Amazon has announced a dramatic change to its UK business, revealing plans to close all 19 of its Amazon Fresh grocery shops. The closures come just four years after the American tech giant brought its innovative, cashier-free shopping model to the British high street.
Up to 250 workers across the country face job losses because of the proposal. The move is a significant step back for Amazon, which had aimed to shake up the competitive local food market. Instead, the company is now fully shifting its attention to its core strength: online grocery delivery and strengthening links with established UK supermarkets. The company insists it remains “deeply invested” in the UK market.
The proposed closures affect all locations, including the store in Sevenoaks, Kent. This was one of the few sites opened outside of London. Employees at all 19 sites have now started a formal consultation process with Amazon about their future employment.
Uncertainty for Staff at the Sevenoaks Branch
The Amazon Fresh store in Sevenoaks, located in the Bligh’s Meadow shopping centre, was a rare venture for the company outside of the Greater London area. Its opening signalled new investment and fresh employment opportunities for Kent residents. Its proposed closure now means a difficult period of uncertainty for the staff who work there.
Amazon has entered a mandatory consultation process with all affected workers across the 19 sites. While the company has not provided a precise number of jobs at risk in Sevenoaks, the loss of any retail operation will be felt keenly in the town.
Amazon has confirmed that it will try to find alternative roles for as many employees as possible within its wider business. However, for staff in Kent, this may involve being moved to other Amazon fulfilment centres or Whole Foods stores that are likely a considerable distance away.
The Fate of the Retail Unit
There is a small glimmer of hope for the future of the Sevenoaks site itself. As part of the national overhaul, Amazon is considering converting five of the 19 closing Amazon Fresh stores into its premium, organic brand, Whole Foods Market.
The Sevenoaks unit, as one of the few located outside central London, could potentially be chosen for this conversion. If it is selected, it would become one of only a handful of Whole Foods shops outside the capital, bringing a different, upmarket grocery experience to the town. If it is not selected, the property will be permanently closed, leaving a vacant retail space on a prominent Kent shopping parade.
The Cost of the ‘Just Walk Out’ Concept
The Amazon Fresh shops were famous for using ‘Just Walk Out’ technology. This unique system used hundreds of cameras and sensors to track what customers picked up, allowing them to walk out of the store without having to use a physical checkout till. The bill was automatically charged through an app.
The Sevenoaks store was a demonstration of this high-tech vision. However, experts say the expensive technology and complex infrastructure needed to run the system ultimately made the stores difficult to operate profitably.
The high cost of running a cashier-free model struggled against the basic business of British grocery sales, which relies on selling huge volumes of goods at very low profit margins. Furthermore, many customers were reportedly put off by the requirement to download a specific app, preferring traditional, familiar shopping methods.
Amazon’s Focus: Online Over High Street
The decision to close all physical Amazon Fresh stores is a clear signal that the company believes its future success in the UK grocery market will be online, through delivery and its smart sorting system. They are giving up on running physical shops.
John Boumphrey, Amazon UK Country Manager, confirmed the difficult decision. He explained that the closure proposal followed “a thorough evaluation of business operations and the very substantial growth opportunities in online delivery.” Essentially, Amazon believes the best way forward is to stop running the shops and focus all its effort on internet sales.
The new plan is simple: they are going all-in on internet sales and working with existing partners:
- Online Shopping Gets Bigger: Amazon will expand its delivery service. Next year, they will add a much wider range of fresh items—like meat, fish, and milk—that can be ordered straight from the main Amazon.co.uk website.
- Teamwork with Supermarkets: The company is making its partnerships stronger with UK grocery businesses. This includes well-known names like Morrisons, Co-op, Iceland, and Gopuff. This allows Amazon to offer more products without the risk of owning and running its own expensive shops.
- Better Deals for Prime Members: Amazon plans to rapidly increase the number of members who can order groceries from at least three different partner supermarkets. Their goal is for more than 80% of UK Prime households to have these choices soon.
What the Closure Means
The closing of the Sevenoaks Amazon Fresh store shows a big problem for local high streets. Amazon is a global leader, but even its very clever, high-tech shops could not compete with the strong, older British supermarkets.
This is a sharp lesson for businesses. In the tough British grocery market, where companies fight hard to offer the cheapest prices, customer habits and low prices are more important than clever new technology.
Amazon said it would keep its promises, “We continue to invent and invest to bring more choice and convenience to UK customers… through Amazon.co.uk, Amazon Fresh, and Whole Foods Market stores, alongside our third-party grocery partners.“
For the staff in Kent, the main goal is to find other jobs quickly so local unemployment does not rise. For the town of Sevenoaks, the focus will now shift to whether the empty shop will attract a new business or become a future Whole Foods store, changing the local area once again.
