Is Amazon Fresh, long expected to be coming to Monmouth County, showing some signs of life?
Earlier this month, Amazon Fresh unveiled a refresh at some of its Chicago-area stores. "We just felt like we could be sharper and better and I think that team has made up a lot of improvements," said Andy Jassy, Amazon president and chief executive officer on a recent earnings call. "We have spent a lot of time thinking and rethinking how we want the (store) formats to look."
But Jassy cautioned that Amazon won't expand Amazon Fresh until it has a format that works.
Meanwhile, at its two unopened stores at the Jersey Shore, which have sat idle with the lights on for months, shopping carts shelters have gone up in the parking lots, most recently at its location on Route 35 in Eatontown. The same metal shelters are in the parking lot in front of the store at the Commons at Holmdel shopping center on Route 35. (The Eatontown store also had an available guest WiFi network detectable from outside during a visit last week.)
Shopping cart shelters have been installed in the parking lot outside of the unopened Amazon Fresh grocery store on Route 35 in Eatontown.
Amazon said it has no comment on the status of its Monmouth County stores, but Amazon Fresh is clearly in a transition.
In February, Amazon disclosed that it had paused the rollout of Amazon Fresh grocery stores across the country. The stand-down order froze its stores under development not just in Holmdel and Eatontown, but across New Jersey.
Amazon opened its first Amazon Fresh store in Woodland Hills, California, in 2020. It touted low prices, same-day delivery for Amazon Prime members, quality produce, seafood and meats, name-brand grocery as well as private label products. Just like a traditional supermarket these days, it has prepared foods too.
A smart cart, called a Dash Cart, allows customers to "skip the checkout line" by tallying their bill as their bags and cans of food they are placed in the cart. Many stores, including the Paramus store and the one planned for Eatontown, have upgraded technology that allow customers to "Just Walk Out," skipping the line without the need for a special cart.
But Amazon Fresh fell flat with consumers. Analysts called the stores "soulless," "cold" and "dark" with black shelves and ceilings. They said store employees fulfilling online orders outnumbered customers who were roaming the aisles. Sales were anemic.
Amazon put the brakes on its Fresh stores while it studied ways to make the stores more attractive and profitable.
Amazon Fresh has unveiled a new look to its stores in Chicago.
'Complete immersion of the senses'
Earlier this month, Amazon rolled out its new look with remodels of stores in Schaumburg and Oak Lawn, Illinois. Colors were bright and vibrant instead of gray and black. New department signs, for instance, touted "Meat & Seafood" in red. There were new aisle signs in wood frames and digital displays showcasing promotions and other content.
It looked like, as Chicago area analyst David Bishop, partner and research lead Bricks Meets Clicks, described it, a traditional regional supermarket where consumers shop everyday.
"Anyone who has shopped Amazon Fresh before the remodel and came into the store afterwards, the first reaction is 'wow,' and I say wow because it really does feel like a different store experience," Bishop told What's Going There.
"If we go to a regional grocer or a local grocery store, many of those visual cues that were missing before have now popped up," he said.
Amazon Fresh has unveiled a new look to its stores in Chicago.
It's about running a grocery business in the physical world.
"People when they're in the stores, they buy with their eyes, they buy with their nose, they buy with their hands and even their tongues and in some cases, their ears," Bishop said. "It's a complete immersion of the senses."
The new Amazon Fresh has sale signs, things that you see in typical stores. As an example, rotisserie chickens priced at $4.97 are promoted as an "inflation buster," according to Bricks Meets Clicks report.
Sure, Amazon Fresh uses digital shelf labels, but the store's design and the way merchandise is displayed is more familiar. For instance, produce is showcased in baskets. The bakery has fresh, unwrapped items including cookies, muffins and croissants, with displays that showcase the perception of quality and freshness, the report states.
Amazon Fresh has unveiled a new look to its stores in Chicago.
Aisle signs have a "light wood theme" and digital signs help people navigate through sections. Some aisles were widened so to make it easier for two carts to pass each other.
"It's less sterile now," Bishop said. "It's more comfortable and familiar."
Amazon also touted the store's new Krispy Kreme coffee and doughnut counter. It added more than 1,500 national and private label products. It added traditional self-checkout lanes, a new version of its Dash Cart and has opened up delivery to customers who are not Amazon Prime members.
Amazon Fresh has unveiled a new look to its stores in Chicago.
In the call with stock analysts, Jassy said the company will try the new store format in southern California stores to test it further.
Amazon will be "thoughtful and disciplined," Jassy said.
"I think there are a number of opportunities for us over time to grow the business," Jassy said. "We're optimistic that we'll be able to do so, but we're also being disciplined about not expanding the physical Fresh stores until we have a format that we think is more resonant with customers."
David P. Willis, an award-winning business writer, has covered business and consumer news at the Asbury Park Press for 25 years. He writes APP.com's What's Going There and Press on Your Side columns and can be reached at dwillis@gannettnj.com. Please sign up for his weekly newsletter and join his What's Going There page on Facebook for updates.
