No checkout, no staff, experience the grocery shopping from the future in China

When Amazon launched the first automated store Amazon Go, Alibaba released TaoCafe, the first automated store in China that provides shopping and dinning services. As early as last August, a self-serviced convenience store called “BingoBox” started business in Zhongshan, China’s Guangdong province.   Technology plays a decisive role in the development of the retail industry. At TaoCafe, a customer can complete a transaction simply by entering the store, grabbing a product, making a payment through facial recognition when exiting. Customers can be precisely recognized without looking at the camera. Alibaba has prepared to transform more traditional supermarkets, which will bring benefits to customers who welcome convenience and advanced technology.      Two elements should be paid special attention to if automated stores are to lead the market trend. First, the continuous development of technology, including facial and palm-print recognition, 4G internet, mobile payment, which China has made great progress in. In the meantime, the retail industry is facing great challenges as e-commerce and convenience stores continue to grab the market share from traditional retailers. The industry will become more diversified with enriched payment scenarios and possible growing consumption. For sure, breakthroughs need to be accomplished in data management and analysis as this advanced technology is applied to the operation of automated stores. Based on the current operation circumstance, facial recognition tends to become less accurate when there is an increase in the variety of goods and numbers of customers due to more computation work.   Many Chinese investors regard automated stores as the next investment hot spot. The race between Amazon and Alibaba in the field has been unveiled quietly. Next time when you visit China, you might be able to see various automated stores popping up on street.