Current Events in December 2018

CVS and Aetna, who announced last week they had closed on their merger agreement, may have overlooked one legal point.

The merger, approved by the U.S. Justice Department, must also be signed off by a federal court before it becomes final. And U.S. District Court Judge Richard Leon complains the two sides have treated him like a "rubber stamp."

At a hearing this week Leon said the filing appears to have raised a couple of antitrust issues and wondered out loud why he shouldn't order the two companies to stop their integration, which began last week, until he can further investigate the matter.

Leon is well acquainted with antitrust cases. He was the presiding judge earlier this year when he rejected the Justice Department's opposition to AT&T's acquisition of Time Warner. He did so in unusually strong language, advising the government against appealing his decision.

In a statement to the media, a CVS spokesman said the two companies are now one and the focus is on integrating them.

The union of the pharmacy retailer with the health insurance provider won approval from the Justice Department in October, with the provision that Aetna sells its Part D Medicare business. Under a 1974 law, a merger agreement approved by the Justice Department must still be blessed by the courts to ensure that it is in the public interest.

According to CNBC, most parties to approved merger deals do not wait for the court ruling, considering it a formality.

In late October, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported that acute flaccid myelitis (ACM) -- a polio-like disease that mainly affects children -- was on the rise across the United States.

Over 200 cases were under investigation at the beginning of last month, and the infection had spread to affect half the country. Now, the agency is reporting that the disease appears to be somewhat under control.

“Based on the number of reported cases of AFM in the United States through November 30, 2018, it appears that the number of persons under investigation (PUIs) for AFM has peaked and will continue to decline for the remainder of 2018,” the CDC wrote.

Monitoring the spread

Since the outbreak started, the CDC has been updating both the confirmed case counts and the number of cases under investigation.

The most recent totals found that AFM had spread to 33 states and 134 cases were confirmed, though the agency continues to monitor the disease closely and release new totals each week. In the report released today, the CDC notes that 18 new cases were confirmed in the last week, but the majority of these occurred between September and October, which is a positive sign.

The CDC began monitoring AFM in 2014, and though the agency is still unsure what causes the disease to spread so rapidly, a pattern has developed in which more cases of AFM are confirmed every two years.

In 2014, 120 cases were confirmed, and then by the next year, that number dropped rapidly to 22 cases. In 2016, the number shot back up to 149 confirmed cases, only to drop again in 2017 to 33 confirmed cases. The up-and-down pattern has persisted this year with 134 cases.

Experts have found that the majority of cases are found between August and October, and they tend to be on the decline around this time of year, which the CDC is expecting to happen for the remainder of 2018.

“Although fewer cases are expected in coming months, CDC and partners continue to carefully study AFM to gain new understanding of the condition so that we can better diagnose, treat, and prevent it in the future,” the CDC wrote.

Knowing the warning signs

With this most recent stream of AFM cases, CDC advisors reported their frustration with the way the agency has handled the disease.

The cause of AFM remains unknown, and advisors felt that the agency wasn’t doing enough to share information with consumers on warning signs of the illness and other ways to protect children.

Experts warn that parents should look out for arm or leg weakness or loss of reflexes or muscle tone. AFM can eventually lead to paralysis, and the disease can become serious rather quickly.

While the CDC works to keep people in the know on the latest AFM headlines, there are ways parents can help eliminate risks for their children, including:

• Getting the polio vaccine;

• Protecting against mosquito bites; and

• Keeping hands clean with soap and water

“Hey, Gramps, can you send me $1,000? I’m stuck in a bad situation and need some help fast.”

Don’t laugh. Gramps gets scammed more often that you think, according to a new report from the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) Consumer Sentinel Network.

And scammed to the tune of $9,000, on average, too!

The FTC took a deep dive into the Sentinel’s data and found that 25 percent of those aged 70+ report mailing huge amounts of cash to people masquerading as their grandchildren. In about half of the instances, these “friend and family imposter scams” start with a phone call from a “grandchild” with the frightful tale of being in jail or other legal trouble. Another third of these scams involve being in a car wreck thanks to texting- or drinking-while-driving.

In both situations, the scammer plays the strings of grandma or grandpa’s heart by telling them they’re the only person they can trust enough to help bail the kid out. And a statement like “Please, grandma, don’t tell anyone about this,” helps seal the deal.

