People walk past a Lawson convenience store in Tokyo. -- Photo: EPA-EFE via SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST
TOKYO (SCMP): One of Japan’s largest 24-hour convenience store chains is turning to remote cashiers based overseas in a bid to tackle the country’s chronic labour shortage.
Lawson’s first overseas cashier will be a Japanese national living in Sweden who will assist customers in Tokyo and Osaka during the early morning hours, thanks to the eight-hour time difference.
“The labour shortage is real, and konbini (convenience stores) rely heavily on a good supply of cheap labour,” said Roy Larke, a senior lecturer in marketing at the University of Waikato and an expert on Japanese retail.
“Hourly part-time wages were at an all-time high in November 2024 and will continue to rise. I would fully expect Lawson and others to use this type of system backed by AI in the very near future, reducing and then eventually doing away with the need for human operation.”
Lawson’s remote staff will interact with customers through the use of digital avatars, with animated characters mimicking the movements of the cashier and appearing on a screen at checkout.
A shopper uses an unmanned cash register at a Lawson outlet in Tokyo. -- Photo: Reuters
The system, which has already been trialled at 28 of the company’s more than 11,000 outlets, is poised for expansion, with company president Sadanobu Takemasu revealing plans to hire in other regions including Brazil and New York.
“We want to raise productivity by hiring in places with large time differences with Japan,” Takemasu told Nikkei.
The initiative comes as Japan’s convenience store industry grapples with a dwindling labour pool. A recent Nikkei study found that 62.5 per cent of operators struggled to recruit enough part-time staff last year, forcing some stores to close during off-peak hours.
‘Warmer, more personal’
Lawson’s focus on remote staff coincides with a broader shift in its growth strategy. As urban markets reach saturation, the company plans to open 20 per cent of its new stores in rural areas over the next five years.
This unconventional move comes as rural depopulation has led to the closure of traditional supermarkets, leaving Lawson well-positioned to meet local demand.
One such success story is a Lawson store in Wakayama prefecture, which replaced a defunct supermarket in a mountainous district.
With the nearest alternative more than 30 minutes away by car, the new Lawson has become a lifeline for the community, offering an expanded selection of fresh produce, frozen foods – and even a dining area where residents can gather and socialise.
To staff these rural locations, the company says it will lean heavily on artificial intelligence and avatar-operated checkout systems.
“The avatar thing works so well and I do think it is particular to Japan,” Larke said. “The use of a visual representation of a person certainly seems to help Japanese customers, whereas, in the West, we would often be as happy with just a person speaking to us over audio alone. The avatar provides a warmer, more personal feeling.”
A robot designed to serve bottled drinks and provide bus information is seen at a hotel near Japan’s Narita International Airport. -- Photo: Reuters
Avatar systems are particularly helpful for older customers who may struggle with audio-only interactions, the retail specialist said. The technology not only offers clarity but also aligns with Japan’s tech-savvy culture and high expectations for customer service.
“It’s also why hotel chains and others have introduced anthropomorphised robots for check-in and so on; this works in Japan and Japanese accept it and like the novelty, but also feel more reassured that they’re dealing with a ‘human’,” he said.
Larke called the shift to umanned retail “inevitable”, but said Japanese companies would continue to strive for the “high levels of service perfection” that shoppers have come to expect.
“Retailers already go out of their way not to upset customers compared to many other countries, so ‘unmanned’ will not mean ‘unsupported’,” he said.
Since being acquired by telecoms giant KDDI in July, Lawson has ramped up its use of technological innovations, hoping to position itself as a leader in unmanned retail with the adoption of avatars and remote staff.
“FamilyMart is the leader in terms of unmanned stores so far, but KDDI will bring in a lot more once it gets up to speed with Lawson,” Larke said.
“Even 7-Eleven has just started opening unmanned shopping corners.” - SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST
