Amazon CEO doubles down on grocery store business

Tiyashi Datta

14th Feb 2023

Amazon.com Chief Executive Andy Jassy has vowed to double down on the ecommerce giant’s struggling grocery store business, the Financial Times reported on Monday.

Jassy blamed a lack of normalcy during the pandemic for a series of stumbles and said the company was ready to “go big” on bricks-and-mortar stores, the report added.

Amazon did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.

The company has paused expansion of its Fresh supermarkets and cashier-less convenience stores until it finds the right recipe for success, Jassy said, in a rare appearance on the company’s quarterly results call earlier this month.

Jassy’s remarks show how Amazon, which just a year ago said it would close its bookstores to focus on grocery, has yet to dominate brick-and-mortar retail since its closely watched acquisition of Whole Foods Market in 2017.

For the time being, the company has closed some grocery shops and impaired certain assets. It took a $720 million charge from such actions in the fourth quarter, its chief financial officer said earlier this month.

• Reporting by Tiyashi Datta in Bengaluru; Editing by Shinjini Ganguli and Shailesh Kuber, of Reuters.