“These scammers are experts at impersonating people they’ve never even met. Car accident injuries, often broken noses, or uncontrolled sobbing explain away a voice that might not sound quite right,” wrote the FTC’s Emma Fletcher.

“Scammers use personal details from social media sites to make their stories more believable. Or they may simply wait for their target to use a name – ‘Steve, is that you?’ – and take the cue.”

Cash is king

The FTC found that the scammers routinely have a detailed to-do list on how to send cash. Many victims said they were instructed to put the dollar bills into envelopes and hide them inside a magazine. Then, to add immediacy, they were told to send the loot via UPS, FedEx, or the U.S. Postal Service.

The FTC reports that while grandparents are the most frequently scammed demographic, the compound loss runs across all generations. And the pirated bounties are also skyrocketing, increasing from $26 million to $41 million in the last year alone.

What to do

While this may seem like one of those things that will never happen to you, it does happen. Fraud is up double-digits in almost every category and, despite how smart we think we are, there’s bad actors trying to craft a new con every day.

The FTC suggests some steps that might save both you and your relatives from some woe:

• Don’t act right away, no matter how dramatic the story is.

• Call that family member or friend, and make sure you use a phone number that you know is right. Or check it out with someone else in your circle, even if the caller told you to keep it a secret.

• Be careful about what you post on social media. If your personal details are public, someone can use them to defraud you and people who care about you.

If someone in your family has been hit by this send-me-cash scam, report it ASAP to the Postal Service or whichever shipping company that was used. With a tracking number, some people have been able to stop the fulfillment of this scam by acting quickly and stopping the delivery dead in its tracks.

Lastly, ConsumerAffairs suggests you pass along the video featured above or the FTC’s publication about this scam. If you’re ever targeted by this scam, tell the FTC at FTC.gov/complaint. The agency may be able to help.

Consumers can learn more about this and other imposter scams -- such as the tech support or IRS imposter scams -- at FTC.gov/imposters.

Intense competition is causing non-related retailers to work together and, in many instances, making it easier for time-pressed consumers to shop. As an example, Kroger and Walgreens are moving forward with their plan to offer Kroger grocery items at select Walgreens stores.

The food section is called Kroger Express and consists of 2,300 products that have been selected using consumer preference data. The first store in Florence, Ky., is already operational.

The next phase calls for opening a dozen more locations in Northern Kentucky, not far from Kroger's Cincinnati headquarters. Kroger says the next 12 stores will open early next year.

"The Kroger Express concept creates easy access to our most popular Our Brands products through a fill-in grocery shopping experience for Walgreens customers, and our Home Chef Express meal kits provide customers with an on-demand solution for tonight's dinner," said Robert Clark, Kroger's senior vice president of merchandising.

Retailers have been getting creative lately in a bid to counter Amazon's growing dominance. After Amazon began delivering groceries most competitors adopted some method of making it easier for consumers to shop. Nearly all grocery chains now offer the ability to order online and have the order delivered to the consumer's vehicle in a drive-up space.

For Kroger, the Express concept is designed to sell groceries to consumers while they shop at a drug store. In a similar deal in 2016, CVS took over the pharmacies inside Target stores.

Meal kits available at Chicago Walgreens

At the same time, Kroger has begun offering Home Chef Express meal kits in 65 Chicago-area Walgreens stores. During the pilot period, Walgreens will offer three different meals, with the selections changing on a regular basis. Each meal serves two and prices start at $8.50 per serving.

"Customers have responded favorably to the retail meal kits at our Mariano's stores in the market and other Kroger Family of Stores located in different cities," said Clark. "The Walgreens expansion provides more Chicagoans convenient access to a quick, simple meal."

Kroger and Walgreens announced their joint venture in early October but have not said whether the tie-up will be expanded beyond the 13 Walgreens stores in the Cincinnati area.

Apple has launched an online store that gives discounts to active military and veterans.

The online store will let military personnel, veterans, and members of their immediate family purchase products such as hardware, software, speakers, accessories, and products from third parties for 10 percent off the usual price.

The company previously offered active military and veterans discounts in Apple’s physical stores, but the addition of a dedicated online store is new. The ability to shop online for these items, and get them at a discount, will make it easier for disabled veterans to get devices they may need.

“At Apple we are deeply grateful to the men and women of our armed forces. We’re proud to offer active military and veterans a new dedicated online store with special pricing as an expression of our gratitude for their brave service,” the company said in a statement.

