Amazon has notified customers who use its Amazon One palm payment authentication service that as of June 3, 2026, it no longer will be available at retail businesses – including Whole Foods, where it was part of the chain’s self-checkout systems.
Here is the email that went out to users:
The company promises to delete all user data, including palm prints and payment information. The company also says that “some locations may begin removing Amazon One devices before June 3.
No explanation has been given by the company for the move, which was confirmed by MNB; there seems to be no mention of the decision anywhere on Amazon’s website as of this writing.
The decision comes as the company announced that it is closing its 57 Amazon Fresh Stores and 15 Amazon Go stores, and will focus its bricks-and-mortar ambitions on expanding Whole Foods, as well as on its fast grocery delivery business. At the same time, Amazon this week has confirmed that it laying off 16,00 employees, which is in addition to the 14,000 employees laid off last October.
Amazon’s head of resources, Beth Galetti, said that a goal of “reducing layers, increasing ownership, and removing bureaucracy” was motivating the new layoffs.
KC’s View:
To be honest, I am gobsmacked by Amazon’s decision to eliminate its palm payment authentication service – especially without explanation. That service, to me, was one of the differentiating aspects to shopping at my local Whole Foods; why they’d want to get rid of something that virtually nobody else has is beyond me.
I’m not the only one who feels that way. I noticed that when Martin Peers of The Information wrote about Amazon’s bricks-and-mortar pivot this week, he said, in part:
Why keep Whole Foods? Well, it’s obviously got a better brand name. And the company tells me the chain is delivering bigger increases in revenue than Fresh. It also gives Amazon a chance to continue testing new tech (love the palm readers!).
Well, apparently not all the new tech. But I’m with Peers on the palm readers.
It is possible that there wasn’t sufficient ROI for Amazon One, and that not enough people used them to rationalize the expense. But I would argue – and quite frankly, I did argue that Amazon/Whole Foods did a lousy job of marketing it. They put the technology in, but didn’t really explain to shoppers what the consumer benefits were – they didn’t sell it.
This is a good lesson to every retailer. Narratives don’t tell themselves. You actually have to tell your own story, and you think an initiative is important enough to implement, you have to explain the benefits to shoppers.
I would encourage you to watch or listen to today’s Innovation Conversation. As a former Amazon executive – he actually got Amazon into the grocery business all those years ago – Tom Furphy has a unique perspective on all these goings-on.
The post Amazon One – And, Apparently, Done appeared first on MNB.
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