No Checkout: staff-free shopping thrives in China

The cashierless Amazon Go is yet to open the public, while China is already a step ahead in launching the unmanned retail space. Bingobox (猩便利), launched in June this year, explores the potential of combining the mobile payment, light bookstore and staff-free approach. 

Shanghai is one of the first cities that “try the crab”. Registration with ID card, Scan the store QR-code, then scan whatever you want from the shelf, then click check-out with mobile payment directly before walking out of the store – four steps to do the shopping without staff involvement. The unmanned retail has been
 
The first impression entering the store is that you can find almost everything there. Instant noodles, freshly made lunch and chips…the first sight makes not much difference of Bingobox compared to the popular FamilyMart. FaimlyMart defeats its competitors by offering a wide range or freshly made food, from sandwich to sushi, while Bingobox introduces the fresh food concept for those white-collars and also explores a new angle. It brings in more imported snacks, as well as updates the shelves with the bestsellers on Taobao. Therefore, the online shopping momentum is passed down to offline and creates more buzz. 

24-hour-convenient-stores can be found at each street corner partially because of the long working hours. The staff cost and pressure for night shift of these ubiquitous convenient stores are the main drive and opportunity for the staff-less stores. With the optimised logistics and inventory management system, the cost is expected to be 10-15% lower than the normal convenient stores. It saves not only the staff cost, but also the costs in the logistics and inventory. If you go to Bingobox now, you can still see a few staff in the store, teaching clients about the process. ​

Some small details are designed carefully and touch many users’ soft spot: Bingobox provides free Wifi and mini-bookstore. Amazon’s collaboration with Bingobox might enable the dying traditional bookstore business a new idea. Bingobox store is slightly bigger than the normal convenient store. Some stores semi-separate a small Amazon-branded space with two or three tables, around which there are 20-30 books. After scanning QR code, you can either buy or rent the book. As long as you purchase the 98RMB annual membership and return the book in 72 hours, you can read as many books as possible for free. The semi-separate area is also a lifesaver for a lot of people who look for a comfortable area with free wifi to rest or work for half an hour without having to pay for an overpriced Starbucks coffee. 

China retailer has given us inspirations on how to integrate retail into the digital era. The experience can't be copied, however, the lessons can be learnt. 

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