Amazon has opened its first Amazon Fresh store outside London in Bligh’s Meadow shopping centre in Sevenoaks in Kent, the latest sign yet of plans for a further expansion of the checkout-free grocery format.
Owned by the Abrdn PAIF open-ended fund, the 76,205-square-foot Bligh’s Meadow is in the heart of Sevenoaks and has offices, restaurants, high street and independent retail outlets. Amazon Fresh is opening a 3,500-square-foot convenience grocery store.
George Shaw, fund manager, Abrdn, said in a statement: “This is an exciting opportunity to promote innovation within a traditional town centre environment. It enhances our existing lifestyle offer by providing our customers with a seamless and convenient shopping experience.”
JLL and Salisbury & Co are leasing agents for Bligh’s Meadow.
According to Amazon's website the store is its 19th in the UK and its first outside of London. Amazon has rapidly grown the geographical and demographic spread of its checkout-free format across London.
It signed for 2-2A Station Road in Chingford in east London in February, its furthest store from central London so far, as well as opening at 46 Garratt Lane at Landsec's Southside mall in Wandsworth in south west London.
The stores use Amazon’s Just Walk Out technology. After scanning in using a smartphone QR code, customers can buy food and daily offers, including the private label "by Amazon", then walk out of the store without having to visit a cashier. Billing and receipts are handled through the customer’s Amazon account shortly after the visit.
The latest opening will give further credibility to reports it is planning to have opened 260 of the supermarkets in the UK by 2024.
Amazon has declined to comment on the reports, which are based on an internal memo cited by various media. The reports suggest 60 new stores are planned this year, 100 in 2023 and more than 100 in 2024. An Amazon spokeswoman told CoStar News that the online giant does not comment on “rumours or speculation”.
It has been quickly building a roster of stores since it opened the first UK Amazon Fresh grocery store at Ealing Broadway.