Amazon's futuristic automatic checkout stores may eventually go up against your local off-licence, after the Amazon Go flagship store in Seattle revealed plans to start selling alcohol.

Amazon Go stores do away with human checkout staff through a combination of cutting-edge technology that allows customers to simply walk in, grab what they want and leave.

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This will shortly include beer and wine, after Amazon applied for a licence to sell alcohol in its US flagship store. To stop this turning into a free-for-all for liquored-up youths, Amazon told Recode that there would still be human staff on hand to check IDs. Sorry, McLovin.

The first Amazon Go shop opened near the e-commerce giant's Seattle headquarters last year. Shoppers scan themselves into the shop upon entry using their smartphone, and from there a combination of cameras, sensors and machine learning tech tracks what each customer takes from the shelves.

Amazon Go
Amazon Go store lets customers walk in, pick up what they want and leave without needing to check out Amazon

Upon exiting, a receipt for the items is tallied up and charged directly from the customer's Amazon account. For now only Amazon employees are allowed to shop there, however the company plans to open it to the public in the coming months.

It's believed that Amazon plans to open up to 2,000 of its automated convenience stores in the United States and may also bring the format to Britain, after registering for a UK trademark in December 2016.

More brick-and-mortar Amazon stores are expected to appear on high streets in the form of bookshops, which the company reportedly plans to open in Chicago, San Diego and Portland, US.