Convenience store retailer 7-Eleven and South Korean department store Lotte have collaborated on the staff-free DT Lab Store to test the potential of autonomous stores of the future.
The first time customers visit the Seoul-based store a digital screen at the entrance walks them through a facial recognition process, which pairs their face with their payment card. Then, once inside the store, 3D LiDar technology tracks their movements and smart shelf technology is used to monitor everything they take from the shelves. This way, customers can walk into the store and pick up what they want, while simply scanning their face at the door to confirm payment on the way out. Customers less au fait with facial recognition can pay at the self-scan “catch kiosk”, but their movements will still be tracked throughout the space.
Perhaps the most interesting element of the concept store is its data-rich automated logistics system. A store dashboard allows a remote store manager to monitor a range of analytics about the store at a glance including live inventory levels, temperature, humidity and alarms about things like potential theft or other security issues. The system can be configured to automatically reorder inventory that is running out, while the 3D LiDar technology will monitor the way customers shop the store and make suggestions about how the layout could be optimised. It is imagined that the smart dashboard system could be used in future to allow a single remote manager to oversee a group of different stores at the same time.
The concept store is based at the headquarters of Lotte Data Communication Co, Lotte’s in-house IT services and digital transformation team, which is responsible for the technology being used.
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