Amazon plans to share cashierless store data with brands and advertisers

An Amazon Go employee heads toward the entrance of the cashierless store recently, using her phone to scan in. The Seattle-based company announced plans to start sharing data collected by its shopper-tracking cameras and sensors. — Seattle Times/TNS

Amazon.com Inc created its cashierless technology to speed up a trip to the grocery or convenience store. Now it wants to use the tracking system to help brands and advertisers figure out how to sell more stuff.

In a blog post Wednesday, the Seattle-based company announced plans to start sharing data collected by its shopper-tracking cameras and sensors. Among other insights, Amazon would tell brands how many people ended up buying an item plucked from a shelf, how many put it back and how many purchased the product later on Amazon.com. The initiative, called Store Analytics, essentially brings the data-mining attributes of e-commerce to physical stores.