Amazon considering opening up to 3,000 cashierless stores by 2021

Amazon.com Inc is considering a plan to open as many as 3,000 new Amazon Go cashierless stores in the next few years, Bloomberg reported here on Wednesday, citing people familiar with the matter.

Shares of U.S. supermarket chains Kroger Co and Target Corp fell between 1 and 2 percent following the news. Amazon shares were down about 1 percent.

The company currently has three Amazon Go stores in Seattle, and plans to expand in Chicago, San Francisco and New York.

The Amazon Go store, which has no cashiers and allows shoppers to buy things with the help of a smartphone app, is widely seen as a concept that can alter brick-and-mortar retail.

Customers have to scan a smartphone app to enter the store. Once inside, cameras and sensors track what they pick up from the shelves and what they put back. Amazon then bills shoppers’ credit cards on file after they leave.

Amazon did not immediately respond to a request for comment.