Dive Brief:

• Amazon.com may begin offering Kindle-based point-of-sale systems to brick-and-mortar retailers, possibly as early as this summer, sources told the Wall Street Journal Wednesday.

• Further, Amazon-to-physical-stores services might also include website development and data analysis. To develop the program, Amazon last year acquired technology and engineers to develop an app-based checkout system.

• These plans may change or get scrapped or delayed, the sources also said.

Dive Insight:

In contrast to its drone-delivery or delivery-before-order plans, the idea that Amazon might offer app-based point-of-sale systems and other services to brick-and-mortar retailers — many of them arguably competitors — actually makes sense. That's because it gets the e-commerce giant in on the physical-store game, where 90% of commerce still takes place. And it could make sense for retailers, at least those willing to play with Amazon in order to be privy to the fruits of its prowess with customer-data collection and loyalty. The idea that the whole thing may be changed, delayed, or scrapped all together, which is what the unnamed sources said about the plans, is almost adorably Amazon. Still, this one does have a whiff of being more than "what-if," so stay tuned.