Thai retailer Lotus has opened its first employee-free store using technology from local telco True Digital.

The Lotus Pick & Go smart store uses the True Virgo AI smart retail platform to increase the efficiency of store management.

Shoppers scan a QR code via the TrueMoney Wallet app, pick up the product and walk out. The system automatically pays for the product.

The store is at the North Ratchaphruek community centre.

Shoppers can choose from more than 400 convenience products, including beverages, snacks and daily necessities.

“Lotus continues to develop its business in every aspect for our customers,” said Monchai Intharapornudom, senior vice president at Lotus. “We have launched Lotus North Ratchaphruek, a model branch of a smart community centre for smart living that supports the lifestyle of people of all generations in the Ratchaphruek area.”

There are spaces for the community to do many activities in the shopping centre as well as using technology to facilitate and enhance the shopping experience for customers.

“Lotus’ Pick & Go by True Digital is the first unmanned smart store in Thailand,” said Intharapornudom, “giving customers a smart shopping experience with intelligent AI technology, meeting the needs of customers who want speed and convenience in using the service. They just pick up the product and walk out of the store.”

The system will automatically calculate product prices and connect to the customer’s TrueMoney Wallet.

Lotus North Ratchaphruek is a smart zone, on an area of more than 30 square metres, with around 400 products, more than 90% of which are beverages and snacks, and 10% are general everyday goods such as sanitary products and tissues.

Ekaraj Panjavinin, chief digital officer at True, said: “With the determination to bring advanced digital technology to enhance the lives of Thai people and drive business in all industries, True draws on the potential of telecommunications technology to transform the Thai retail industry. The smart retail platform True Virgo AI is a cutting-edge retail-tech innovation that combines a variety of digital technologies to transform traditional retail stores into fully automated retail stores.”

Panjavinin said this technology could help retailers deal with all-round problems, such as multiple store operating systems creating complexity to manage labour and analysing consumer behaviour.

“Finding insights for marketing planning increases business growth opportunities from in-depth and precise understanding of customer needs,” said Panjavinin. “True Virgo AI is therefore considered another intelligent platform innovation that True Digital has developed to meet the digital lifestyle of modern consumers. Elevate your shopping experience and support retail businesses to transform to digitally create a competitive advantage worth the investment.”

The technology can also be used for offering more personalised products and promotions, supply chain management, product displays and store space.

The unmanned store system will not collect customer information that may lead to identifying people, such as facial images, so users can be confident in their privacy.

True Virgo AI is an intelligent platform that connects the operation of the AI camera that can add various functions to meet the needs of modern retail stores. The smart AI cameras can learn and increase the accuracy of detecting and recording data within the store.

The system also lets the store change the prices of products immediately as needed.

DataVisor, a holistic data management platform, analyses and processes data in real time and can display data in various formats through a dashboard so merchants can use insights to manage their stores effectively.