The discount won’t apply to iTunes/Apple Music content. Military service verification is required prior to checkout in-store or online, according to Apple.

Other tech companies also offer discounts to active army personnel and veterans, including Microsoft, Samsung, Dell, Hewlett Packard, and Lenovo.

For older consumers, it’s not uncommon to be prescribed several different medications.

Though doctors prescribe them with the intention of combating certain health conditions, a new study found that taking multiple medications can pose a number of health risks for older adults with heart issues.

Known as “polypharmacy,” consumers who take five or more medications are at a greater risk of experiencing side effects from the combination of medicines, which oftentimes leads to an increased risk of hospital visits, disability, or falls.

Cause for concern

To see how older adults taking multiple medications are affected in their day-to-day lives, the researchers analyzed results from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) from 2003 through 2014.

All of the participants were aged 50 and older and considered to be frail, which the researchers note has an effect on strength and endurance, and is also a side effect of taking multiple medications. The participants also all had multiple chronic conditions, including:

• Anemia

• Arthritis

• Asthma

• Cancer

• Chronic kidney disease

• Coronary artery disease

• Dialysis

• Emphysema

• High cholesterol

• Liver disease

• Prior heart attack

• Prior stroke

• Thyroid disease

Nearly three-quarters of all of the survey participants took at least five medications. The researchers found that the participants who took more medication had a greater difficulty completing day-to-day tasks compared with those who took less medication.

Cognitive difficulties -- trouble making decisions and thinking clearly -- were found to go hand-in-hand with the struggle to complete daily activities, as the researchers found that 25 percent of the participants faced some kind of cognitive issue as a direct result of their medication.

The researchers believe that healthcare providers need to carefully consider the side effects that could come up for older adults with heart failure before adding another medication into the mix.

“This suggests that providers may not sufficiently consider functional impairment when prescribing medications to adults with [heart failure] and thus may unnecessarily expose individuals to risk of adverse outcomes,” the researchers wrote.

Consistent findings

In late 2016, researchers explored the relationship between frailty and older adults taking multiple medications.

The researchers broke the study’s participants into various groups based on how many medications they took on a daily basis.

Frailty occurred more frequently and happened more quickly for those who were taking either between five and nine prescriptions or more than 10 prescriptions.

“In a perfect world, your physician would talk about your medications with a pharmacist and a geriatrician,” said Dr. Kai-Uwe Saum. “This might help to reduce avoidable multiple drug prescriptions and possibly also lessen medication-induced risks for frailty and other negative effects of unnecessary, avoidable polypharmacy.”

In the future, will all “alternative” transportation companies be controlled by a single entity? The answer is anyone’s guess, but it's safe to say that Uber is on the hunt for app-based services whose business models end in the word “share.”

The rideshare giant is reportedly in talks for a “multibillion-dollar” acquisition of Bird, the dockless e-scooter company debuting in cities across the United States and overseas. The Information reports that if the deal falls through, Uber may attempt a similar deal with Lime.

Uber already purchased Jump, a dockless e-bike company, last April. That was followed later with a $335 million investment in Lime, the dockless bikeshare company that has expanded into the e-bike and e-scooter market.

Not to be outdone, Lyft over the summer purchased Motivate, the most widely-used dockless bikeshare service in the country.

Bird’s CEO reportedly responded to the latest news about a potential Uber acquisition with the claim that “Bird is not for sale.”

JBS Tolleson of Tolleson, Ariz., is expanding its earlier recall of non-intact raw beef products by more than 5 million pounds -- to a total of roughly approximately 12,093,271 pounds.

The products may be contaminated with Salmonella.

A federal epidemiological investigation has identified 246 confirmed case-patients from 25 states with illness onset dates ranging from August 5, 2018, to October 16, 2018.

An additional 16 case-patients have provided receipts or shopper card numbers for the product traceback investigations.

The list of raw, non-intact beef items, including ground beef, packaged on various dates from July 26, 2018, to Sept. 7, 2018, may be found here:  https://www.fsis.usda.gov/wps/wcm/connect/e055456e-449a-4995-8414-13fd080e5009/JBS+Tolleson+EST+267+Expanded+Recall.pdf?MOD=AJPERES

The recalled products, bearing establishment number “EST. 267” inside the USDA mark of inspection, were shipped to a retail locations and institutions nationwide.

What to do

Customers who purchased the recalled products should not consume them, but discard them or return them to the place of purchase.

