OAKBROOK TERRACE, Ill. -- The mobile app continues to inspire retail ideas, with the most recent one being an unattended convenience store in the Swedish town of Viken. An IT Swede created the store, which uses a smartphone app to let customers come in and scan items they want to buy.
The novelty speaks to the disruptive promise of mobile apps and the ability to cut labor, eliminate payment devices and circumvent interchange fees. At the same time, it raises what is probably a tougher issue: trust.
According to the Associated Press, here’s how the store works: The shopkeeper, an information technology specialist named Robert Ilijason, opened the store in the beginning of the year after he couldn’t find a late-night place to buy baby food. So he opened a store that has no cashier or cash register. Patrons have to register for the service and download a smartphone app. It allows entrance, scanning ability to check out items and then bills customers after the fact.
Security for the 480-square-foot store comes in the form of six surveillance cameras and the registration process that identifies customers. A text alert goes to Ilijason if the door is open for more than eight seconds.
Why all this comes back to simple trust is that retailers are inherently suspicious. In their minds, everyone is stealing from them—customers, delivery people and especially their own employees.
Recently at CSP’s Convenience Retailing University (CRU) conference last month in Dallas, a few retailers commented about seating areas in stores. One retailer said seating areas are prime opportunities for people to pay for a sandwich then snag a bag of chips using the five-finger discount.
It’s a sincere and rational mindset. People see theft as a personal violation, something to eradicate at all cost. Unfortunately, taken to the extreme, the mentality can paralyze a retailer. Having the proper checks and balances in place—whether it is human supervision, an auditing routine, cameras, an app registration process and even tolerance for a certain amount of inventory loss—ought to suffice.
Tragically, if someone wants to steal, they will be successful at least some of the time.
As retailers explore the potential of new technologies, the true benefits will emerge, along with a newfound trust. But the retailer has to be willing to take that initial leap of faith.
Angel Abcede, who writes the Mobile 2 Go blog, has covered technology in the convenience-store industry for more than two decades. Share your thoughts with Angel at aabcede@winsightmedia.com.
Members help make our journalism possible. Become a CSP member today and unlock exclusive benefits, including unlimited access to all of our content. Sign up here.