By Brett Callwood, Benzinga Staff Writer

Amazon (AMZN) said this week it is buying Kiva Systems, which makes robots that can fetch the products it sends out to customers.

Kiva's robots promise to make Amazon's already efficient fulfillment centers even speedier. They can grab products off of Amazon's warehouse shelves and bring them to human employees for packing and shipping. Rather than replace what Amazon already has, the Kiva technology will be added to the existing infrastructure.

Kiva's shareholders have already approved the $775 million sale. The deal is expected to close in the second quarter.

The following video shows how Kiva's robots work.

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The company operates roughly 2.5 million square meters of fulfillment centers in North America, which is a 67% increase from 2010. Internationally, Amazon operates another 1.64 million square meters -- a 71% increase.

Amazon has not commented on whether the new technology will result in reductions to its full-time or seasonal workforce.

In a research report published Monday, Goldman Sachs said that Kiva develops robots that locate individual items in a warehouse and then transports them (via portable shelves) to workers who do packing and shipping. The employees remain stationary on the perimeter of a facility, while the system of wirelessly connected robots move around the interior.

Amazon will likely roll this technology out to all of its fulfillment centers to improve efficiency and minimize headcount needed, Goldman analysts wrote in the report. Headcount increased 67% last year while revenue grew 41%, and fulfillment expense as a percentage of revenue increased to 9.2% last year from 8.2% a year earlier.

On Tuesday, J.P. Morgan said that Kiva could replace some workers in Amazon's fulfillment centers, but orders are likely to continue to require some human supervision. Adding Kiva could increase short-term capital spending, the analysts noted, but the company will likely see significant fulfillment savings over time.

Finally, Bank of America Merrill Lynch said that Kiva's robots reduce the need for fulfillment workers to walk, pick and pack inventory. That can improve worker productivity significantly. According to Kiva, Crate and Barrel achieved a six-fold improvement in order picking compared with traditional systems, the analysts wrote.