Customer access to 52UNATTENDED stores

Unattended stores are stores without shop assistants and other personnel. They're installed with self-service technology that customers use to enter the store at potentially any time, scan their articles, and pay at self-checkout.

This topic focuses on how 52UNATTENDED handles customer onboarding and customer access to unattended stores.

Customers must register to get access to unattended stores

For security reasons, access to a 52UNATTENDED store requires that customers have registered so that they’re known by the store.

Let’s look at two examples where customers enter a 52UNATTENDED store, do their shopping, and leave. In the first example, the customer has already registered. In the second example, the customer is new to the store, so they must register to get access.

In the examples, customers use their physical payment cards to enter and exit the unattended store, but they might as well use digital cards on their phones, key tags, or any other means of access that can be tied to their registration.

Example: Existing customer Karen has already registered

Karen opens outer door to unattended store by scanning her payment card.
Display in lobby says Good to see you, Karen. Please scan your card again at the next door.
Karen opens inner door to store by scanning her payment card.
Display in store says Welcome, Karen and displays real-time video of Karen in the store.
Karen shops.
Karen scans articles at checkout.
Karen pays with their payment card.
Karen opens inner door to lobby by scanning her payment card.
Karen opens outer door to street by scanning her payment card.

Example: New customer Wayne hasn’t used the unattended store yet

Wayne opens outer door to unattended store by scanning his payment card.
Wayne’s payment card isn’t known by store, so display in lobby says Please register here to get access to the store.
Wayne registers and accepts terms and conditions.
Wayne opens inner door to store by scanning his payment card.
Display in store says Welcome, Wayne and displays real-time video of Wayne in the store.
Wayne shops.
Wayne scans articles at checkout.
Wayne pays with their payment card.
Wayne opens inner door to lobby by scanning his payment card.
Wayne opens outer door to street by scanning his payment card.

The only difference between the two examples is that the new customer Wayne must register and accept terms & conditions. How many details to ask customers for when they register is up to you.

In the Nordics, many unattended stores ask new customers to register with their BankID or MitID (two-factor authentication services used by the governments, private enterprises as well as individuals), so the store automatically gets the customer’s identity, including their age, verified. Read more about that in the following.

Customer registration options

You have a lot of flexibility when it comes to registration of new customers. How much information to ask customers for when they register is entirely up to you.

In the simplest scenario, the customer scans, for example, their payment card, enters a minimum of details about themselves (for example name, e-mail address, and phone number), and accepts terms and conditions. That's it. Simple and quick, but not necessarily very safe because the new customer may not have entered true details about themselves, and they might even have used a stolen payment card to register.

That's why 52UNATTENDED also offers a number of slightly more complex, but much safer, registration options that involve identity verification – even for occasional customers from abroad who may not be able to use standard identity verification methods in the country where the store's located. Let's look at some examples:

Example: Registration with BankID or MitID (Nordic countries)

BankID and MitID are two-factor authentication services used by the governments, private enterprises as well as individuals in Denmark, Norway, and Sweden, so those services are ideal for verifying customers' identities, including their age for sale of alcohol, etc., in those countries.

The new customer scans, for example, their payment card on entry. The payment card isn’t known by the store, so the display in the store's lobby says Please register here to get access to the store.
On the display, the customer selects Register with BankID / MitID. If the store isn't located in an area frequented by people from other countries, the store owner may only offer that registration option.
The customer enters their BankID or MitID user name on the display and then verifies their identity in the BankID or MitID app on their phone. BankID and MitID apps typically use a combination of face or fingerprint recognition and swiping to verify people's identities, so the process is extremely quick.
The customer enters required details about themselves, such as phone number, e-mail address, etc.
The customer may now get an activation code sent to their phone that they must enter on the display.
The customer accepts required terms and conditions. Depending on your setup, the customer may at this stage also accept possible newsletter subscriptions, select to use a welcome campaign offer, or similar.
If the store requires it, the customer specifies a PIN code to use together with their means of access (their payment card in this example).
The customer can now enter the store and do their shopping. The next time that they shop at the store, they simply enter by scanning their payment card – and entering their PIN code if required.

Example: Registration with manual ID verification

Let's build on the previous example from the Nordic countries, and assume that the unattended store is located in a popular tourist area that isn't only frequented by people from the Nordics, but also by people from, say, Germany, Poland, and the United Kingdom.

The new customer is German. They scan, for example, their payment card on entry. The payment card isn’t known by the store, so the display in the store's lobby says Please register here to get access to the store.
On the display, the customer has two registration options, Register with BankID / MitID and Register with manual ID verification. The customer doesn't have BankID or MitID, so they select the manual registration option.
The customer enters required details about themselves, such as name, date of birth, country of residence, e-mail address, telephone number, etc.
The customer may now get an activation code sent to their phone that they must enter on the display.
The customer accepts required terms and conditions. Depending on your setup, the customer may at this stage also accept possible newsletter subscriptions, select to use a welcome campaign offer, or similar.
If the store requires it, the customer specifies a PIN code to use together with their means of access (their payment card in this example).
The display informs the customer about how to get their ID manually verified. In a hybrid store (one that is attended by staff some hours per day and unattended the rest of the time), the customer may be asked to show their passport or driver's license to staff during attended hours so they can verify the customer's identity and quickly activate their profile. In a fully unattended store, the customer may be asked to bring their ID with them to a nearby attended store.
Once the customer's identity has been verified, they can enter the unmanned store and do their shopping simply by scanning their payment card – and entering their PIN code if required.

Customers can edit or delete their profiles

Once registered, a customer can always edit their profile or request it to be deleted:

The customer scans their means of access, for example their payment card, on entry and possibly enters an associated PIN code. The display in the store's lobby says Welcome, [Customer Name].
On the display, the customer taps Edit profile.
For security reasons, the display asks the customer to verify their identity. If the customer uses BankID or MitID they can use that option. If not, they can choose to have a one-time PIN code sent to their registered phone number that they must then enter on the display.
Once verified, the customer can now:
- Change or withdraw their consents
- View their shopping history
- Edit their phone number and e-mail address
- Edit their loyalty program details (if the customer and your unattended store participate in a loyalty program)
- Change their store access PIN code (if your unattended store uses that extra layer of security)
- Request that their profile is deleted (the terms and conditions that the customer accepted when registering specifies how long the unattended store owner has to delete customer's data)
When ready, the customer logs out of the editing mode and then either begins to shop or leaves the store.

Unwanted customers can be blocked

If a customer misbehaves, for example by behaving in a reckless or threatening manner in one of your unattended stores, you can block the customer to temporarily prevent them from being able to shop in any of your chain's unattended stores.