Suning Commerce Group, a subsidiary of Suning Holdings Group, announced that it has opened four new unmanned automated stores across China during the '11/11 Shopping Festival', the largest shopping period of the year in China.

Following the opening of its first unmanned automated store, 'Suning Sports Biu', in Nanjing in August, Suning opened its second staffless store in Shanghai earlier this week. Additionally, three more stores are scheduled to open soon in Beijing, Chongqing, and Suzhou. With an expanded product lineup, the newly opened stores will offer not only sports equipment but also memorabilia from well-known soccer teams. With an enhanced selection of various equipment, personal electronics, food, and diverse consumer goods, customers can now have their unique purchasing needs fulfilled.


Zhang Jindong, Chairman of Suning Holdings Group, stated, "The Biu store represents Suning's newest innovation in 'smart retail'" and "We have already transformed over 1,500 retail stores into big data-driven smart stores years ago."

He continued, "Based on our extensive direct experience and advantages in the O2O sales sector, Suning's unmanned stores have undergone conceptualization and testing phases, and are now ready to scale up. These stores represent a new business model that can be easily replicated and expanded, and are highly efficient both in terms of cost and technology. Today's technology-savvy consumers expect differentiated shopping experiences. We have identified new opportunities within the industry and remain committed to providing our customers with the best service."

Leveraging facial recognition technology, radio-frequency identification (RFID), big data analytics, and proprietary online financial services, Suning's unmanned automated stores provide customers with frictionless shopping. With faster checkout processes compared to similar stores, the experience is highly optimized for users.

Based on years of operating approximately 4,000 self-operated stores and outlets targeting different regions, Suning plans to further expand the Stock Keeping Units (SKUs) in its unmanned automated stores to accommodate a wider variety of product lines. Subsequently, the company plans to introduce augmented reality (AR) technology to creatively display products and optimize space utilization.