Consumers with questions regarding the recall may contact the JBS USA consumer hotline at (800) 727-2333.

ANF is recalling select products of ANF Pet Lamb and Rice Dog Food.

The product may contain elevated levels of Vitamin D which, when consumed at very high levels, can lead to serious health issues in dogs including renal dysfunction.

Symptoms include vomiting, loss of appetite, increased thirst, increased urination, excessive drooling and weight loss.

The following products, sold in retail stores within Puerto Rico, are being recalled:

• 3 Kg ANF Lamb and Rice Dry Dog Food Bag UPC: 9097231622 BB NOV 23 2019
• 7.5 Kg ANF Lamb and Rice Dry Dog Food Bag UPC: 9097203300 BB NOV 20 2019

What to do

Customers who purchased the recalled product should stop feeding it and dispose of it or return it to the retailer for a full refund.

Consumers with questions may contact ANF customer service at (936) 560-5930 from 8AM – 5PM (CT) Monday through Friday, or by email at mwhite@anf.com.

Volkswagen Group of America is recalling 73,545 model year 2018-2019 Volkswagen Atlas and Tiguan and model year 2019 Volkswagen Jetta vehicles that do not have keyless entry.

The instrument cluster may not provide an audible warning to let the driver know that the key is still in the ignition when the door is open.

If the driver is not notified by an audible sound that the key is left in the ignition, it can increase the risk of vehicle theft or crash.

What to do

Volkswagen will notify owners, and dealers will reprogram the instrument cluster, free of charge.

The recall is expected to begin January 18, 2019.

Owners may contact Volkswagen customer service at 1-800-893-5298. Volkswagen's numbers for this recall are 90L3 and 90L4.

Yokohama Tire Corporation is recalling 529 Yokohama RY023 tires, size 295/75R22.5 (14G), with DOT date code 2318.

The rubber compound may be incorrect, possibly resulting in the tread separating from the casing.

If the tread separates, the driver may experience a loss of control, increasing the risk of a crash.

What to do

Yokohama has notified owners, and dealers will inspect and replace the tires, as necessary, free of charge.

The recall began November 28, 2018.

Owners may contact Yokohama customer service at 1-800-722-9888.

Sprout Creek Farm of Poughkeepsie, N.Y., is recalling four wheels of Kinkead cheese made on May 10, 2018.

The product may be contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes.

No illnesses have been reported to date.

The recalled product, which is packaged with an orange label, was sold at the following locations:

What to do

Customers who purchased the recalled product should dispose of it immediately.

Consumers with questions may contact Sister Margo Morris at (845) 485-8438 from 9:00am – 5:00pm, Monday – Friday (EST).

This year’s Christmas stocking isn’t getting much stuffing for a high number of American workers -- at least if last year’s trend continues to hold true.

The Washington Post reported on Friday that, for many U.S. workers, their 2018 take-home pay is exactly the same as it was in 2017. President Trump’s crowing about the lowest unemployment figures in nearly 40 years may have led to job security and new employment, but that improvement also put the brakes on raises.

"Roughly 14 percent of workers — or 1 in 7 — have seen their earnings stall over the past year, counting only those who have stayed in the same job," reported the Post. "That’s only a slight improvement over the 16 percent rate reached in the hangover years after the Great Recession."

The report noted that this situation comes with a bonus win-lose.

If you count for inflation and the cost-of-living uptick employees often get to offset that increase, workers whose salaries have been frozen are actually losing money. According to the U.S. Bureau of Statistics (BLS) inflation calculator, that’s approximately a $1,600 jab to someone who earns $40,000 a year.

Why this is happening

One would think that if economic growth and productivity are on the rise, workers would see a little more in their paychecks.

Right?

Well, yes and no.

The Post says the reason is because there’s no one forcing the employer’s hand. Cited is the decline of private sector unions that would typically champion workers’ wages. There’s also not as many competitors that workers can scout out for a job change and higher salary -- since larger companies are currently ruling the day.

"Another possibility is that business leaders may still be scarred by memories of the Great Recession. In those years, ‘sticky wages’ kept them from cutting salaries -- lest they hurt morale. But the result was higher labor costs at a time of collapsing profits and tight budgets," The Post reports.

Is all hope lost?

There are still companies and governments that are trying to keep their workers’ trip to the bank a happy one.

