Just recently, Amazon announced that all Amazon Fresh and Amazon Go stores were being closed down, and all except the ones in California were closing their doors effective today, February 1st. I will say, while I do support smaller local independent grocery stores and want to shop local, living in the heart of Philly we did get an Amazon Fresh that opened near me last August. I didn’t think too much of it since I never really shop with Amazon, but ever since going there in August it became my primary grocery store.
I enjoyed going there even though they used dynamic pricing. I did the math, and grocery shopping there would save me almost 25 percent compared to going elsewhere. From bags of salad being a dollar cheaper than other local grocery stores, to 60 to 70 cents cheaper than Target in the city. For living in the city, it was convenient. They had free parking, cheaper prices, and the employees were really nice, from bagging our groceries to helping us when needed. I will miss them, and while many have reservations about Amazon, I do believe their Amazon Fresh segment was good for the consumer. That said, competing against Costco, Walmart, and even Target in physical grocery retail can be challenging.
While I’m not really writing about Amazon Fresh itself, what I am writing about is that in their last days, Amazon Fresh decided to give 50 to 60 percent off all items in the store. And let me tell you, the lines were out the door and hours long just to get in. This got me thinking. This was truly the first time in years we got sales on things that were important, like groceries and baby formula, and not junk we usually see during Black Friday that’s useless after a few months.
I went two days before my local Amazon Fresh closed, and while it was picked clean by the time I got there, especially for groceries and meats, I got amazing deals on snacks, baked goods, medicine, and stocked up. Imagine getting a stick of deodorant for $1.50 or pasta for 25 cents. Even though I had to wait to get into the store and then wait almost an hour to check out, I’d say it was totally worth it. Seeing sales on grocery items, things people need daily, was so refreshing and caught everyone off guard. I saw people filling up their carts to the brim, and it really shows where we are as a society. People are willing to spend hours just to get a deal on their weekly groceries, and I wish we got more deals like this rather than only seeing them during a store closure.
People want deals on meat, produce, and household goods, not a “sale” on a TV or a gaming computer. Those are great, and trust me, I love those too, but the majority of people are feeling the effects of rising costs for daily items and are ecstatic to see prices like this. What the majority of society would love to see are more consumer friendly prices for groceries and other regularly purchased goods. These sales feel tangible because we buy these items often, so we know they’re real deals, unlike major sale periods like Black Friday where prices often feel a bit inflated beforehand.
If more grocery stores, and stores in general, even clothing retailers, gave consumers the deals they actually want, people would show up. That’s the lesson. So many places, from Chipotle to Target, are reporting less foot traffic and drops in sales, and they keep trying to innovate menus or roll out new initiatives without addressing the root issue, even though they know it, which is price. Consumers want better prices, especially in the current state we’re in. It’s always about price, and consumers become even more price conscious during times of economic hardship.
I will miss Amazon Fresh, especially the regular deals I got while they were open and the deals I scored as they closed. I hope to see this level of excitement from myself and other consumers for these kinds of deals more regularly, and from major retailers like Walmart, Target, and Kroger. But until then, I’ll go back to Aldi, which I love, and still feel like I’m getting a deal every time I shop there.