Grocery veterans Claire Peters and Peter Bowrey join Amazon Fresh leadership team
Claire Peters and Peter Bowrey have officially joined Amazon Fresh, taking on the roles of Vice President of Retail and Vice President, Amazon Fresh Operations respectively.
RTIH first reported on their appointments in August of last year.
Peters comes onboard 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 from last year, 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.”
Amazon Fresh London stores
Amazon recently opened Amazon Fresh checkout-free convenience stores in Croydon and Monument.
In addition to a convenience grocery store offering, customers can also pick up items purchased on Amazon.co.uk at an Amazon Hub, and return items without needing to package the product or print a shipping label.
On Saturday, 21st January, 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, commented: “Retailers often close stores due to a lack of sales and other reasons only to open stores in a different location. Amazon closing one Amazon Fresh store and announcing they’re opening additional ones isn’t a surprise.”
He added: “What it hasn’t been able to do is take market share or establish a large customer base via its Amazon Fresh stores. Unless this can be achieved, it will have to accept running stores with few customers or they’ll have to shut down the locations.”
“Amazon has spent years trying to find a format that resonates with consumers. They’re still looking. I remain convinced that acquiring the Ocado Group and expanding Ocado Zoom is the best strategy for Amazon.”
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