An unmanned bento store. Introduced remote customer service "RURA" to Uzumasa Bento Village

Kyo Hayashi Co., Ltd. Uzumasa Bentomura Katsura store (opened December 20, 2021) has introduced a remote customer service service RURA developed and operated by Time Leap Co., Ltd., which is semi-unmanned. Start store operation.

Hokusai, a bento store in Kyoto that specializes in the production and sale of ekiben and catered meals, is Kyo Hayashi, a small department store basement in town where you can purchase branded products from multiple stores. Opened “Uzumasa Bento Village” as a restaurant, and has opened 3 stores so far.

As a non-contact, non-face-to-face store that anyone can use with peace of mind, we have decided to open the fourth store, which is a "semi-unmanned store using RURA" in a new attempt.

The Hokusai Katsura store, which will be opened as a "semi-unmanned store" this time, is manned operation with staff staying in the store from the time the store opens until 15:00, but after 15:00 the store is completely unmanned. be operated.

■ Flow of customers visiting the store during unmanned operation hours ・Freely look around the products displayed in the store and decide which product to purchase ・Read the purchased product at the self-checkout ・Pay with the automatic payment machine

Mr. Hayashi, Representative Director of Kyo Hayashi

In the environment of less than two years, I have come to think about the importance of being flexible to change. Of course, I think that the new coronavirus, which is currently causing confusion in society, will eventually subside. However, I do not think that the "normal" of people who have changed due to the corona crisis will not return to the original, and I feel that in the future, we will not be able to operate "as before" due to some external factor. Did. I came to think that it is important to create a business model that can flexibly respond to such times. A “bento shop” requires a certain amount of personnel to prepare lunches from early in the morning, serve customers when they arrive, and so on, but the unit price is not high. In this way, management can only go well in prime locations where many customers can be expected, and because there are so many people involved, it is difficult to flexibly improve when something happens. In order to change this structure, Kyo Hayashi has adopted a system in which bento boxes are manufactured at the center, delivered to each store, and sold only at the stores. Taking a step further, I thought, "Isn't it possible to have a store without people?", and decided to open a semi-unmanned store. In realizing unstaffed stores, the challenge was how to reduce "customers' resistance to unmanned stores and automatic payment machines." I also thought, "Even though online communication has become familiar due to the corona crisis, there is no way that only customer service will be left behind." I was. In the future, we will increase the number of semi-unmanned stores and use RURA to centralize customer service at multiple stores, thereby expanding stores more efficiently and aiming to be the starting point for Kyoto's retail business transformation. increase. 』

Details of “RURA”: https://timeleap-rura.com/