Amazon Is Reporting Promising Sales Across Its Physical Grocers
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It often feels like there is nothing Amazon can't do successfully. And the latest good news for the company comes from its grocery stores in the United States.
Amazon operates grocery stores under three names and models: Whole Foods Market, Amazon Fresh, and Amazon Go. In 2017, Amazon purchased Whole Foods for the price of $13.7 billion at a time when the organic grocery store was struggling, reported Time. The purchase was viewed as a way to improve the online retailer's physical store presence.
In August 2020, Amazon unveiled its first Amazon Fresh grocery store in California where people could shop in person, or online with free same-day delivery for Amazon Prime members. There are 38 locations listed on the company's website. Different than a traditional grocery store, Amazon Go sells prepared meals and snacks. Also Available at Amazon Go are ready-to-eat foods for breakfast and lunch, as well as coffee. Bottles of wine and beer can also be purchased.
Amazon Go locations are in Illinois, New York, California, and Washington.
Increased grocery sales
Sales increased 12.5% during Amazon's second quarter at its retail stores, it reported in an earnings report on July 28, 2022, via Grocery Dive. The total sales for the locations, which includes Whole Foods Market, Amazon Fresh, and Amazon Go, was a little more than $4.7 billion. During the second quarter, Amazon added 12 Amazon Fresh locations in the United States and United Kingdom. To help improve customers' shopping experiences, the company updated its Amazon Dash Cart, which is a smart shopping cart programmed to recognize products in the cart so shoppers can skip the checkout line, per the company. The updated Dash Cart will be offered at Whole Foods Market stores. Another new technology that Amazon has introduced is Just Walk Out, which allows customers to skip the checkout line. The way it works is the customer inserts their credit card at the entrance of a store, proceeds to shop, and then leaves the store without needing to stop to pay, according to the earnings report.
Grocery Dive said Amazon's second quarter earnings report did not specify how inflation has been affecting its sales. Grocery Dive did point out how Amazon continues to add new Whole Foods locations to the over 500 that already exist.