7-Eleven tests cashierless store at Texas HQ

Dive Brief:

On Wednesday, 7-Eleven announced that it is testing a cashierless store at its corporate headquarters in Irving, Texas. The 700 square-foot store is available to 7-Eleven employees and features various popular products sold in stores, including snacks, groceries, food and beverages.
The company has implemented multiple proprietary algorithms and predictive technology to distinguish customers and their purchases from others in the store, the company said in a press release.
To shop at the store, 7-Eleven employees download an app, sign up, check in at the store, shop and leave. Afterward, shoppers will receive a detailed receipt via the app.

Dive Insight:

The debut of the cashierless store is the latest tech component 7-Eleven has introduced into its operations. As the company notes in its announcement, the retailer launched its mobile checkout feature and the 7NOW delivery service. The company also announced in September that it was providing franchisees with Microsoft 365 and Power BI to analyze their overall performance.

"Introducing new store technology to 7-Eleven employees first has proven to be a very productive way to test and learn before launching to a wider audience. They are honest and candid with their feedback, which enables us to learn and quickly make adjustments to improve the experience," Mani Suri, 7-Eleven senior vice president and CIO, said in a statement.

Of course, 7-Eleven isn’t the first to launch a cashierless store, nor is it the only retailer trying to perfect the cashierless retail technology. Amazon has been opening Amazon Go stores in various cities across the country, but consumers have been shopping less at Amazon Go than traditional competitors, a report from Earnest Research found.

As 7-Eleven and Amazon Go test the waters of cashierless commerce, retail startups are developing their own tech. Last July, autonomous checkout startup Standard Cognition raised $35 million in Series B funding. Trigo raised $22 million in September to scale its checkout-free technology to bigger stores. Plus, cashierless checkout tech provider Zippin raised $12 million in Series A funding in December to set up in more stores.