With the continuous development of science and technology, the concept of “unmanned” is more and more applied in various industries. From purchase to payment, customers only need to complete the no salesperson supermarket (hereinafter referred to as unmanned supermarket) is one of them. In 2018, this form of shopping was launched in many cities. It is reported that there are nearly 100 unmanned convenience stores that have conducted technical tests across the country.

It can be said that the unmanned supermarket came into being. On the one hand, rising labor costs and outrageous rent make it a difficult problem for convenience stores to make profits. Especially the convenience store located in the business district, it is even more difficult to make a profit. On the other hand, the iterative Internet of things, face recognition and mobile payment technologies provide technical support for unmanned convenience stores, which coincides with the new retail emphasis on technology. It is undeniable that there are advantages for unmanned supermarkets to obtain capital favor. The intuitive feeling is that the labor cost and rental cost have fallen sharply. No matter how the retail format changes, improving operation efficiency is the eternal goal. Unmanned supermarkets can kill two birds with one stone by saving manpower and reducing rental costs.

1、 Transaction mode of unmanned supermarket

Before entering the store, users need to scan the two-dimensional code through Taobao or Alipay to get an identity code entering the unattended shop. After passing through the gate, you can see that there is a camera above the store, which is divided into daily commodity purchase area, catering area and rest area. In the daily commodity purchase area, users can purchase commodities freely. Then, after shopping through the shopping mall, Alipay automatically deducts the transaction amount from the bank card when it comes out of the channel.

Before entering the payment channel, sensors on the door will automatically identify your identity (mainly linking users’ Taobao and Alipay information). In the channel, users do not need to deliberately display the goods to the camera or scan the commodity code. Through the induction and camera, the system can automatically identify the goods, even if the goods are put into the schoolbag and stuffed into the trouser pocket. The only slightly uncomfortable feeling is that after entering the channel, the door will automatically close and the user will stay in the fully enclosed space for about 5 seconds.

In the catering area, users can order and check out directly through the smart screen in front of the small bar. In the process of waiting for a meal, when you go to the left large screen, you can see your current ordering status through visual recognition technology. In the rest area, the desktop is a large display screen, and there is a camera above the desktop. When the user sits down, the system will automatically perform facial recognition, and the desktop display screen will automatically log in to Taobao account. Then, all the goods on the desktop display can be dragged into the Taobao shopping cart. The upper limit of automatic withholding in unmanned coffee shops is 5000 yuan per person per day.

2、 Security technology associated with unmanned supermarket

The first thing to talk about is RFID technology, which summarizes the technical links of shopping in unmanned supermarkets in one sentence, that is, by adding RFID tags (commonly known as electronic tags) to each commodity, and then automatically identifying the target object and obtaining relevant data through RF signals with the help of vision sensors, pressure sensors and other technologies, so as to carry out non-contact automatic identification and complete commodity sales.

At present, RFID tags are mostly used in unmanned supermarkets for commodity identification. RFID, called radio frequency identification, is a communication technology. It can identify specific targets and read and write relevant data through radio signals without establishing physical contact between the identification system and specific targets. Radio frequency is generally microwave, which is suitable for short-range identification communication.

RFID tags are pasted on each commodity to identify and settle the goods purchased by customers in the “payment tunnel”. RFID is a mature and cheap solution. Retail giant Wal Mart also uses similar technologies to improve the management efficiency of the supply chain. When the customer leaves the store, the sensor will scan the RFID tag, reconfirm the goods purchased by the consumer, and automatically settle the amount on the consumer’s account. Of course, it also has some problems. It can’t identify goods with special materials such as glass. Therefore, some businesses, such as wheat smart convenience store, use mobile phones to scan the QR code on the shelf or directly scan the bar code on the commodity packaging to complete the mobile payment of goods, so as to avoid the disadvantages of RFID. But at the same time, RFID technology also has problems such as inconsistent standards, high cost and data collision. RFID manufacturers still need to practice if they want to embark on the fast lane of the Internet of things.

In the catering area and rest area of unmanned convenience stores, image recognition technology is applied. There is no doubt that image recognition technology can be said to be the strength of security enterprises. In our convenience store, the application of image recognition technology is actually relatively basic. It is only applied to face recognition technology, and it is only used as an access port, so the actual sense of participation is too low.

No matter what kind of unmanned retail solution, we must first solve the user experience problem at the C-end, and then reduce the labor cost for the b-end customers. Because whether you can enter the store or not depends on consumers. Without consumers, everything is empty talk. In the future, unmanned sales should remove all media, and consumers can complete shopping only by themselves. Even if consumers walk into the store naked, they can successfully buy goods. To do this, we must first solve the problem of identity recognition. Face recognition, fingerprint recognition, iris recognition technology and so on can be realized. Which recognition technology to choose depends on the specific situation. Anyway, either one is related to security. In unmanned convenience stores, in addition to accurate identification, we should continue to track consumers and analyze consumers’ behavior. This can be achieved through image recognition technology. For the analysis of dynamic images, the security industry can be said to be responsible, especially Hikvision and Dahua. After selecting the goods, the user enters the specific settlement area. At this time, it is the turn of RFID technology to play. The total amount of goods is calculated through RFID, and then matched to the user payment account with biometric authentication to easily complete shopping.