We knew this was coming, but it’s finally here; Amazon Fresh and Amazon Go stores are shutting down, most within the week. Sure, some will be moving over to Whole Foods, and California locations will stick around for a little while longer, but this is the end to an experiment which lasted 8 years. My own experience with the smart cart in 2021 was that it was kinda neat, but still a little bit of a gimmick. Yes, the cart knew where you were, guided you to things that it knew you regularly purchased, and had some upsell potentials. What ruined things for me when it came down to the tech, was that it was sold on being automated and amazing computing power. Instead, a few years ago, it was revealed that the tech was a bunch of people overseas watching cameras and performing a good portion of the process along, which seems far more like offshoring our cashiers.
Amazon is closing almost all of its Amazon Go and Amazon Fresh locations in days as it narrows its focus on food delivery and its grocery chain, Whole Foods Market.
Source: Amazon to close most Amazon Go and Amazon Fresh stores in days
