NEW YORK CITY, New York: Amazon is reshaping its brick-and-mortar grocery strategy, announcing it will shut down all Amazon Go and Amazon Fresh stores as it concentrates on expanding Whole Foods Market, boosting grocery delivery, and testing new large-format retail concepts.

The Seattle-based retailer said in a blog post that it will close its Amazon Go and Amazon Fresh locations and convert some of the sites into Whole Foods Market stores. Amazon currently operates 57 Amazon Fresh locations and 15 Amazon Go stores.

"While we've seen encouraging signals in our Amazon-branded physical grocery stores, we haven't yet created a truly distinctive customer experience with the right economic model needed for large-scale expansion," the company said in the post.

Amazon said customers can continue shopping Amazon Fresh online in areas where the service is available, offering "fast and convenient delivery."

The final day of operation for Amazon Fresh and Amazon Go stores will be February 1, except in California, where locations will remain open longer to comply with state requirements, the company said.

Since acquiring Whole Foods Market in 2017, Amazon said the grocery chain has posted more than 40 percent sales growth and expanded to over 550 locations. The company now plans to open more than 100 additional Whole Foods stores in the coming years.

Amazon said the changes reflect broader shifts in how consumers shop, with more customers opting for online delivery of groceries and everyday essentials.

The company currently delivers groceries to 5,000 U.S. cities and towns, including many where customers have access to same-day delivery, allowing them to shop for fresh produce and perishables alongside household staples. Citing strong customer feedback, Amazon said it plans to expand same-day grocery delivery to more areas this year.

Even as it pulls back from some physical grocery formats, Amazon said it will continue experimenting with in-person retail.

The company announced plans this week for a "new supercenter" physical store concept designed to let customers shop Amazon's wide selection of fresh groceries, household essentials, and general merchandise in one location. Amazon did not disclose additional details, including when the first store would open.

Amazon is also testing a new in-store format called Amazon Grocery, launched alongside Whole Foods Market in Chicago. A version of this concept at a Whole Foods store in Plymouth Meeting, Pennsylvania, allows customers to shop for both groceries and household essentials from Amazon.

Amazon opened its first Amazon Go store in Seattle in 2018, introducing a cashierless shopping experience that lets customers take items such as milk, snacks, or ready-to-eat meals and leave without stopping at a checkout counter. The technology automatically charges customers after they exit the store.

The company said the Amazon Go concept provided valuable insights. Those stores functioned as "innovation hubs" for developing its "just walk out" technology, which is now used as a checkout solution in more than 360 third-party locations across five countries.

Amazon said it is expanding the use of that technology within its own operations. More than 40 fulfillment centers across North America now use "just walk out" systems in employee breakrooms, allowing workers to grab meals without checkout delays, with more locations planned this year.

Amazon launched its first Amazon Fresh physical store in 2020. The stores feature a mix of national brands, as well as fresh produce, meat, and seafood.