Amazon.com chief executive Andy Jassy has vowed to double down on the e-commerce giant's struggling grocery store business, the Financial Times has reported.
Jassy blamed a lack of normalcy during the pandemic for a series of stumbles and said the company was ready to "go big" on bricks-and-mortar stores, the report added.
Amazon did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.
Read More: Amazon Still Grasping For Success With Supermarkets, CEO Says
Paused Expansion
The company has paused expansion of its Amazon Fresh supermarkets and cashier-less convenience stores until it finds the right recipe for success, Jassy said, in a rare appearance on the company's quarterly results call earlier this month.
Jassy's remarks show how Amazon, which just a year ago said it would close its bookstores to focus on grocery, has yet to dominate brick-and-mortar retail since its closely watched acquisition of Whole Foods Market in 2017.
For the time being, the company has closed some grocery shops and impaired certain assets. It took a $720 million (€670.9 million) charge from such actions in the fourth quarter, its chief financial officer said earlier this month.
'A Tough Business'
Earlier this month, Michael Pachter, an analyst with Wedbush Securities, said Amazon has itself to blame for falling short when it comes to bricks-and-mortar retailing, having drawn consumers to online shopping decades ago.
"Retail is a tough business," he said. "They are flushing money down a toilet pursuing Amazon Fresh stores" and thinking "they can brand a new concept and capture share from retailers who have been successful for decades."
Read More: Is Amazon's Job Cuts Announcement A Nail In The Coffin For Amazon Fresh?
News by Reuters, edited by by ESM – your source for the latest retail news. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: European Supermarket Magazine.
