E-commerce retailer Amazon recently announced the development of its grocery retail sector as part of its future business strategy.
Andy Jassy, CEO of Amazon, shared with shareholders his plans to build on Amazon’s Whole Foods Market grocery operations.
Jassy said: “I’m very bullish about grocery. If you look at our center-aisle things — so these are things like consumables, canned goods, pharmaceutical items, beauty products, really, everyday essentials — if I just exclude Whole Foods Market and Amazon Fresh, we did over $100 billion in gross sales in our grocery business on these items last year alone.
“So it’s a very significant business, and then I think we have a bunch of other areas that will allow us to grow in this area.”
The company also plans to expand its number of Amazon Fresh stores, recently closing two locations in Maryland earlier this year as part of its business strategy to consolidate its operations.
Whole Foods Market recently opened the doors to a smaller-format Daily Shop in Manhattan, New York, on May 14 and will be opening a new store on June 4.
Jassy added: “I’m excited about what I’m seeing with Whole Foods Market. It’s growing meaningfully faster than the grocery industry in general, with a really good profitability trajectory with the changes we’ve made over the last couple of years and a great customer experience.”
Amazon is preparing its business operations for a grocery evolution, expecting customers to change the way they shop.
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