Author: Wang Donghua, Head of China Operations for the Systems Division of the Large Retail Business Group at Intel (China) Co., Ltd.
In the era of the intelligent interconnection of all things, the boundaries between the digital and physical worlds are gradually blurring. As the first new generation of human energy, data is driving the growth of the latest artificial intelligence technologies to address the issue of intelligent asymmetry. With the effective integration of IoT technology and AI, the retail industry, which has a history spanning thousands of years, is being impacted or even transformed by these innovations. The unmanned smart convenience store, emerging at this turning point, has become a remarkable symbol of the retail industry's transformation.
Data Insight: Building Core Competitiveness and Enhancing Customer Trust
According to Intel, the core competitiveness of retail companies lies in their ability to gain insights from data. In the future, the competitive advantage of the retail industry will shift from pricing and channel control to the ability to manage and analyze data effectively. Compared to traditional retail, new retail focuses more on consumer-centric services and experiences. Data insights based on accumulated information can help unattended convenience stores make faster decisions and improve the overall customer experience.
The foundation of customer trust lies in data security and privacy. Therefore, in addition to data insight, the development of unattended convenience stores must also pay special attention to ensuring data protection. As the Internet and retail industry continue to merge, the role of retail becomes increasingly important, but so does the risk of digital crime. Customers are becoming more cautious about their personal information. Data security will be a critical issue for Chinese retailers. If this challenge isn't addressed, it will be difficult to collect valid customer data or build trust.
As a trusted leader in the transformation of the retail business, Intel is accelerating the value of data-driven decision-making, offering high-performance computing capabilities, scalability, and built-in hardware-level security for real-time analytics. Intel provides a comprehensive data security solution—from hardware to software—that helps unmanned retail convenience stores further strengthen their data protection capabilities.
Large-Scale Commercialization Is Coming—Unmanned Stores Need to Establish "Systemic Importance"
Although unmanned convenience stores are gaining momentum in China, they are still on the verge of large-scale commercialization. Many challenges remain, such as standardization, cost reduction, and ecosystem development. Additionally, while pursuing intelligence, it's essential to stay true to the essence of retail and achieve a balance between cost and benefit. The following issues need careful consideration:
Unmanned convenience stores are still a relatively new concept, similar to ride-hailing apps or shared bicycles, especially when it comes to data privacy and security. Relevant government policies and regulations are still unclear and require guidance and cooperation with authorities. It's important to seek recognition of the "systemic importance" of this new retail format within government and social systems.
Ensuring data security and privacy is crucial to prevent potential group or societal problems. Unmanned convenience stores, whether truly "no one" or just "fewer people," are fundamentally still retail businesses. They must follow the nature of retail and assess and optimize metrics like efficiency and turnover rate. For stores using advanced technologies, reducing personnel costs and controlling additional expenses caused by new technologies is vital. Advanced technology should also help lower overall operational and maintenance costs.
Exploring new business models that maximize value, such as "getting the wool out of the pig," and considering the partner ecosystem and data distribution after opening up data is essential.
Continuous improvement and optimization of unattended convenience store technology, particularly in loss prevention and automated product identification through AI, is necessary.
In Intel's view, the unmanned smart convenience store requires time to mature and become commercially viable. Regardless of whether it ultimately achieves "no one" or "less people," it has already set a clear direction for China's information-based intelligent transformation of the retail industry, accelerating the arrival of the retail 3.0 era. In this wave of unmanned or smart stores, China is expected to lead the world because it has the most advanced mobile payment system, the largest retail consumer base, and the most massive retail data. Ultimately, this data will give rise to the world's most advanced and mature AI-driven retail solutions.
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