Unmanned Retail Has Welcome Its Promising Future

Everyone should still remember that the year of 2017 has been considered as the year of unmanned retail. At that time, unmanned supermarket, unmanned convenient store, etc have sprung up like mushroom. However, the boom has not lasted one year before it ebbed away. And now in the year 2020, it has regained people’s attention, for the outbreak of coronavirus has promoted the demand of zero-touch shopping model. So does it mean that the unmanned retail has come to its day?

The Concept of Zero-touch Shopping Becomes Popular

During the epidemic control period, one special supermarket, no staff, no cashier, working non-stop for 24 hours, and receiving over 200 consumers, has drawn people’s attention. Since then, some enterprises such as Meituan, Missfresh, and KFC, etc. rolled out the new type service of zero-touch delivery. Unmanned retail model in social community is greeted with rapid growth, in which the consumers play an increasingly valuable role in the consumption life.

Water, Dairy Products, Instant-food Are of Most Popularity

Due to the outbreak of the epidemic, consumers have the chance to experience the unmanned retail service, which, according the insiders’ expectation, will help bolster the development of unmanned retail business, especially for the food such as water, dairy products and instant food, etc. and it will further evolve into a new marketing channel for food and beverage.

Has the Unmanned Retail Come to Its Day Again

Since the Alibaba rolled our the new shopping mode of unmanned coffee shop “Taocafe”, unmanned retail has, for a while, become the focus for the investors. Many e-commerce giants such as JD, Suning have stepped foot into the unmanned retail industry.

However, it came like a flash in the pan. Unmanned retail has raised demanding requirements for capital and technology, and many star-ups have to pull out one after another before the industry evolves into a new marketing trend. As the insiders said, new-emerged industry must go through wax and wane, but it still goes forward on the whole, and as we can see, for a time in 2017, unmanned retail had experienced further development in terms of technology and management.

It can also be seen that during the epidemic control period this year, some enterprises in the fields of community needs and medical products, have gained rapid growth. However, it is still hard to say that whether the industry has come to its day yet, as the new-emerged industry will have to face numerous challenges and difficulties in the future, and no one can expect whether it can stand the hardship.

For more information about the unmanned retail industry, we welcome you to come to the Guangzhou Int’l Vending Machines & Self-service Facilities Fair (VMF 2020), which will provide you with the all-round news about the new trend and technology of this field.

Guangzhou Int’l Vending Machines & Self-service Facilities Fair (VMF 2020)

Date: May 10th-12th, 2020

Venue: China Import and Export Fair Complex