Is Amazon's Hiring Spree A Sign It's Moving Into Brick And Mortar?

Amazon.com, Inc.'s AMZN announcement that it will create 100,000 new full-time jobs over the next 18 months has some investors wondering if it's preemptive move to counter a potential threat from Alibaba Group Holding Ltd BABA or a gesture of good-will towards President-elect Donald Trump.

Perhaps it's neither.

According to CNBC, KeyBanc's analyst Ed Yurma said in a research report that Amazon's fulfillment center is unlikely to support more than 50,000 to 60,000 incremental jobs which leaves a "significant and unexplained gap." With that said, the analyst believes Amazon is now planning an "accelerated rollout of physical stores."

"In particular, we think that a potential grocery pickup concept looks particularly promising," the analyst also noted.

Yurma could be on to something as Amazon's ambitions to enter the grocery retail space has been well communicated to investors. The company's grocery store format released a viral video which showed what the future of shopping would look like in which there are no checkout registers and lines.

"What if we could weave the most advanced machine learning, computer vision, and AI into the very fabric of the store so you never have to wait in line," the commercial said.

Amazon also has plans to open up brick-and-mortar bookstores and will open its first location in New York City this spring.