No workers needed for retail store
By Canadian Packaging staff
Automation Design & Innovation General staff-free shop WheelysSwedish company designs a shopping concept that would-be store owners can purchase to eliminate the need for staff.
Looking to start your own retail store, but can’t afford to hire labor to staff it, or worse yet, no one wants to work the dreaded midnight shift?
There’s an App for that.
Swedish company Wheelys has opened up the world’s first App-controlled, staff-free convenience store in Shanghai, China.
Because it has no staff, the shop is open 24-hours-a-day, seven-days-a-week.
To access the shop, customers use an App on their phone, which will unlock the door for them.
When a customer finds a product they wish to purchase, they scan the product’s barcode, allowing the store App to tabulate purchases.
When the leave the shop, the total purchase amount is charged to their pre-registered credit card.
While it doesn’t guarantee there won’t be shoplifting, a security camera is installed in the shop, so a thief should, in theory, be recognized, should they leave the shop without scanning it first.
The Shanghai shop is still in the beta-phase and requires customers to apply (and log in their credit card) at the Wheelys company website.
A career in retail clerking may not be in the future. However, one would assume someone needs to stock a shelf.
More information on Wheelys at www.wheelyscafe.com.
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