Amazon Fresh opened its first stores in New York and New Jersey in recent days, inaugurating a new regional front in the rapid expansion of the fledgling grocery brand.
On Thursday, the company announced the opening of its store at 30 E. Ridgewood Ave. in Paramus, New Jersey. The location, which formerly housed a Fairway Market, features Amazon’s Just Walk Out technology, which allows shoppers to bypass the checkout line. It also offers grocery products, prepared foods and online shopping.
Last Thursday, Amazon opened a store at 3620 Long Beach Road in Oceanside, New York. The former Waldbaum’s location on Long Island will also feature Just Walk Out shopping along with an assortment of groceries and prepared foods.
According to local reports, Amazon Fresh is planning to open additional locations on the New Jersey Shore and on Long Island, as well as on Staten Island. Amazon also operates several Amazon Go convenience stores in New York City.
Amazon Fresh also recently announced the openings of stores in Norridge, Illinois, and Ecino, California. Both locations feature Just Walk Out technology.
So far, Amazon Fresh has opened more than three dozen stores across several states. The vast majority of its recent openings have featured its Just Walk Out technology, indicating the company sees this leading-edge system as a key differentiator in the fight to win consumers’ grocery dollars.
Amazon isn’t neglecting its proprietary smart cart, which operates in just under half its Fresh stores, however, having just announced a new version that will roll out to select Whole Foods Market stores and “many” Fresh locations.
According to a recent report from Coresight Research, Amazon is accelerating its Fresh store openings and is on track to open more locations in 2022 than the 18 it launched last year.
