Why Have Amazon Fresh Locations Been Dubbed 'Zombie' Stores?

Amazon is best known for its presence on the internet. From the sprawling breadth of its online sales to the many controversial opinion pieces written about the company, most of the front-facing part of Amazon simply lives online. However, it might surprise you to learn that the e-commerce company also owns a chain of grocery stores. 

These specialty stores combine Amazon's business model with the model of classic American grocery stores. According to Insider, Amazon Fresh is the corporation's answer to places like Walmart and Weis. When shopping at Amazon's grocery stores, you can place orders for a wide variety of produce, meats, and even prepared meals on the Amazon Fresh website or app in the same way you can shop for books or clothes online. In fact, you can even schedule a delivery straight to your door or for pick-up at the nearest Amazon Fresh store. 

But how exactly does this method of online grocery shopping hold up in the real world? And what exactly do we mean by "Zombie" stores anyway?

While there's no denying that Amazon has made an absurd amount of money through its online retail and delivery services, it would seem that some critics view the company's foray into the world of grocers and produce to be a disappointing one.

According to NewJersey.com, the Paramus Amazon Fresh store basically operates without any employees: All transactions are done through the customer's Amazon account, and no physical interactions are needed. While there are a few employees on-hand for service purposes, most of the work is done through either the customer's phone or through an in-store Alexa that guides customers to different products. Yet the review of the store noted that the location was poorly stocked, with near-empty bakeries and delis alongside rather "generic" items that could be purchased anywhere else.

The Westport Journal also reports that many Amazon Fresh stores seem to be in a "limbo" state, not exactly closed but also not open to the public. The Westport Amazon Fresh, a former Barnes & Noble, seems to be stuck between being under construction and outright abandoned. Although the Journal reached out to Amazon, it received no satisfying answers to the question if the Amazon Fresh location was "alive" or "dead." It's Bezo's Box: the Amazon Fresh store is both theoretically open and closed.

But how could Amazon Fresh stores be struggling? What could be behind these complaints?

The idea behind Amazon Fresh was sound: If Amazon could make billions off of people buying goods and products online, could the idea be applied to the grocery store? After all, if people want to buy clothes and products, they could buy meat and vegetables the same way. It would seem that this idea, while good on paper, may not have been as successful as Amazon believed it to be.

The Sunday Times in the United Kingdom reports that, in August 2022, Amazon "walked away" from many Amazon Fresh sites, seemingly abandoning them and cutting back on the expansion of the stores. Insider elaborates, detailing that Amazon Fresh found itself marred in problems, ranging from poor sales to rising costs influenced by recent economic concerns. While a store without employees may have saved costs, running a store that sits empty most of the time is still an enormous waste of money.

It would also seem that many people would rather grocery shop in-store than online. Although places like Walmart can offer grocery shopping online, people are simply more comfortable picking the products out for themselves in-store, rather than having a machine or an employee do it for them. Amazon Fresh, it would seem, overestimated how popular online grocery shopping would be.