It's the Korean version of Amazon Go! Analysis of Shinsegae I&C Self-Store
Interest in the recently opened Shinsegae I&C self-store is hot. Not only the media but also the industry is focusing on Shinsegae I&C's self-store. What's a self-store? Is it causing such a sensation? From now on, we'll dig through the Shinsegae I&C self-store.
What is Shinsegae I&C's self-store?
It looks like a regular convenience store, right? Shinsegae I&C Self Store is the first retail store in Korea to be launched by Shinsegae I&C as a future-oriented distribution store where various retail technologies such as computer vision, deep learning-based AI, SSG pay, and cloud-based POS are concentrated.
Shinsegae I&C and E-Mart 24 have joined hands to open a new concept store in Janggi-dong, Gimpo, Gyeonggi-do, where you can shop freely at the store and automatically pay through the SSG Pay app (APP) when you leave the store without paying!
What kind of technology is applied?
Self-store is a collection of IT technologies, including computer vision, AI, and cloudPOS. Track customers' shopping routes and recognize product information using cameras and sensors installed in the preferred store. By upgrading its computer vision technology, Shinsegae I&C has been able to introduce a technology that recognizes customers' shopping behavior with only about 30 cameras, fewer than Amazon Go, which is actually Amazon's unmanned store.
And we completed automatic payment technology by utilizing Shinsegae I&C's simple payment platform 'SSG Pay' and cloud-based POS system. When the customer leaves the store after shopping, the cloud POS sends information about the product they actually purchased, and payments are made through SSG Pay. The SSG Pay app (APP) will take from 5 seconds to 5 minutes for the purchase and payment history to be sent to the customer. This also reduced payment time compared to Amazon Go in the U.S.!
Why Shinsegae I&C was able to introduce its first self-store in Korea
Shinsegae I&C has researched and experimented with a variety of retail technologies, continued its innovative digital business of applying IT technology to the distribution industry, and gained not only technology but also know-how to apply it to the real world. We are expanding the introduction of various IT technologies to distribution stores such as CloudPOS, SCO, and Electronic Price Indicators (ESL), and since 2019, we have set up a dedicated organization for self-store construction to accelerate technology research.
In particular, we are actively using Shinsegae I&C's simple payment platform 'SSG Pay' technology to make innovative attempts. In 2015, we introduced simple payment service for the first time in the distribution industry and started smart shopping service that enables one-stop payment to enter the store using SSG Pay, which has become the industry's largest simple payment service. We continue to research space that can provide new shopping experiences to customers by utilizing IT technology.
Shinsegae I&C's efforts through various research and experiments related to retail technology have been the key to introducing the first self-store in Korea. If you're curious about Shinsegae I&C's retail technology, please refer to the post below!