E-COMMERCE titan Amazon has confirmed plans to close its bricks-and-mortar bookstores and pop-up shops to focus on its Whole Foods Market grocery chain and retail outlets featuring its latest auto-checkout technology.

The company will shutter its Amazon 4-star, Books, and Pop-Up stores, according to a spokesman.

Amazon 4-star stores carry curated selections of merchandise, all of which have been rated 4-stars or more on the company’s website.

The Seattle-based company expected to close 66 real-world stores in the United States and two in the United Kingdom.

“We remain committed to building great, long-term physical retail experiences and technologies,” said a spokesman in reply to an AFP inquiry.

“We are closely working with our affected employees to help them find new roles within Amazon.”

The company said the closures are part of a shift in strategy to focus more on Amazon Fresh, Whole Foods Market, Amazon Go and Amazon Style stores, as well as the company’s “Just Walk Out” technology, which allows customers to settle their tabs without a cash register.

Amazon plans to continue opening “innovative” stores, including a Style shop in Los Angeles that will be its first bricks-and-mortar clothing store.

A Style store to launch later this year will let customers use the retailer’s app to scan QR codes of garments, choose from sizes and colours, then have those items sent to fitting rooms to try on, according to a blog post.

The store’s fitting rooms are designed to be a “personalised space”, where shoppers will find items they requested via the app along with options added based on their choices, according to Amazon.

Touchscreens in fitting rooms will let people continue to shop, with items delivered “in just minutes” for them to try on, it added.

The plan for a physical clothing store comes as authorities and competitors raise warnings over the tech giant having too much clout in retail.

Amazon acquired the Whole Foods Market grocery chain for US$13.7 billion (RM57.4 billion) in 2017, significantly expanding its presence in physical retail. – AFP, March 3, 2022.