Since Amazon envisioned its staff-less store concept last year, shoplifting has been one of the major concerns that people have raised to question the sustainability of this new shopping model. It’s natural to speculate that unmanned stores will face more shoplifters due to the absence of shopkeepers, guards, cashiers, or whomever onsite to keep an eye […]
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BingoBox unveils new AI tech for its unmanned stores
BingoBox, China’s unmanned store startup, unveiled today its new AI solution called “Fan AI”, a smart goods shelving and new check-out payment method powered by image recognition, facial recognition, and machine learning. BingoBox is a 24-hour self-service convenience store. With a simple smartphone scan, customers are able to enter the store, pick the goods, and […]
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Understanding China’s unmanned (r)evolution: China cares less about user experience than you think
While Amazon Go has been stealing headlines since it was revealed last year, we here at TechNode have been covering China’s increasing commitment to unmanned stores for about just as long. But, how exactly are China’s stores different and why are the technological and business models different from Amazon Go? First is speed: After announcing […]
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Forget QR codes, China’s next favorite payment method is your face
The launch of Apple’s new iPhone X equipped with tech that turns your face into a poop emoji seems to have left China’s consumers less than impressed. This shouldn’t surprise us—authentication through facial recognition and other biometric features has been gaining traction in China for quite some time. From fighting toilet paper thieves with dispensers […]
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Video: Alibaba shows off face recognition at its cashier-less concept store
In China, the future of retail is already here. Alibaba Group launched its second Taobao Maker Festival on July 8th and introduced the Tao Café, an experimental cashier-less coffee shop driven by face recognition. Alibaba’s AI and data technologies have made it possible for customers to shop in this offline store without going through the time-consuming […]
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Ant Financial is opening its unstaffed solution to merchants
Alibaba’s financial affiliate Ant Financial is adding new fuel to the quick rise of automated stores in China this Tuesday by opening its unmanned technologies to merchants. The Alipay solutions will enable automated customer ID authentication, risk control, payment, and clearance, allowing customers to enjoy service provided by merchants without the help of their staff. […]
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China vs US: Who is winning the big AI battle?
China and the US are becoming the world’s biggest rivals in artificial intelligence: it’s Luke vs Darth Vader, Alien vs Predator, Rocky vs Ivan Drago. The Chinese government’s pivot to become the leader in this technology has created plenty of hype, but how are China’s ambitious AI aspirations playing out on the ground? Research by […]
