Amazon is struggling to back grocery business.

The boss of Amazon has pledged to increase investment in the company’s struggling grocery business, less than

a fortnight after announcing that its growth plans had been put on hold. Initially an online marketplace for books, it has grown into an international group selling its own products, such as Alexa and Kindle tablets, and setting up Amazon Studios, a television streaming division. Amazon has tried to make inroads into food and grocery for several years, initially via its Amazon Fresh online delivery service, then through its acquisition of Whole Foods for $13.7 billion and more recently with the launch of its Amazon Fresh supermarkets and Amazon Go cashier-less stores. Jassy, 55, said a lack of «normalcy» in the pandemic had prevented Amazon from getting its grocery proposition right the first time round.

Martin Heubel, an Amazon strategy consultant and the former senior category manager for food, snacks and coffee at Amazon, said the Fresh business was still in «maintenance mode». «Although Amazon Fresh shops offer their private-label range in almost every product category, they still rely heavily on branded items to drive customer footfall». Amazon «had to learn the hard way that the price of a product is more important to consumers than its innovative offering of checkout-free stores», he said.

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