Thai retailer Lotus’s has teamed up with telco True Digital to launch Thailand’s first smart unmanned store, Lotus’s Pick & Go, at the grocer’s North Ratchapruek community centre flagship. 

Shoppers may select from more than 400 products, including drinks, snacks, and everyday essentials. To shop at the unmanned store, they must have the TrueMoney Wallet application and a minimum balance of 200 baht.

With the help of True Virgo AI, a smart retail platform, Lotus’s Pick & Go by True Digital aims to transform the store into a fully automated system while also delivering what the companies bill as “a completely new kind of shopping experience for the digital age”. 

“Lotus’s is moving forward to develop its business in every aspect to provide superior experiences with the launch of a new branch and renovation of existing branches to better suit customers’ lifestyles in each area,” said Monchai Intarapornudom, senior director of Lotus’s operations development. 

“Last year, we opened Lotus’s North Rachapruek, a Smart Community Center prototype as a centre that combines smart living for all generations with Smart Life Solutions, offering products and services that response to the daily demand with community space for various activities in the shopping centre.”

According to local sources, customers can be confident that their data privacy is secured because the unmanned store won’t run by gathering personally identifying information from them, including images of their faces. 

Earlier this year, Lotus’s retail store operator, Ek-Chai Distribution System, launched a luxury hypermarket concept brand named ‘Lotus’ Prive’, with the first store opening at mixed-use lifestyle complex ICS.