The root cause of unmanned stores isn't minimum wage; it's the need for big data.
The "real trend" behind unmanned stores is that data about offline-store customers is also accumulated online.
The minimum wage hike is a "catalyst" that accelerates unmanning, but the root cause is the need for "O2O (online-to-offline) big data."
The structure is paradoxical: the more offline-store clerks disappear, the more O2O data accumulates.
Amazon's unmanned store "Amazon Go" makes this clear. You scan a QR code, enter the store, pick up items, and walk out without going through checkout. AI camera sensors track customer movements and purchase history, and then send a receipt via the app.
