Cashier-less convenience stores are popping up across Canada

MONTREAL – Canadian company Aisle 24 is trying to usher in a new era of convenience.

Like many convenience stores across the country, their locations are full of food and snacks.

But there is one major difference: no one works there.

“You shop as you normally would, there is just no staff and you allow yourself to check automatically,” Aisle 24 owner and franchisor Jessika Venne told CTV National News.

Customers use the company’s app to register and unlock the door, which can be accessed anytime, seven days a week, and they scan and pay for items themselves.

The store relies heavily on the honor system, with security cameras keeping watch.

“We can still see on the cameras if something’s been out of place, if there’s a mess,” Venne said. “People can also contact us and talk to us directly on the app. “

Aisle 24 stores will soon be popping up in other neighborhoods across Canada. Currently there are nine open in Ontario and Quebec, and the company is considering 200 more locations over the next two years.

Co-founder John Douang says the idea was inspired by his parents, who worked long hours in their own convenience store and were forced to close when they went on vacation.

The company has received criticism for cutting cashier jobs, but Douang says it’s not a job many people want anyway.

“There is a labor shortage and a lot of people out there right now don’t want low-paying frontline jobs,” he told CTV National News. “They want something better.”

Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, cashless and cashless technology has been used around the world to reduce physical contact.

It has also changed the way customers shop, picking up what they want, when they want it.

“I think eventually more stores will end up like this,” a customer told CTV National News. “It’s cool.”

It is apparently also a favorite option for night owls.

“Our peak traffic right now for the past two weeks [has been] between 9 pm and 2 am, ”Venne said.