Amazon’s Main Street Grocery Battle Isn’t What You Think

Almost four years after Amazon.com Inc. opened its first cashierless stores, the e-commerce behemoth is a long way from conquering Main Street.

But a strategy is gradually emerging that could make Jeff Bezos & Co. a deluge of profit from the concept without opening a single store more.

That’s because selling groceries isn’t a great business these days. Selling software, however, often is.

The tech is pretty nifty. Shoppers fill their baskets and then, tracked by computer vision technology, simply leave without needing to check out. The cost is debited from their accounts automatically.

A “bag as you shop” display at an Amazon Go store in Seattle.

Photographer: Chona Kasinger/Bloomberg

Amazon seemed to ...