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Koyo Group Trials Biometric Checkout-Free Technology at Japanese Hotel

Yokohama Techno Tower Hotel

Koyo Group, which operates convenience stores and restaurants in hospitals and other facilities across Japan, has partnered with Zippin and Fujitsu to open a checkout-free store in the Yokohama Techno Tower Hotel in Kanagawa.

The grab-and-go Green Leaves Plus store, which sells pre-packaged food and beverages as well as fresh bento box meals, opened earlier this year as a pilot and will begin full-scale operations in April. Customers can enter the store via a smartphone app after they have registered their credit card information, and then can leave with their items without needing to interact with a cashier. Customers also can register in advance for biometric authentication, eliminating the need for a smartphone and allowing  shoppers to enter with a swipe of their palm.

Koyo plans to use the Yokohama Techno Tower Hotel location as a model to develop new foodservice concepts for hospitals, where people need 24-hour access to food and drink and checkout-free technology could eliminate the need for around-the-clock staffing.

“Zippin is excited to work with Fujitsu to power the checkout-free technology for this new Koyo hotel store,” said Krishna Motukuri, Co-Founder and CEO of checkout-free technology provider Zippin in a statement. “We believe that there is big growth potential for checkout-free retail in Japan. Any store that provides all-hours access is an ideal location for checkout-free technology because the stores can be kept open without having to maintain staffing levels, especially in off-peak periods. The opportunities are endless.”

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