April Gourmet Opens Its First Fully Automated Store in Beijing
April Gourmet, the chain of convenience stores and supermarkets that focuses on imported goods and caters mostly to the expat community, has just opened their first fully automated store in Beijing on the north end of Qingnian Lu. The foreigner population in the area is booming, and a number of luxury residences have recently opened in the building, making it a good spot to sling imported goods. It's also one of the most remote venues for an April Gourmet (halfway between the Fourth and Fifth Ring Roads) and therefore a great venue for an experiment like this.
When you first enter the store, you'll notice right away that it looks different given that a line of security gates control access in and out.
There are also instructions on what to do just before you enter.
When you get inside, you'll spot a table where you're supposed to bag all of your items as well as a more detailed breakdown of how the queueless system works. Instead of using RFID and complicated facial recognition technology, each shopper scans a QR code to open up the WeChat mini-program that is used to check out.
When you start shopping, you'll notice that every item has a unique QR code attached to it.
Instead of waiting until the end, we opened up the mini-program and scanned each item as we added them to our basket.
When you're done, you pay for everything via WeChat Wallet, add the items to your bag(s) and you're done! Step up to the security gates and (presumably, if the monitoring systems haven't flagged you as a potential shoplifter) walk out. Easy, right?!
All in all, the automated April Gourmet provides a great experience. The store only has two people on staff stocking shelves and answering questions and, even though there was no expensive RFID equipment around, there were lots of cameras, obviously watching everyone as they walk down the aisles. It's likely that there is sophisticated AI working behind the scenes to track the behavior of individual shoppers for security purposes, and to (eventually) optimize the store. Such technology is likely to make the store more expensive to open initially, but the reduced staff probably means that investment is earned back fairly quickly.
We also enjoyed the ability to add items to our WeChat "cart" in unison with adding them to our IRL cart. There are no lines at checkout, making for a much smoother process. And while the mini-program comes in Chinese only, it's intuitive enough that non-speakers can also navigate it with ease.
It may not be one of those snazzy showcase convenience stores with face-scanning tech, but the experience still came off as futuristic. This style of store provides a happy medium that retains the possibility of human interaction, while giving customers the convenience of fully automated shopping.
Automated April Gourmet
Damei Central Plaza, 118 Yaojiayuan, Chaoyang District
朝阳区姚家园路甲118号达美中心广场
Photos: Mike Shaw
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