CU Opens First Tech-Friendly Store... Nonstop from Entry to Payment

Tech Friendly Branch No. 1, CU Samsung Bioepis Store

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Chunhan] CU announced on the 28th that it has opened its first Tech Friendly store, CU Samsung Bioepis Branch, in Songdo-dong, Yeonsu-gu, Incheon.

Tech Friendly CU aims to be a smart convenience store that provides a customer-friendly shopping environment by applying advanced technology optimized for the domestic retail market. BGF Retail implemented the entire process from store entry to payment to be nonstop in line with Tech Friendly CU's slogan, "No counter, No wait, Just shopping."

CU Samsung Bioepis Branch is designed to offer the same benefits as a regular CU store by applying BGF Retail’s proprietary business logic. Since July 2019, BGF Retail has created a commercialized model that overcomes the limitations of existing smart convenience stores through pilot stores equipped with advanced unmanned retail technology.

The key to Tech Friendly CU’s commercialization is BGF Retail’s self-developed “Cloud POS System.” The Cloud POS System encrypts and updates a large amount of information in real time, including payment methods, membership services, application of partnership discounts, and monthly promotional items.

About 30 AI cameras installed inside the store?including vision cams (tracking product movement), motion cams (tracking customer paths), 360 cams (capturing store panoramas), and security cams from security company S-1 (detecting abnormal behavior)?along with shelf weight sensors that detect weight changes as small as 15g, identify the customer’s final shopping list. The Cloud POS System then combines this data with product information and promotional details. This allows customers to receive the same discounts and benefits unique to Korean convenience stores?such as giveaways, payment method-specific events, membership point usage and accumulation, and telecom discounts?as in regular stores.

Payment is automatically processed through CU’s self-payment app “CU BySelf” as soon as the customer passes through the store gate, and the receipt is also sent via “CU BySelf.” If customers register their facial information and “CU BySelf” details once at the facial registration kiosk installed at the entrance of CU Samsung Bioepis Branch, they can enter the store and pay for products on subsequent visits using only face scanning without a mobile phone.

BGF Retail President Lee Geonjun said, "We will continue to innovate to provide the industry’s most advanced operating system to over 15,000 franchise stores nationwide and offer customers a new digital shopping experience."