Lawson and its owners, major trading house Mitsubishi and telecommunications carrier KDDI, said Wednesday they will open convenience stores of the "future" that utilize digital technology in Tokyo next spring. The new stores, to be in the Takanawa Gateway City complex in Tokyo's Minato Ward, will feature robots that can stock shelves and cook, as well as artificial intelligence signage that recommends products to customers. A booth will also be set up where customers can remotely consult on topics such as nursing care and asset management. The project aims to reduce the workload of store staff by 30% by fiscal 2030. Labor shortages are the number one issue that needs to be address, Lawson President Sadanobu Takemasu said at a news conference on Wednesday.

Amazon says it is opening a new food and convenience store that doesn't have a check-out line. Instead, the company envisions customers at the Amazon Go store picking up whatever they want off the shelves – then simply walking out with it. The items are automatically billed to their Amazon accounts. Details about how the technology actually works are sparse. "We used computer vision, deep learning algorithms and sensor fusion much like you'd find in self-driving cars," a narrator says in a video from Amazon.