Recently, two self-service stores are launched in Hong Kong which has provided brand-new shopping experience to the Hong Kong people. One of the self-service stores which sells peripheral products of famous artists, such as T-shirts and bags, is introduced by Alipay (HK), while the other unmanned store is launched by the Okashi Land, which sells a wide variety of Japanese snacks. These two self-service stores have attracted many customers since the ‘unmanned’ and ‘take and go’ selling points are relatively new ideas in Hong Kong, but these concepts have become prevalent in many regions all over the world as self-service stores pop up in the US, China, Japan and Taiwan.
The technology used in self-service stores can be currently distinguished into two main types which are Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) and computer vision. For the RFID technology, the usual practice is that customers are required to make use of a designated mobile phone application to scan a code for entering the store, and when customers finish choosing their products, they can scan and pay for the selected products which have been tagged with RFID chips in the cashier. Examples of self-service stores using RFID include Hong Kong’s Okashi Land and Japan’s Lawson convenience store.
As for the computer vision technology, customers can even go in and out freely without the action of paying in the cashier, since there would multiple cameras and sensors in the store which can detect which customers have taken away products from which shelf and would charge them accordingly. Example of stores using computer vision would be Amazon Go which is one of the pioneers of the ‘unmanned store’ concept, while many of its counterpart adopt a combination of RFID and computer vision technologies.
It is clear that the concept of self-service shopping brings advantages to customers as they can save time queuing and waiting for workers to scan and pack their products, hence improving shopping experience and efficiency. Whereas there are concerns regarding the replacement of ‘human’ workers since some people may think that the communication between customers and shop assistant is enjoyable, satisfying and irreplaceable. However, due to the current rapid technological development, businessmen and IT technicians are trying to incorporate technology into various aspects of our life, so it is likely possible that self-service shopping may become the global trend for physical stores in the future.
