Amazon to close 68 physical stores in UK and US due to slower growth than expected

Recently, foreign media reported that Amazon will close its 68 physical stores in the UK and the US , including physical bookstores, "Amazon Four-Star" websites and pop-up kiosks in shopping malls.

As a retail giant, Amazon's business covers multiple areas online and offline. However, compared with Amazon's hot online business, the growth of its offline physical stores lags behind in the overall retail business.

In 2021, Amazon's physical store sales, including Whole Foods and Fresh stores, were lower than in 2018.

As of December 31, 2021, Amazon 's physical store revenue was $4.69 billion , mainly from Whole Foods Market, accounting for about 3% of sales .

Amazon’s foray into physical retail began in 2015 when it opened a bookstore in Seattle’s University Village and pledged to use technology to redefine the shopping experience.

Its biggest move into physical retail came with its $13 billion acquisition of Whole Foods Market, which has about 450 locations, in 2017. Since then, the company has also launched its own Amazon Fresh supermarkets, which now have 24 locations in California, Illinois and the mid-Atlantic region.

Three years later, the company also opened Amazon 4-star stores to sell products that were popular in the online store, but the 4-star stores failed to stand out in the overall business development. Currently, Amazon has 24 bookstores, 33 4-stars and 9 mall pop-up kiosks.

According to foreign media reports, Amazon said that the 68 stores that will be closed this time will have different closing times due to different locations. For employees affected by the store closures, Amazon said it will help them find jobs elsewhere in the company, and will provide severance pay to workers who choose not to stay.

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