The company plans to open over 100 new Whole Foods Market stores in the coming years, with several Amazon Go and Amazon Fresh locations being converted into Whole Foods Market stores.
The decision to shutter Amazon-branded physical grocery stores comes after Amazon determined that it has not yet established a sufficiently unique customer experience or economic model for large-scale growth.
This shift illustrates Amazon’s transition in investments towards sectors demonstrating stronger customer engagement and sustainable development.
Currently, Amazon ranks as one of the top three grocery retailers in the US, amassing over $150 billion in gross grocery sales and welcoming more than 150 million customers to its grocery platform annually. The company reports that everyday household essentials now represent one-third of all units sold on Amazon.com.
Amazon will continue to enhance its online grocery delivery services, which currently operate in over 5,000 US cities and towns. Many of these locations offer Same-Day Delivery, enabling customers to purchase fresh groceries alongside millions of other items.
In 2025, Amazon incorporated perishable goods like produce, dairy, meat, baked items, and frozen foods into its Same-Day Delivery service. Sales of perishable groceries through this service have surged 40 times since January 2025. Fresh groceries constitute nine of the ten most-ordered items in regions where Same-Day grocery delivery is available.
Looking ahead, Amazon aims to broaden the Same-Day Delivery of fresh groceries to more communities in 2026.
Additionally, the company is experimenting with an ultra-fast delivery service called Amazon Now, which promises delivery of thousands of essential items, including fresh food, in about 30 minutes or less, currently launched in select U.S. cities.
Amazon is also extending the Whole Foods Market Daily Shop concept, a smaller-format store dedicated to grab-and-go meals, coffee, and everyday necessities. Five new Daily Shop locations are anticipated to open by the end of 2026, building on the five already operating. Whole Foods Market currently has over 550 stores and has seen more than 40% sales growth since Amazon acquired the chain in 2017.
Employees impacted by the Go & Fresh closures will receive support in finding new roles within Amazon whenever possible.
Amazon highlighted that Amazon Go stores significantly contributed to the development of its Just Walk Out checkout-free technology, which is now in use at more than 360 third-party locations across five countries.
This technology is also being implemented in breakrooms at Amazon fulfillment centers across North America.
Furthermore, Amazon stated it will continue to explore new physical retail concepts, including Amazon Grocery stores and “store-within-a-store” formats inside select Whole Foods Market locations.
The company is also investigating a new supercenter-style retail concept that would merge groceries, household essentials, and general merchandise under one roof.
(Edited by : Ajay Vaishnav)
