GS25, a convenience store brand of South Korean company GS Retail, has partnered with Korean retail artificial intelligence (AI) startup Fainders.AI to launch an autonomous store in Seoul, South Korea.

Powered by the latest vision AI technology from Fainders.AI, the new GS25 store leverages only 2D cameras to reduce load cell-based inference.

The store helps overcome challenges such as staff shortages and the increase in the minimum wage, which has doubled in the country since 2013.

Fainders.AI’s proprietary deep learning algorithms have also reduced computing resources and hardware costs.

The autonomous convenience store is the second store operated by Fainders.AI.

Fainders.AI founder and CEO Myungwon Ham stated: "Our client has spoken to various solution vendors, and our solution was chosen because it is already the most competitively priced solution out there.

"With dynamic changes in Korea, especially in demographics, we believe the expansion of autonomous stores in Korea is approaching fast.”

The implementation of Fainders.AI’s weight sensor-mounted shelves also enhances shelf capacity, thereby offering disruptive innovation opportunities in the retail industry.

Myungwon Ham added: "Existing autonomous stores can only stock as much as 50% of traditional shelves. This leads to sales losses for offline retail.

"In contrast, our weight sensor-mounted shelves boast the shelf capacity improved by 50% compared to other autonomous stores.

"This partnership with GS Retail confidently embodies our mission statement. We aim to restore the profitability of offline retail."