Unmanned store

This article is about stores without employees. For stores without checkouts, see Cashierless store.
An unmanned convenience store at National Library station, Beijing Subway in 2022

An unmanned store is a retail concept in which there are no service personnel and no cashiers in the store. These stores can range from simple roadside stalls with a lockbox for payments to more sophisticated setups where transactions are handled through mobile applications and monitored by technology. Unlike an automated convenience store, the unmanned store concept may or may not rely on technology like smartphone-related systems and artificial intelligence to operate.

While the modern concept of unmanned stores has gained global attention, the idea of unmanned retail has existed in Japan for decades in the form of small, rural stalls known as Mujin Hanbai (無人販売). These traditional stalls, often found in rural areas, operate on an honor system where customers leave payment in a designated container.[1][2]

  1. ^ "Unmanned roadside stores in Japan rely on customer honesty". Boing Boing. 2018-11-05. Retrieved 2024-08-01.
  2. ^ "Mujin Hanbaisho: Shops Without a Clerk". Japan Experience. Retrieved 2024-08-01.