Stress test: AI systems in unmanned shops can be easily confused

At least 18 outlets launched, even as global retailers rethink concept amid teething issues

- Osmond Chia

Unmanned stores are popping up in Singapore just as retail shop operators worldwide are calling it quits on the technology amid teething issues.

At least 18 outlets by the likes of Cheers, 7-Eleven and, most recently, confectionery company Chateraise, have been launched to test "just walk out" systems that allow customers to simply pick up items and leave without having to queue for a cashier.

The 280 sq ft space at Le Quest Mall in Bukit Batok is the first unmanned Chateraise outlet outside of Japan.

Like most unmanned shops here, the 24-hour outlet requires customers to install an app on their mobile device in order to enter. A barrage of cameras and sensors in the shop tracks the movement of items taken by customers, who are free to grab items and go.

Typically, only a handful of customers are allowed in the store at any one time, so as not to overwhelm the tracking system.

7-Eleven, which in January opened its first unmanned convenience store near Esplanade MRT, adopts a similar approach. But customers have to pay a $5 entry fee via a credit card before they can enter. The sum is returned to them within two weeks if they do not purchase anything from the store.

The store serves as a testing ground for cashierless solutions as 7-Eleven seeks new ways to tap the technology, said its spokesman, who declined to provide details on the number of customers who have made purchases at the outlet.

Cheers' 12 unstaffed outlets here draw "tens of thousands" of customers monthly, said its spokesman, adding that the company planned to launch more of such shops in the coming months.