UNMANNED, 24-HOUR CHEERS CONVENIENCE STORES BEING ROLLED OUT IN SAF CAMPS

SINGAPORE – More national servicemen will have round-the-clock access to purchase daily essentials from unmanned Cheers convenience stores located in-camp, as the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) and FairPrice Group (FPG) roll out such stores across camps islandwide.

FPG and SAF announced on July 29 that they are working together to introduce 13 such 24-hour unmanned Cheers autonomous convenience stores in total across nearly a quarter of all SAF camps in Singapore by December 2024.

There are a total of 42 SAF camps in Singapore.

The first unmanned Cheers store was opened at the SAF Ferry Terminal in Changi in April 2024. Three more have opened since at Clementi Camp, Kranji Camp 3, and Sungei Gedong Camp in Lim Chu Kang.

These stores will provide servicemen with easy access to some daily essentials, and a wide variety of food and beverages that are compliant with “the whole-of-government healthier food and beverage policy”, said FPG.

How the unmanned stores work

In the unmanned stores, customers can walk in, grab the items they need and walk out without having to whip out their phone, credit card or cash to make payment.

Before entering, they will have to scan their FPG app’s Pay/Earn QR code, or tap their debit or credit card, at the store gantry.

An advanced artificial intelligence (AI) system in the outlet tracks customers’ actions, while items removed from shelves are recorded automatically.

The customers’ virtual baskets are updated accordingly and their digital accounts are automatically and securely charged within 10 seconds of them exiting the store.

Besides being unmanned, the stores can stay open 24 hours a day, occupy less space, and can be built and begin operating faster than other convenience stores. Inventory monitoring is also automated.

National servicemen who are Link members can also use Linkpoints to offset their purchases by paying with the FPG app.

The unmanned convenience stores were introduced to make the workplace and living spaces more conducive, said Military Expert 6 (ME6) Kelvin Yap, head (plans) at Headquarters Combat Service Support Command, in a statement.

“We identified that manpower-reliant operations for canteens or gift shops will limit the operating hours of such services available for our soldiers,” he added.

“This can limit the choices available for our soldiers, especially in camps that are in more remote locations.”

ME6 Yap said the unmanned convenience stores overcome these challenges by adopting technological solutions and cashless payments, so that “service personnel can enjoy round-the-clock access to amenities right within their own camp complex”.

Unmanned stores by a variety of brands – including Cheers, 7-Eleven and confectionery company Chateraise – are steadily popping up around Singapore.

They are mostly located on student campuses and in high-tech retail hubs.

Such shops typically have a limited variety of products and tend to stock packaged food items like snacks and bottled drinks.

Cheers, which introduced its first unmanned store in 2017, now has 12 such stores islandwide that serve tens of thousands of customers in Singapore every month, said FPG.

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