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good morning everyone,

i’m willing to bet that when you think of amazon, you immediately picture their endless online shopping websites or their unmistakable cardboard packages on your doorstep. but what if i told you amazon has been sneaking its way into the physical retail space, & in ways more extensive than most realize?

they're quietly building a brick-and-mortar empire—one that’s not just groceries & one that’s not always as obvious as, say, a starbucks on every corner.

so, let’s pull back the curtain on amazon’s retail realm!

go go groceries

amazon may have started as the go-to spot for books & fast shipping, but ever since they snagged whole foods in 2017, they’ve been going hard on groceries. (btw, if you haven’t read my target deep dive, i covered the grocery trend in there too.)

here’s the breakdown of the amazon physical play:

• 530 whole foods locations with 75 more locations in the pipeline, including their new, smaller versions called whole foods market daily shop that opened earlier this month in nyc on the upper east side.

• 49 amazon fresh stores are the more wallet friendly grocery option with a hefty helping of private label products, including their newest amazon saver.

• 21 amazon go stores are a bodega on steroids. grab your stuff, skip the line, & go. plus, you can pick up orders & make returns. a new take on convenience.

retail related

amazon isn’t just dabbling in groceries—they’re branching into retail-adjacent spaces that are a little less traditional but just as interesting.

• 125 one medical clinics: they’re betting on healthcare too with this primary care provider. one click annual check-ups do have a nice ring to it.

• office expansion: they took over an iconic piece of retail real estate in nyc, the former lord & taylor. now it’s an office & soon it will include a food hall.

• fulfillment centers: they’re repurposing real estate from retail relics like sears, jc penney, & even entire malls to become hubs of efficiency & processing.

there’s also signal amazon’s stepping into the luxury scene.

this summer they announced taking a minority stakes in saks’ $2.65 billion acquisition of neiman marcus. this isn’t about running luxury stores but rather gaining insights into the high-end market they've been eyeing for years.

so curious to see this plays out!

closed concepts

not everything amazon touches turns to gold, though.

worth taking a moment to remember these recent retail flops:

• amazon books: started in 2015 & grew to 24 locations, but never really found its footing. all locations were shut down in 2022. (fun fact: prime day also started in 2015 with a much better trajectory. shocked it’s only 10 yrs old!)

• amazon 4-star & pop-up stores: where they tried to bring their top-rated items into physical locations. turns out, they overestimated how much people want to shop a mishmash of best-sellers in real life. these also closed in 2022.

• amazon style: a fashion experiment that didn’t quite hit the runway of success. the two trial locations in glendale, ca & columbus, oh closed down in 2023.

these show the other directions amazon has considered, but abandoned.

at least for now.

the next aws

while amazon’s grocery growth is undeniably impressive, what really has me watching & waiting is the adoption of two technologies:

1. amazon one: palm-scanning tech that lets you pay with a wave of your hand, rolled out to all whole foods locations at the end of last year.

2. just walk out: tech lets you skip the checkout line entirely by automatically tracking what you take & charging your account as you exit. currently in campus convenience stores & sport stadiums across the world.

this combo could be amazon’s secret sauce to taking over the payments game.

makes me wonder too if this has the potential to become their retail cash cow much like how aws is to the reliable cash cow to their current online business.

obviously big money signs there for them. but on a personal level, as a numbers nerd that helps grow retail brands, i get so excited thinking about the potential applications:

• real-time selection & staff feedback

• cross-store behavioral insights & trends

• sending personalized in-store offers while browsing

• understanding who comes to your store & doesn’t buy

• seeing what items get swapped or removed from a basket

& so so SO many more!

whether amazon’s quietly reshaping the grocery game or testing out new tech to revolutionize retail, one thing’s for sure—they’re playing prime long game ;)

p.s. i’m working hard to grow this little newsletter of mine & i’d be so grateful if you shared it with just one friend. your support means everything to me as i chase my somewhat delulu entrepreneurial dreams!

OR

if you’ve got a fun idea for supporting each other, i’d love to hear it! maybe we promote each others work? or we e-meet to brainstorm together? or we just click the ad links in each other’s newsletters 😉 like the one below for this week’s merry partner, hubspot.