Amazon Fresh is set to scrap its direct grocery delivery service across five UK cities at the start of June.

The retailer told shoppers it would end its Amazon Fresh offer in Portsmouth, Glasgow, Sheffield, Leeds and Newcastle at the beginning of next month, according to The Grocer.

Amazon introduced the online grocery service back in 2016, which initially only served central and East London. However, the ecommerce giant has since widened its operations across the UK.

Highlighting that it was now focussing on perishable grocery delivery offerings with its partner grocers, an Amazon spokesman told the publication: “We’re always evaluating our offerings and operations network”.

Co-op, Morrisons and Iceland use Amazon.co.uk as a storefront, with ordered products fulfilled from shops and delivered by the supermarket. Customers can continue to shop with these grocers, depending on the area, across the cities where the company has ended operations.

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An Amazon spokesman said: “Customers in those locations can shop through Amazon for groceries from those brands as well as continue to shop a wide selection of everyday essentials and non-perishable food items through Amazon.co.uk for same and next-day delivery.

“Amazon Fresh online delivery and physical stores will continue to serve customers in many other parts of the country including London and parts of the south east, Liverpool, Birmingham and Manchester.”

Amazon’s first quarter profits more than triple at the start of this month, driven by rising demand for artificial intelligence, which helped to bolster sales growth in its cloud computing division.

Profits for the online retail giant rocketed to £8.3bn ($10.4bn) in the three months to 31 March 2024, up from £2.6bn ($3.2bn) last year.

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