LONDON, Sept 23 (Reuters) - Amazon.com ( AMZN ) said it planned

to close all of its 19 Amazon Fresh UK convenience grocery

stores, of which five would be converted to its Whole Foods

Markets brand, less than five years after it entered the market.

Amazon Fresh pioneered "walk out" technology in Britain,

enabling customers to skip the checkout line when they picked up

groceries, including its own "by Amazon ( AMZN )" brand.

It said on Tuesday it had taken the difficult decision to

propose closing the stores after evaluating the business and the

substantial growth opportunities in online delivery.

It said it was seeing strong demand for household essentials

and groceries from its Amazon.co.uk store, Amazon Fresh online,

Whole Foods Market and its online delivery partnerships with

Morrisons, Co-op, Iceland and Gopuff.

Next year it said it planned to introduce perishable

groceries alongside everyday essentials and other products on

Amazon.co.uk with same-day delivery.

In addition to expanding online grocery, it said it would

convert five Amazon Fresh locations to Whole Foods Market, the

U.S. chain it bought in 2017.