Retail from Brick-and-mortar to Electronics-and-robotics

In the United States, the largest retailer of the world, Walmart, is pushing to reshape staff training with application of virtual reality for store people to prepare for Black Friday, whereas Amazon Go revolutionizes retailing from a labour-intensive to a technology-driven business by offering “Just Walk Out” shopping experience.

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While the above two instances could soon drive industry change globally, it is actually happening in Asia. For example, in Hong Kong, Genki Sushi had launched fully-automated store by installing self-ordering panels and speed train (kousoku) back in 2015. We may expect to see more innovation from markets like Hong Kong with tight manpower and relatively stringent cross-border immigration policy.