Amazon opened its first supermarket without checkouts - either human or self-service - to shoppers today.

Amazon Go, in Seattle, has been tested by staff for the past year. It uses ceiling-mounted cameras and electronic sensors to identify each customer and track what items they pick up. Purchases are billed to customers' credit cards when they leave the store, as reported by the BBC.

Before entering the supermarket, shoppers must scan the Amazon Go smartphone app. Sensors on the shelves add groceries to the bill as customers pick them up - and delete any they put back.

The store opened to Amazon employees in December 2016 and had been expected to open to the public more quickly. But initial teething problems with identifying individual shoppers and products being moved around the store meant it took longer than expected.

Amazon has not said if it will be opening more Go stores, which are separate from the Whole Foods chain that it bought last year for $13.7bn (£10.7bn), just months before Cheltenham's Whole Foods store closed down.

But if Amazon Go works, the online giant is on to a winner. All retailers know that the faster customers can make their purchases, the more likely they are to return. Making the supermarket queue a thing of the past will give any retailer a real edge over the competition.

It's not yet known whether Amazon Go will open in the UK.

Punchline says: It's just another step towards Amazon completely taking over retail. Apart from the loss of employment, our biggest concern is how much personal and lifestyle information is going to be held by Amazon and other organisations in future and what safeguards are in place to protect us all.

What do you think? Email mark@moosemarketingandpr.co.uk