Amazon is closing eight of its Go convenience stores in the USA as it continues with its cost-cutting measures.
The US ecommerce giant will be shutting two Go Stores in New York City, two in Seattle and four in San Francisco.
Amazon Go is the company’s cashier-less grocery stores, using cameras and sensors to determine what items shoppers have chosen and charge them when they leave.
The stores are set to close on 1 April, with the company saying it would work to help the affected employees employment in other roles in other areas of the business.
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Company CEO Andy Jassy has been taking action in the company’s grocery division as it struggles with slowing sales and a poor economic outlook.
Amazon said it would lay off as many as 18,000 employees in January, with a number of those being felt in the grocery business.
“Like any physical retailer, we periodically assess our portfolio of stores and make optimization decisions along the way,” Amazon spokesperson Jessica Martin said in a statement.
She added: “In this case, we’ve decided to close a small number of Amazon Go stores in Seattle, New York City, and San Francisco.
“We remain committed to the Amazon Go format, operate more than 20 Amazon Go stores across the US, and will continue to learn which locations and features resonate most with customers as we keep evolving our Amazon Go stores.”
Despite these claims, Amazon Fresh opened two new locations in Croydon and Monument in January.
