Reimagining Retail: What’s Next for Amazon Fresh and Lessons on How Best to Compete with Walmart | Oct 11, 2023
Oct 11, 2023
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Discussion on challenges faced by Amazon Fresh and strategies for success in grocery retailing. Ranking other players offering lessons on how Amazon Fresh could compete with Walmart.
Amazon Fresh struggles with establishing a compelling brick-and-mortar grocery experience due to high costs and poor store selection.
Amazon Fresh needs to focus on resonating store formats, customer convenience, and competitive pricing to compete with Walmart.
Deep dives
Amazon's Brick-and-Mortar Journey
Amazon's first physical retail store, Amazon Books, opened in Seattle in 2015 showcasing a unique approach to stocking books using data from Amazon.com. The initial brick-and-mortar locations were more for ordering and package pickups. Despite Amazon's shift towards brick-and-mortar retail, they had to close these stores, repurposing one as a showroom for Rivian, an electric vehicle company.
Challenges Faced by Amazon Fresh
Amazon Fresh entered the grocery market in 2020 with innovative tech like dash cards and just walk-out payment systems targeting COVID-conscious consumers. However, struggles emerged, including cost-cutting measures leading to layoffs, halting store openings, and increasing delivery costs. The stores have been criticized for a lack of warmth, poor selection, and high free delivery thresholds, deviating from industry standards.
Strategic Insights for Amazon Fresh Success
Amazon Fresh faces challenges in establishing a compelling brick-and-mortar grocery experience. CEO Andy Jassy acknowledged the need for a resonating store format and a competitive edge against industry behemoths like Walmart. The emphasis on footprints, customer convenience, and competitive pricing through private label brands like Whole Foods integration could be vital for Amazon Fresh's success.
On today's episode podcast, in our "Retail Me This, Retail Me That" segment, we discuss why Amazon is struggling to get Amazon Fresh off the ground, what it has going for it, and what would happen if Amazon broke out a separate subscription for grocery. Then for "Pop-Up Rankings," we rank the other players that could offer lessons on how Amazon Fresh could compete with Walmart. Join our analyst Sara Lebow as she hosts analyst Blake Droesch and director of content Becky Schilling.