Imagine this.
You walk into an empty store, filled with gleaming fresh fruits, shelves after shelves of your favourite items and fresh shrimps, crabs and fishes.
Everything is eerily silent except for your footsteps.
Tap-tap-tap-tap.
Suddenly, something flash in the dark and everything lights up, and a robot that looks like R2D2 rolled up to you.
“Beep, beep, beeeeeeep?”
In a daze, you said “yes”.
And before you know it, you’re standing at the exit of the store with bags of groceries. And you realised you don’t even have your wallet with you.
Now, before you think that’s a science-fiction…
…
…
It is.
But it’s not as far off as we think.
Because tomorrow, 18 Oct, a supermarket with a similar concept will open its doors for business in the northeast of Singapore.
Habitat, The Robot-Cashless Supermarket To Open at Pasir Panjang
Do you know honestbee? Yes, that online grocery delivery service. Well, they’re now moving into a physical retail space.
But that’s not the coolest part. Even if you appreciate the irony of it.
It’s how they’re moving into the physical part of shopping that’s going to shock your pants off. Or, if my boss was editing this article, 吓死你宝宝啦 (scare your baby to death).
They’re not just opening a supermarket, they’re opening one that’s fully automated.
And by automated, we’re talking robots packing your purchases and cashless payments.
Once you’re done with your grocery shopping, simply put your cart into an automated system where it’ll be carted (see what I did there?) off to be picked up, scanned and packed behind the scenes by reportedly robots.
The entire process takes only about 5 minutes.
Then, when you’re ready to leave the store, scan a unique QR code on your honestbee app and your purchases will be delivered to the collection point.
Plus, they have an “express queue” too!
If you are buying ten items or less, simply use your honestbee app to scan the products yourself and pay using the app.
Then, you’re done and free to go.
The supermarket will stock up on more than 20,000 different products including seafood, meat and fresh produce.
The supermarket will also have 15 food stalls where you can replenish your energy after exploring the store.
HonestBee: Online Sales Only Account For 10% Of Global Sales
So the question is, why? When we all know that, right now, everything’s going online.
And HonestBee’s answer is, why not?
They have the expertise, they’ll have this playground for them to explore new retail strategies and technologies, and most importantly, Singaporeans still prefer shopping offline.
Retail therapy, they called it.
After all, there’s nothing better than to touch, see and smell the things you’re going to buy, right?
Cool-blue-clues, the future is here, people.
Over in TikTok, there’s a drama involving property agents that’s caused by us. Here’s what happened:
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