When it comes to the tech in the retail space, it looks like Amazon and its Go stores are aiming to lead the charge. The company successfully launched a pilot cashier-less store earlier in the year, and plans to expand the offering to other major cities in the US. According to reports by Reuters, Amazon may have some competition in the form of Microsoft.

The company is said to be in talks with Walmart to partner on a similar project, pairing the former's technology and latter's locations to open up their own cashier-less store to rival that of Amazon Go.

It's unclear at this stage what city the store would open in, or indeed what kind of technology it will employ, but Reuters believes that sensor-based service powered by Microsoft's Project Kinect for Azure is the likely go-to. As such, sensor technology will be used to detect products on the shelves of the store, as well as when the items are taken out of the store. As for what payment solution or the kind of products that will be stocked, Walmart will probably handle that end of the business.

No mention from either Microsoft or Walmart if this reported plan is indeed going to happen, but it is at least good to see that companies are trying to disrupt the physical retail space.