In the most recent election, both Arkansas and Missouri saw a "by the people, for the people" minimum wage victory at the polls.

In Missouri, voters approved a ballot initiative to raise the minimum wage within the state from $7.85 per hour to $12 by 2023. Under the measure, the minimum wage will rise gradually over that five year period.

In neighboring Arkansas, the current $8.50 an hour minimum wage will rise to $11 an hour by 2021. The National Employment Law Project (NELP) estimates that will affect at least 300,000 workers.

Companies like Target and Amazon also seem willing to share their windfall with employees. The latter recently raised its minimum wage to $15 an hour and Target has gone on record saying that its minimum hourly wage will also be $15 an hour by 2020.

On the heels of its action against Tesla CEO Elon Musk for alleged market manipulation, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is eyeing celebrities who are paid to promote cryptocurrencies.

Late last week, the SEC settled charges against boxer Floyd Mayweather, Jr., and music producer DJ Khaled. Both were charged with promoting initial coin offerings (ICO) without disclosing they had been paid to do so.

The SEC charged that Mayweather used his social media accounts to influence fans to purchase shares in three new cryptocurrencies including a message on Twitter saying that the sale of shares in Centra’s ICO “...starts in a few hours. Get yours before they sell out. I got mine.”

Without admitting or denying the charges, Mayweather and Khaled agreed to pay a combined total of $764,000 and make clear in future postings about cryptocurrency ICOs if they were being paid to endorse them.

Importance of full disclosure

"These cases highlight the importance of full disclosure to investors," said Enforcement Division Co-Director Stephanie Avakian. "With no disclosure about the payments, Mayweather and Khaled's ICO promotions may have appeared to be unbiased, rather than paid endorsements."

The SEC said it is concerned that other celebrities are using their fame to promote crypto ICOs and that vulnerable fans could be in danger of losing large amounts of money. The SEC took to social media itself, warning on its Twitter feed that investors should always seek professional advice.

“Social media influencers are often paid promoters, not investment professionals, and the securities they’re touting, regardless of whether they are issued using traditional certificates or on the blockchain, could be frauds,” the SEC wrote in one post.

Dozens of similar cases are pending

In another post, the agency revealed that “dozens” of similar cases involving celebrity influencers are pending. In September, the SEC charged Musk with fraud for tweeting that he planned to take Tesla private and that funding for the deal was “secured.”

Musk and the SEC eventually settled the charges and Musk stepped down as chairman of Tesla as part of the deal.

In a warning to cryptocurrency investors, the SEC advises to always be skeptical of investment advice posted on social media platforms. Investors should never make financial decisions based on the advice of celebrities.

On Friday, two lawsuits were filed against Marriott, which last week announced that hackers had broken into its database. One lawsuit was filed by two men in Oregon and another was filed hours later in the state of Maryland. Both are seeking class-action status.

The plaintiffs in Oregon, David Johnson and Chris Harris, are seeking $12.5 billion in costs and losses -- or $25 for each of the 500 million users who had their personal data stolen from Marriott's servers.

“In today’s digital age, the primary worry of hotel customers is the security of their card numbers and other sensitive personal information,” the complaint states. “For the past four years, 500 million customers expecting a comfortable worry-free stay at Marriott were instead exposed to one of the largest digital infestations in history.”

The hotel chain disclosed last week that the breach occurred at its Starwood-branded hotels, which include W Hotels, St. Regis, Sheraton Hotels & Resorts, Westin Hotels & Resorts, Element Hotels, Aloft Hotels, The Luxury Collection, Tribute Portfolio, Le Méridien Hotels & Resorts, Four Points by Sheraton, and Design Hotels.

Seeking fair compensation

An investigation revealed that unknown parties had gained access to the database sometime in 2014. Records that were stolen included, “some combination of name, mailing address, phone number, email address, passport number, Starwood Preferred Guest (‘SPG’) account information, date of birth, gender, arrival and departure information, reservation date, and communication preferences.”

Marriott didn't say how many guests had their financial data stolen, but officials said in a press release that the figure can't be more than 327 million.

“We deeply regret this incident happened,” Arne Sorenson, Marriott’s CEO, said in a statement last week. “We fell short of what our guests deserve and what we expect of ourselves. We are doing everything we can to support our guests, and using lessons learned to be better moving forward.”

The Oregon plaintiffs said they’re seeking $25 per affected guest because that’s the minimum value for the amount of time users will spend canceling their credit cards due to the breach. Plaintiffs in the Maryland lawsuit didn't specify the amount of damages they were seeking from Marriott.

