Analyst: Amazon Should Disrupt Gas Stations Next

SEATTLE — One year after opening its first brick-and-mortar convenience store, one analyst thinks gas stations would be a good next step for Amazon.

According to Bloomberg, DA Davidson Cos. said the retail giant could benefit from growing its physical presence as "another means for it to advance its delivery efforts."

In addition to checkout-free Amazon Go c-stores, Amazon also owns the Whole Foods Market chain.

Adding gas stations would "provide the company thousands of commercial locations to advance its delivery efforts," analyst Tom Forte wrote to clients. He suggested that such outposts could be used for Amazon Locker or to utilize Amazon Go, its cashier-free checkout technology.

In addition, selling gas would provide another revenue source. According to Forte, Costco Wholesale derived 10 percent of its revenue from gasoline sales.

As the news outlet reported, Forte wrote that gas stations would also "provide the company additional data on the physical whereabouts of consumers," as it would have "thousands more locations where it would know where consumers were shopping."

Amazon derived 7.5 percent of its third-quarter revenue from physical stores, data compiled by Bloomberg show. More than 50 percent came from online stores in the period.