Amazon Go and Fresh store closures show that palm payments will never be a mass market thing

Last week, we reported that Amazon was binning its Amazon Go and Amazon Fresh physical stores experiment as it shifted its focus to on demand online delivery and new big box locations.

It's a move that will see the end of the road for the Amazon One palm recognition ID system for stores.

“In response to limited customer adoption, we’re discontinuing Amazon One, our authentication service for facility access and payment,” an Amazon spokesperson said. “All customer data associated with Amazon One will be securely deleted after the service ends.”

A somewhat predicatable turn of events, according to payments expert Geoffrey Barraclough.

In a LinkedIn post, he said: "You might have missed in all the excitement, but Amazon has given up on palm payments in “response to limited customer adoption.” There are a few use cases for biometric payments - saunas, swimming pools etc, but only where people don't have their phones with them. Palm payments will never be a mass market thing."

Agree, disagree? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.

2026 RTIH Innovation Awards

Payments will be a key focus area at the 2026 RTIH Innovation Awards.

The awards will open for entries in April. They celebrate global retail technology innovation in a fast moving omnichannel world.

Our winners will be revealed at the 2026 RTIH Innovation Awards Ceremony, taking place at The HAC in Central London on Thursday, 15th October.

Check out our 2025 winners here.

Our 2025 hall of fame entrants were revealed during a sold out event which took place at The HAC on 16th October and consisted of a drinks reception, three course meal, and awards ceremony presided over by award winning comedian, actress and writer Tiff Stevenson.

In his welcome speech, Scott Thompson, Founder and Editor, RTIH, said: “This is the awards’ fifth year as a physical event. We started off with just 30 people at the South Place Hotel not far from here, then moved to London Bridge Hotel, then The Barbican, and last year RIBA’s HQ in the West End.”

“But I’m conscious of the fact that, to quote the legend that is Taylor Swift, You’re only as hot as your last hit, baby. So, this year we’ve moved to our biggest venue yet, and also pulled in our largest number of entries to date and broken attendance records.”

He added: “This year’s submissions have without doubt been our best yet. To quote one of the judges: The examples of innovative developments across both traditional and digital retail spaces were truly remarkable.”

Congratulations to our winners, and a big thank you to our sponsors, judging panel, the legend that is Tiff Stevenson, and all those who attended our 2025 gathering.