Amazon Envisions the Store of the Future

Racked is no longer publishing. Thank you to everyone who read our work over the years. The archives will remain available here; for new stories, head over to Vox.com, where our staff is covering consumer culture for The Goods by Vox. You can also see what we’re up to by signing up here.

Amazon apparently has big plans for retail stores beyond even the bookstore it opened last year. The traditionally online retailer is reportedly working on expanding into other categories and when it does, it won't be your average retail experience, according to Business Insider.

Business Insider notes that Amazon, which has built its empire by essentially replacing the need to ever go to a physical retail store, wants to incorporate the type of technology that made it a success online into its eventual brick-and-mortar retail outlets.

One of the developments reportedly in the works is an app that would allow customers to completely bypass a checkout and would just automatically charge them. One-click checkout-ease for IRL, if you will.

The stores will probably incorporate some of the advances already used in Amazon's bookstores, like product ratings displayed on shelves and pricing that directly reflects what an item would cost when bought from online. This means prices aren't even shown in the store so customers can always get the best deal.

Business Insider has plenty of other educated guesses — personalized discounts, a store organized by customers' favorites, and help from Amazon's Echo instead of an associate — but nothing there is being reported at the moment.