People passing by the streets of Bangbae-dong, a neighborhood in southern Seoul, look back to check out the unusual atmosphere in the Newdle 365 store, one of few unmanned convenience stores in the city.

The store, having seven vending machines and no cashier, is crowded with students during busy afterschool hours, but there is no need to wait for long as customers can easily purchase products with the press of a button. 

Located next to a primary school, the vending machines are mostly filled with popular children’s snacks, but many head toward one that is entirely dedicated to instant cup noodles and boast at least 20 flavors.

Those in need of some change can easily do so by using a bill changer at the corner. Next to the bill changer are microwaves and water dispensers that are needed to heat up the products they have just purchased.

“I visit this store quite often with my friends after school or after my taekwondo lessons,” said an elementary school student who regularly comes to the store. “We like to visit the store because we feel like we are at home. At other normal convenience stores it feels as if the shopping assistants are watching us the whole time.”

The unmanned store also provides free wifi enabling the customers to make better use of their time during their stay at the store.

Run by a company that began as a manufacturer of vending machines 20 years ago, Newdle 365 has succeeded in differentiating itself as a 24-hour unmanned convenience store brand.

At a With Me convenience store in Coex Mall in Samseong-dong, hurried businesspeople grab some morning food and coffee, scan barcodes with a monitor on a self-counter and pay for them in a few seconds. 

“It’s incredibly speedy without unnecessary procedures or unwanted time wasting during human interaction at usual stores,” said a female customer who drops by the store to get her breakfast almost every morning.

The With Me store launched by retail giant E-mart does have human cashiers, but it also installed a self-checkout machine to meet the rising demand for unmanned services.

“We are here to serve customers who need some help for buying hot food with no barcodes on it,” said a cashier at the store. “Most customers prefer using the self-checkout system.”

The first unmanned convenience store to launch in Korea was a GS25 branch at Incheon International Airport nine years ago.

The idea gained a lot of attention at the time and the service expanded to other areas with high foot-traffic, such as Gimpo International Airport.

Unmanned services are also spreading across industries to parcel delivery, laundry and even entertainment industries.

Coin karaoke rooms that are not watched over by owners are thriving near university campuses, such as the Sinchon and Hongdae areas, due to its high popularity among the younger generation. 

Since it costs karaoke fans nearly 20,000 won per hour to rent a conventional karaoke room, young students can’t easily go singing alone. Students form a crew to rent a singing room for a period of time they want.

A coin karaoke room costs 1,000 won for four songs. Such machines have become popular among young customers due to affordability as well as easy accessibility.

“I feel awkward when singing in front of many, especially I am mindful of owners of singing rooms who would be listening to my singing, so I prefer going alone to these unmanned rooms,“ said a student at Yonsei University who often goes to the coin karaoke rooms near her school. ”Time-wise, it’s more economical because I don‘t have to spend time asking friends about their availability to go to traditional singing rooms, and also efficiency-wise, I am more satisfied with this coin system, since I can go whenever I would like to sing with several thousands of won to relieve stress.“

Rather than being viewed as a side effect of individualization in today’s modern society, the coin karaoke rooms are seen as a virtue that expands the scope of activities that individuals can enjoy alone.

However, some automated services still seem to be in need of some human touch.

Despite a sign that hangs on the Newdle 365 store’s wall, which states “The unmanned convenience store began its business with the belief that customers will put their mature citizenship into action,” most of the empty food containers are left on the tables as customers do not bother to clean up after eating.

The unmanned parcel delivery firms and laundry businesses also face some problems as some of the customers do not come to pick up their items on time.

GS25 does not run unmanned stores currently, citing some inefficiency.

“The unmanned convenience store is not a new business, but simply a new type of store that GS25 tried to push forward. However, it led to some inefficiency such as posing limits on the products GS25 could provide its customers with,” said the company.

By Song Su-hyun (song@heraldcorp.com) and Yim Ji-min (jiminy@heraldcorp.com)