Despite an overall loss in the first quarter of nearly $4 billion (due to an investment valuation loss), Amazon experienced a double-digit gain in the first quarter by its brick-and-mortar stores. For the quarter ended March 31, physical-store sales, which include Whole Foods Market, grew 17.1% compared to the same quarter last year.
The increase followed year-over-year gains of 16.6% in Q4 2021, 13% in Q3 2021 and 11% in Q2 2021. On a sequential basis, physical-store sales declined nearly 2.1% in the first quarter of 2022 following three straight quarter-to-quarter increases.
Amazon’s U.S. physical stores include 515 Whole Foods Markets, 29 Amazon Fresh grocery stores, and 26 Amazon Go convenience stores.
In March, Amazon announced that it would close all of its bookstores, pop-up retail sites and shops carrying toys and home goods in the U.S. and Great Britain. However, the company continues to grow its other brick-and-mortar banners, namely the food-related banners mentioned previously.