State Trading Organization (STO) officially opened the country's first "Smart Store" in Hulhumale' today.
Vice President Faisal Naseem opened the smart shop at a ceremony in Hulhumale' with STO Managing Director Abdulla Saeed and senior officials in attendance.
Located at the site of the old STO store in Hulhumale' phase one, the shop was set up with artificial intelligence vision and IOT sensors to offer 24-hour service.
But the 24-hour service will begin after regulatory approvals, STO Chief Information Officer Ismail Mifrah said. AI technology will reduce the amount of time customers spend in the store, he said.
All transactions at the smart shop must be conducted through a mobile application. A QR code generated by the app or the face recognition feature must be used to enter the shop.
The bank will charge MVR 3 as a security deposit to register with the application. But STO will return the money as credit.
After registering with the app and entering the shop, items picked by the customer will be added to the app's cart. The business transaction ends when the customer leaves with the items. Upon exiting the shop, a receipt will be delivered to the phone through the app.
A feature called "tokenization" on debit and credit cards will be used for the transaction. The secure feature enables financial transactions from the card without a password.
The prices of items at the STO shop are listed with digital tags. The purpose is for timely changes to keep prices up to date, Mifrah said.
Vice president Faisal Naseem opens the shop.
Speaking at today's ceremony, STO Managing Director Abdulla Saeed said smart stores were rare in the region and that developed states such as Singapore and Dubai were among the countries that operate shops with the smart technology.
The opening of the Smart Store takes the Maldives to the level of those countries, he said.
"It is apparently China that has the most [such shops] within Asia. So we have reached about the same level in this sector as those countries with the opening of this shop," Saeed said.
In his remarks, Vice President Faisal Naseem said Maldivians, and especially the youth, take an interest in quickly learning and becoming familiar with such innovations.
Before opening the Smart Store in Hulhumale', STO installed and started using a smart machine at its main office building this year. The company is also in the process of keeping a vending machine at the carnival area.
The machine can also be used with the same mobile app as the Smart Store. Bank notes will not be needed to buy items such as cans or bottles, according to STO.
The technology introduced in 2016 by the famous American company Amazon shocked the world at the time. Taking Amazon's speedy innovation as an example, advanced countries started to use the technology.
More than 3000 smart shops are operated across the world at present. STO is ready to provide technical assistance if a local company is interested in opening a second smart shop in the Maldives, STO Chief Information Officer Ismail Mifrah said.
