chief Operating Officer at Tesco Stores.
Bowrey, meanwhile, worked for Tesco for over 30 years across various functions and internationally.
Most recently, he was Retail Director at Boots.
In a LinkedIn post, Tony Hoggett, SVP Worldwide Physical Stores & Speciality Fulfilment, Amazon, said: “I’m excited to announce Claire and Peter are joining our growing Amazon Physical Stores leadership team.”
“Both Claire and Pete will join Amazon in early 2023, bringing decades of grocery, international and multi-channel retail experience.”
He added: “I’m inspired by the Amazon Physical Stores and Speciality Fulfilment leadership team we have in place, and we’re all looking forward to growing the business together with our two new members.”
A major coup
In 2021, we reported that Hoggett was stepping down from the role of Tesco Chief Strategy and Innovation Officer to head up Amazon’s international stores arm.
In a note to staff, Tesco Chief Executive Ken Murphy wrote: “Tony’s career in Tesco has spanned over 31 years, during which time he has worked in various roles, most recently as Group COO and Chief Strategy and Innovation Officer.”
“Tony has made an incredibly valuable contribution over these years, and I wish him the very best for the future.”
Retail Technology Show
Retailers are starting to redesign their entire store format now they do not need to include checkout tills due to Amazon’s Just Walk Out offering, an executive at the e-commerce giant has said.
Speaking earlier this year at Retail Technology Show in London, Max Gill, Amazon Physical Retail Technologies, Just Walk Out, EMEA Lead, observed the company’s tech was allowing retailers to “play with space and formats” within their shops.
“We are trying to reinvent the physical store”, Gill commented, adding that Amazon's own research has shown that queues are often the biggest source of friction and annoyance for customers at shops.
“We have been trying to bring the mentality and ease of online checkouts at Amazon into the physical store.”
Amazon has launched several Fresh stores in the UK, but also offers its technology to other retailers, such as Sainsbury’s and WHSmith.
Instead of using checkout tills, customers tap their credit card or mobile phone app as they enter the shop, and are then tracked via cameras and sensors built in to the store, monitoring what they pick up or put back.
They can then walk out without the need for paying at a till.
Gill said this was allowing retailers to look at opening smaller stores or placing them in locations that may not otherwise be possible such as the thoroughfare of an airport.
“When you take checkouts out of stores, customers are getting more space, so there is space for more products or a different form factor,” he stated.
“Lots of companies are looking at launching whole new store formats with us, because they don’t need to have a checkout within the store. For the retailer it allows them to play with space and with formats.
Just Walk Out sensors also allow retailers to reduce waste.
For example, if a customer takes a product out of a chilled cabinet and then puts it on another shelf elsewhere in the store, the tech can notify store workers about the item and also let them know how long it has been out of the fridge.
Similarly, the “black box” of information the sensors and cameras provide to retailers means businesses can gain insights such as where people are congregating in a store or what they are picking up or putting back frequently.
Businesses will also be able to use their staff to upsell other products to customers as they are not having to man the tills.
“They can spend more time with customers and can elevate sales figures by focusing on the customer experience,” Gill said.
Amazon is trying to encourage different types of retailers to embrace its technology, such as cafes, sports arenas, resorts and airports.
It has been used by the US airport retailer Hudson, as well as Starbucks, Resorts World in Las Vegas, and stadiums such as UBS Arena in New York and the Houstons Astros’ Minute Maid Park.
Other retailers have gone head to head with the company by launching their own version of checkout-free technology, however.
In the UK, Tesco went live in High Holborn, London, in August last year, with technology powered by Trigo, while Aldi opened a similar type of store in Greenwich, south east London, in January.
