Beijing and Hangzhou tested two experimental “employee-less supermarkets,” this weekend. The stories had no salespeople, and customers used Alipay to pay for all of their items.
Customers decided whether or not to pay for items, and how much to pay. If someone stole an item, they were not stopped. Officials hoped that the experiment would teach customers “the feeling of being trusted.”
Supermarkets with no cash registers have become common in foreign countries, according to the Chinese media. In these supermarkets, customers can shop without having to line up to checkout. The method is convenient, improves efficiency, and cuts labor costs for supermarkets.
In Hangzhou, the experiment was held at a Vanguard VanGo convenience store. If the small store implements an “employee-less” policy, the company can save the cost of paying eight employees.
This “no cash register,” model is not common to China, and number of Netizens believe that this method of shopping, “certainly would not work,” in China.
Others argue that with the gradual establishment of national personal credit information, this kind of self-checkout can be popularized in China using Alipay and a personal credit points system.
“Vanguard is the first company to try this in China. I mainly want to reduce queues in the stores,” said VanGO Eastern Regional Head Liu Cheng.
Source: inews.qq.com
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Keywords: Vanguard Beijing China supermarkets Vanguard Hangzhou VanGo Beijing
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Another positive is that less people equals less opportunities for funny business between head office and distributor and local store
Jun 08, 2015 22:37 Report Abuse
Lol this has to be the worst marketing decision ever made. Surely they can't be serious?
Jun 08, 2015 21:18 Report Abuse
I think this is an excellent idea but it would only work if people KNEW they were being watched in China. Why? So that Chinese knew they could get in trouble for shop lifting. I noticed that the number of Chinese plowing through red lights has been drastically reduced. Why? Because cameras catch their license plates and add fines to when they go to renew their plates. It is all automated, so there is no negotiation. The pros of this change (in the article) are that there no need for lazy, unmotivated employees, less costs to the store owner, faster transactions, possibly more convenient (if they allow debit). The cons are huge reduction of jobs for the lower class, nobody to ask questions and possible theft/shoplifting. But perhaps if you hire one or two decent security guards instead of eight useless clerks. That could solve all the cons with most the pros still intact.
Jun 08, 2015 18:46 Report Abuse
True with cashiers if you cut them out but you still need people to physically stock and shelf the products, remove and dispose products passed their expiry date..etc. In a large supermarket actually the number of cashiers is relatively small compare to the admin staff so you still have plenty of jobs there.
Jun 09, 2015 20:17 Report Abuse
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