When Amazon Fresh touched down in the UK in 2021 with its first opening in Ealing, west London, it made a big splash with its checkout-free, cashless model that enabled customers to ‘just walk out’ by scanning their smartphones.

Only two years later that Ealing branch of Amazon Fresh, along with two others in south-west London, has closed its doors – a seeming setback for the retail giant’s grocery ambitions. But is it really?