Amazon Fresh preps new Just Walk Out retail tech powered stores following Dalston closure

On Saturday, RTIH exclusively reported that Amazon Fresh had closed its Dalston, London location, less than 18 months after opening it in a blaze of autonomous retail glory.

Brittain Ladd, a supply chain and retail technology consultant and former Amazon executive, told us: “It’s not unusual for a retailer to close stores. However, what makes the closure of the Amazon Fresh store interesting is that it was using Just Walk Out technology.”

“I’ve stated many times that this technology will not increase sales, and the operating costs of the stores are still high.”

He added: “In my opinion, Amazon continues to use the wrong business model in the UK. I won’t be surprised if it closes all of the Amazon Fresh stores.”

That doesn’t look likely, however, with an Amazon spokesperson getting in touch this morning to tell us that two new locations are in the works.

“Just like other retailers, we regularly review our business and from time to time adjust to ensure we are able to best serve our customers,” they said.

“We remain committed to Amazon Fresh UK physical stores and, in fact, are excited to confirm we will soon open two new Amazon Fresh stores in the Greater London area.”

They did not reveal the exact locations, but, rest assured, we will bring you this information as soon as is humanly possible.

Slowing down

Amazon UK opened Its first UK checkout-free store in March 2021, in Ealing, west London.

It then quickly opened another 18, predominantly in the capital, and said lots more (100 or so) were in the pipeline.

Yet in August of last year, we reported that Amazon had slammed on the brakes, 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 was understood to have walked away from talks on dozens of sites, and stopped its search for more locations.

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.”