The expansion of unmanned stores, once touted as the future of retail, is rapidly slowing in Japan. Initially expected to address labor shortages, these stores are now closing in succession due to high equipment investment costs and low profitability.
According to Nikkei on the 25th (local time), Daiei, a supermarket chain under Japan's retail giant Aeon Group, has shut down its unmanned store "CATCH&GO" in Tokyo and withdrawn from the business. The company determined that while excessive costs were invested in advanced equipment such as cameras and sensors, sales results fell short of expectations.
CATCH&GO operated by automatically recognizing products customers picked up through ceiling cameras and shelf weight sensors, with charges automatically billed to registered payment methods when customers passed through exit gates. Although it was a fully unmanned model with no checkout counters or self-checkout procedures, analysts say the store failed to achieve profitability due to the burden of initial investment and maintenance costs.
Similar retrenchment has occurred in the United States. Amazon's decision to close some of its "Amazon Go" stores raised questions about the limitations of fully automated retail.
Japan's convenience store industry faces similar challenges. Lawson and FamilyMart are testing unmanned stores but remain cautious about full-scale expansion due to equipment costs and the high proportion of in-person services such as utility bill payments.
As a result, the retail industry is shifting toward partial automation instead of fully unmanned operations. More companies are adopting smart shopping carts, self-checkout counters, and store management robots to reduce labor while maintaining operational stability. Seven-Eleven Japan also plans to introduce an optional payment system where customers can self-checkout or receive staff assistance, while deploying robots for cleaning and stocking to cut labor costs.
Analysts point to differences in consumer environments and retail structures as reasons for the divergent speeds of unmanned store expansion between Japan and Korea. Japanese convenience stores have extensive in-person service functions including utility payments, parcel reception, and ticket issuance, making full automation difficult. Additionally, the high use of cash and large elderly customer base have made unmanned systems requiring app installation and card registration a barrier to adoption.
In contrast, unmanned stores are rapidly expanding in Korea. According to data from the National Fire Agency, the number of unmanned stores in Korea increased from approximately 2,000 in 2020 to about 6,300 last year, and is expected to reach 10,000 this year. Relatively low initial startup costs and high operational efficiency are cited as factors driving expansion.
Korea's unmanned stores are mostly small-scale businesses such as ice cream shops, self-service cafes, and unmanned convenience stores, often utilizing relatively simple systems centered on kiosks and CCTV. The high usage rates of card and mobile payments have also been credited with facilitating expansion.
Nikkei analyzed that while technology adoption is inevitable amid labor shortages, only models that secure both customer convenience and profitability—beyond simple labor cost reduction—will survive future retail competition.