Hong Kong Technology Exploration (01137.HK), the parent company of HKTVmall, plans to open its first unmanned store in Europe in the first half of next year, following the example of retail leaders such as Amazon.Com Inc to develop automated sales to reduce pressure on labour costs.
Wang Weiji, vice chairman and chief executive, said that a patent application for fully automated vending machines had been submitted in early August, with the goal of opening eight to 10 unmanned stores next year, which will be located in developed countries with the most expensive labor in Europe.
As for Hong Kong business, Wang Weiji believes that no one in Hong Kong is willing to spend 100 million yuan on online shopping, the most important storage and logistics, so he believes that there is no competitor in Hong Kong's online shopping business.