China coffee store chain to deploy 'smart' self-serve coffee kiosks

Luckin Coffee Inc. will introduce its «luckin coffee EXPRESS» smart unmanned coffee machine and «luckin pop mini's» smart vending machine, the company announced in a press release. The company also disclosed that its number of self-operated stores reached 4,507 by the end of 2019, which it believes makes it the largest coffee chain by number of stores in China. In addition, the number of cumulative transacting customers reached over 40 million as of Dec. 31, 2019, the release said.

The unmanned terminals will cover locations including office buildings, campuses, airports, bus terminals, gas stations, highway service stations and residential communities, supplementing the existing Luckin store network. The terminals use IoT, big data, facial recognition and other technologies.

Luckin Coffee's unmanned retail network eliminates payroll and decorating costs, lowers rental expenses and, the company said, provides a better cost structure compared to that of small-format stores.

Source: Kiosk Marketplace