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Koyo Group taps Zippin for first-ever checkout-free hotel convenience store in Japan

Zippin

Check-out free retail technology provider Zippin has partnered with systems integrator, Fujitsu, to open the world’s first checkout-free store within a hotel in Japan. In partnership with Koyo Group, the grab-and-go Green Leaves + store is located at the Yokohama Techno Tower Hotel.

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Inside, shoppers will find pre-packaged food and beverages, as well as bento box meals. After downloading the Green Leaves + app, and registering their credit card information, customers can enter the store with the QR code displayed on app.

The debut is also the first store in Japan to use biometric authentication technology to verify customers’ identities, according to a press release by Zippin.

Customers can also use the multi-biometric authentication technology that links their palm vein and facial recognition information with the smartphone application. After registering this in advance, a smart phone is no longer required for entry, just a swipe of the palm.

Opening its doors on 10th February, shoppers were found to be spending an average of 113 seconds in the store, despite the small size of the store and niche items, which Zippin declared a success.

“Zippin is excited to work with Fujitsu to power the checkout-free technology for this new Koyo hotel store. We believe that there is big growth potential for checkout-free retail in Japan,” said Zippin Co-Founder and CEO, Krishna Motukuri.

“The Green Leaves + store at Yokohama Techno Tower Hotel is helping to lead the way to a better retail experience at hotels, hospitals, and other places where people need convenient access to food and drinks,” continued Zippin.

In addition to hotels, Koyo also operates convenience stores and restaurants in more than 500 hospitals. This latest hotel convenience store will also be a model for how checkout-free technology could work in a hospital setting—where people need 24-hour access to food and drink – when staff are not available.

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The new store is part of a multi-phase expansion plan by Koyo to ultimately create new convenient foodservice concepts for hospitals.

A full phase out will take place in April.