HIGHLIGHTS
- Amazon 4-star shops provide well picked goods options.
- It is scheduled to shut 66 physical outlets in the United States.
- In 2017, Amazon purchased the Whole Foods Market retail company.
E-commerce behemoth Amazon stated on Wednesday that it will close its physical bookshops and pop-up shops in order to focus on the Whole Foods food chain and retail establishments that use its newest auto-checkout technology.
According to a corporate representative, the corporation would close its Amazon 4-star, Books, and Pop Up shops.
Amazon 4-star shops provide carefully picked items that has been rated four stars or higher on the company's retail platform.
The Seattle-based corporation planned to close 66 physical locations in the United States and two more in the United Kingdom.
In response to an AFP enquiry, a spokeswoman stated, "We are dedicated to developing outstanding, long-term physical retail experiences and technologies."
"We're working directly with affected workers to assist them find new jobs at Amazon."
The closures, according to the firm, are part of a strategy change to focus more on Amazon Fresh, Whole Foods Market, Amazon Go, and Amazon Style shops, as well as the company's "Just Walk Out" technology, which allows consumers to settle their bills without using a cash register.
Amazon intended to create more "innovative" storefronts, including a Style shop in Los Angeles, which would be the company's first physical clothes store.
According to a blog post, an Amazon Style shop that will open later this year will allow consumers to use the retailer's app to scan QR codes of clothing, select sizes and colours, and then have those products shipped to fitting rooms to try on.
According to Amazon, fitting rooms in the Style shop are intended to be a "personalised place" where customers will see things requested through the app as well as options offered depending on their preferences.
Touchscreens in fitting rooms will allow users to continue shopping, with Amazon claiming that things would be delivered "in just minutes" for them to try on.
The idea for a physical apparel shop comes as regulators and competitors fear that the digital behemoth has too much power in retail.
In 2017, Amazon paid $13.7 billion (about Rs. 1,03,875 crore) for the Whole Foods Market supermarket chain, considerably increasing the e-commerce giant's position in physical retail.
