Amazon Is Quietly Shutting Down the Grocery Experiment It Launched Three Years Ago

Amazon is phasing out the third-party grocery storefront model it built three years ago, the one that let local and specialty grocers sell through their own branded pages on Amazon.com, complete with their own delivery, fees, and checkout. The company says the change is rolling out "in the coming months" across several countries, with customers notified before anything closes.

A spokesperson framed it as a customer-first move: "In response to customer feedback, we're simplifying the shopping experience." Past participants in the local-grocer program have included Bristol Farms, Cardenas Markets, Pet Food Express, Weis Markets, and Save Mart, alongside Whole Foods Market, which Amazon owns outright. In their place, Amazon is pitching grocers on Lockers inside their stores and AWS tools for logistics and data, which is a tidy way of saying it would still like your business, just not your storefront.

Three years ago, Amazon wanted to be the mall for every neighborhood grocer in America. Now it just wants to be the landlord, and landlords do not build you a storefront, they just collect the rent.

Source: TheStreet

Kyle Duford, Founder & Editor, BRNDWIRE. More from Kyle →