On the 30th, East Japan Expressway announced that it will open a 24-hour unmanned store selling boxed lunches and drinks on November 21st in the Tobu Yunomaru Service Area (SA, Tomi City, Nagano Prefecture) on the Joshinetsu Expressway outbound line. Announced. This is the first unmanned store in SA/Parking Area (PA) nationwide. The aim is to eliminate the shortage of employees through labor savings and improve services such as night-time operations.

In stores, cameras track customers’ movements and link them to information about the products they pick up. There is no need to scan a barcode; the information appears on the display when the customer stands at the register. The customer confirms the details and makes the payment. In addition to food and drinks such as “Toge no Kama-meshi,” we also have souvenirs.

East Japan Expressway will verify its effectiveness and consider introducing it to other SAs and PAs. An executive said, “Due to the labor shortage, it is becoming difficult to hire employees.We would like to be able to open our stores to meet nighttime demand, mainly from truck drivers.”