Wedome Launches First Unmanned and 24-Hour "Intelligent" Store
Are you an introvert or simply in a leave-me-alone mood? Well, luckily for you, Chinese self-service technology is catching up with trends in Japan (where there are an estimated 5.52 million vending machines), allowing complete shunning of meaningless interaction between you and anyone else in the human race. In keeping with this sad but wholly convenient march toward loneliness, Wedome (味多美, or Wèiduōměi) recently launched their first unmanned store, providing self-pickups and self-service for the good people of Chaoyangmen.
READ: Step Into the Cashless Future With Beijing’s Unmanned Stores
Having partnered with Alibaba to build the technology necessary for the staffless store, this Wedome is decked out with the bakery's regular display cases filled with bread, cakes, and sweets. Checking out works the same too: grab a tray, pick up what you want, and put it under the scanner, which – here's the cool part – recognizes your items (by the shape?). Pay with Alipay (no WeChat here, people) and away you go.
What if you're working overtime and are dying for a piece of cake? Mei wenti, as the "intelligent" part of the store remains open 24-hours, you can either order (say, a birthday cake) ahead of time and have it waiting for you in one of the store's lockers. There's also a range of patisseries that you can choose from off the shelf. There's even a self-serve coffee machine so that you can refuel on the way back to your desk, equalling zero and blissful communication with absolutely no one!
The intelligent portion is also stocked with cold drinks, yogurt, salads, sandwiches, cakes, and bread and is accessible during the daytime, which is convenient if there’s a queue at the counter.
Luddites, don’t freak out, as there are several self-checkout machines too, and if you don’t have a smartphone (really?), Alipay, your phone is dead, or you simply like the feel of stinky cash, you can also queue for the normal (read: old-fashioned human) counters to pay during staff hours.
One downside is that the checkout instructions are only in Chinese but hopefully they'll make them bilingual soon. All-in-all, this Wedome store may just be the best thing since sliced bread and more than proves its worth among the ranks of Beijing's staffless KTVs, supermarkets, and convenience stores. Long live the robots!
24-hours
1/F, 19 Chaowai Dajie, Chaoyang District
朝阳区朝外大街19号一层
(010) 6580 1159
Photos: Tracy Wang
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