What once cost Amazon over $13 billion is now turning into a big headache for the tech company.
Back in 2017, Amazon acquired Whole Foods for a price tag of $13.7 billion with the intention of making its own brick-and-mortar grocery stores under the brands Amazon Fresh and Amazon Go.
‘Fresh groceries now make up nine of the top 10 most-ordered items.’
Amazon Go was meant to be the future: a cashierless and seamless Amazon experience where shoppers simply scan on their way out. In fact, the stores mirror a mid-2000s IBM commercial about online commerce.
By 2023, expansion had been slowed, with some locations closing, CoStar reported at the time, and Amazon taking out a $720 million impairment charge.
On Tuesday, Amazon announced it is fully closing all Amazon Fresh and Amazon Go locations. Although some will be retrofitted to become Whole Foods Market stores, Amazon is making a big shift toward grocery delivery.
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Michael Nagle/Bloomberg via Getty Images
Amazon said in its press release that it already offers grocery deliveries in 5,000 cities and towns, with several thousand receiving same-day deliveries. Same-day service seems to be the company’s core expansion project for 2026.
The shift appeared to be a profit-driven move after sales through same-day deliveries increased by 40x since January 2025.
“Fresh groceries now make up nine of the top 10 most-ordered items in areas where perishable groceries are available for Same-Day Delivery,” Amazon explained.
Michael Nagle/Bloomberg via Getty Images
At the same, Amazon says it will be “taking convenience even further” with the introduction of an “ultra-fast” delivery option that brings thousands of “essential items,” including fresh food, to customers in 30 minutes or less. The offer is essentially a mobile convenience store experience.
While Fresh and Go may have not been the shining stars Amazon hoped they would be, its investment in Whole Foods Market has certainly paid off. The company boasted 40% sales growth since 2017, year-over-year increases in customer traffic, and expansion from around 460 locations in 2017 to over 550 currently.
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Return, Amazon, Groceries, Delivery, Brick and mortar, Whole foods, Tech