“Large, sophisticated companies like Marriott are not blind to the risks posed by cyber criminals, who are constantly attempting to infiltrate corporations that store sensitive consumer information,” John Yanchunis, an attorney for the law firm Morgan & Morgan, told Gizmodo. “The fact that a breach that began in 2014 went undetected for four years is shocking and horrifying.

“When guests stay at hotels, they trust the hotel will provide adequate security – both physical and the protection of their private information. It appears that the trust 500 million people placed in Marriott/Starwood was violated – for nearly half a decade,” Yanchunis added.

The Marriott hack was one of the largest in history, ranking second only to a breach that impacted Yahoo in 2013, in which hackers stole the personal information of three billion users.

Nexstar Media Group has agreed to purchase Tribune Media for $6.4 billion, a deal making it the largest broadcast operation in the U.S.

The acquisition comes just four months after the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) rejected Sinclair Broadcasting’s bid to acquire Tribune. The agency rejected the merger on technical grounds, citing objections to the deal’s structure.

The Sinclair deal also drew opposition from a number of consumer groups that said it concentrated too much media power within one company. It remains to be seen if the Nexstar-Tribune deal draws the same objections.

Tribune Media owns 42 TV stations reaching approximately 50 million households. They would join Nexstar’s 174 stations, giving it an exceptionally large broadcast footprint. According to Nexstar, the combined companies would reach 39 percent of U.S. households.

Fifty percent audience boost

Nexstar CEO Perry Sook says the merger would increase his company’s audience reach by 50 percent.

“Furthermore, the addition of the Tribune Media broadcast assets further expands our geographic diversity, as pro forma for the completion of the transaction, we will serve 18 of the nation’s top 25 markets and 37 of the top 50 markets,” Sook said.

If the deal is approved it would give Nexstar the largest number of TV stations in the U.S., surpassing Sinclair’s 194. Tribune Media has been seeking a buyer since 2012, when it emerged from bankruptcy. It sold off its newspaper assets in 2014.

Based in Chicago, Tribune not only owns TV stations but also cable network WGN America, which reaches 77 million households. It also owns several web-based media operations.

Potential opposition

The deal could face the same kind of grassroots opposition that lined up against the Sinclair bid. The ACLU, American Cable Association, and Communications Workers of America opposed Sinclair’s attempt to buy Tribune, insisting that Sinclair’s conservative edge was not the reason. Rather, the group said it was too many stations for one company to own.

Under current regulations there is no numerical limit on the number of stations one company may own, although the FCC will consider potential overlap in individual markets when two broadcasters merge.

Under the Communications Act of 1934, broadcasters could not own more than seven stations and they could not own more than one station in a single market. That stipulation fell by the wayside as broadcasting began to be deregulated in 1982.

Amazon is testing its cashierless shopping technology in larger stores, according to the Wall Street Journal.

The e-commerce giant -- which has been taking steps to expand its presence in the brick-and-mortar sector -- is currently operating a larger checkout-free space in Seattle that is “formatted like a big store,” insiders told the Journal.

If early tests prove successful, Amazon will “most likely” launch its cashierless technology at Whole Foods, which it acquired in June 2017. The company said previously that it didn’t plan to implement the technology at its grocery chain’s stores, but it didn’t rule out the move entirely.

Whole Foods application most likely

The Journal’s sources said the technology still has trouble in “bigger spaces with higher ceilings and more products,” so no time frame was given for a larger-scale launch of the cashierless tech.

Amazon’s existing automated stores allow shoppers to move through aisles and pick up items such as ready-made snacks, lunches, drinks, frozen dinners, and basic groceries. Sensors and cameras placed throughout each store track what consumers pick up from shelves and charge their credit cards accordingly, allowing them to simply walk out of the store after they’re done shopping instead of waiting in a line or paying a cashier.

In September, Bloomberg reported that Amazon planned to have about 10 of its Go stores open by the end of this year and about 50 locations in major metro areas by 2019. Amazon reportedly plans to have have as many as 3,000 of its cashierless stores open by 2021.

To implement its tech in larger grocery stores, the company will have to navigate challenges such as tracking frozen foods hidden behind glass. Whole Foods typically sells around 34,000 items in each store, which is far more than Amazon sells at its existing convenience store-like Go stores.