Lawson to open convenience stores of the ‘future’ next spring in Tokyo

13 comments

1. So… they’ll be futuristic dirty?

2. >The project aims to reduce the workload of store staff by 30% by fiscal 2030.

   Read: employee 30% less staff (at least)

3. So basically staff cut to 0

4. If by the future they mean the customers do their own checkout, I will be going to 7-11 to buy my onigiri.

5. Found a Green Lawson this summer in Otsuka (Tokyo). It’s actually faster for the customer however good luck for foreigners/tourists understanding the touch screen process.

6. So in the cursed station of Takanawa Gateway there is actually a staffless konbini. I assume it’s New Days affiliated since it’s a JR station, but it doesn’t carry branding. Prices are jacked up (how futuristic!) and checkout is supposed to work automatically. But if you are two people together it gets confused and there are tons of other smaller issues.

   Either way, not looking forward to this future scenario. But if staffing shortages continue, and at some point young and dynamic 90 yo. ojisans will run out, it’s probably going to be the only way forward.

7. Me and my wife were so confused when we went out to the self checkout and there was a AI character telling us to scan, but after a while the character was able to tell exactly what we was doing, then we realized there was a remote worker with a camera feed on us.

8. there’s no labor shortage. they just don’t want to pay people.

9. I always envisioned future conbinis just being a room full of vending machines.

10. Unless you only ever buy one or two items at a time, self checkout is **always** slower and more hassle than a dedicated clerk. Fuck you Lawson.

11. Dude is doing the Make Contact gesture from Bloodborne in that pic lmao

12. The self-service hot foods (L-chicken, etc.) system has actually degraded the quality of those items. Hope this improves with this new “Future” concept.

13. Well, next spring is “the future.”