In January 2024, a groundbreaking retail innovation hub named Hive 2.0 was launched at Esplanade Xchange in Singapore. This hub features several high-tech concepts, including robot deliveries and an unmanned 7-Eleven store. The fleet of delivery robots, developed by QuikBot Technologies, autonomously navigates the office tower to deliver items from a nearby 7-Eleven store. Additionally, the 7-Eleven Shop & Go is a cashier-free store where customers can simply tap into a gantry, pick their items, and exit, with purchases automatically charged to their credit cards​

SINGAPORE – Workers in South Beach’s office tower can now get purchases such as ready-to-eat meals, drinks and snacks from a nearby 7-Eleven store delivered directly to them by a robot.

The fleet of seven robots by home-grown start-up QuikBot Technologies can navigate the maze of lifts, walkways and office gantries autonomously, and even hand items over to one another along the way. Orders are placed through the QuikBot app.

Bot delivery is part of a host of concepts now in operation under Hive 2.0, a high-tech retail innovation hub at Esplanade Xchange. The air-conditioned underground retail strip linked to Esplanade MRT station is operated by SMRT’s business arm Stellar Lifestyle.

The 297 sq m hub comprises 10 unique retail experiences by start-ups focusing on automation, robotics and digital retail services. It was launched on Jan 22 by Minister of State for Trade and Industry Low Yen Ling.

One concept is 7-Eleven Shop & Go, the convenience store chain’s first unmanned and cashier-free store in Singapore where customers can tap into a gantry to pre-authorise their credit cards, pick items off the shelves, and exit. 

Their credit cards are charged accordingly, and a QR code can be scanned to get an itemised receipt.

Artificial intelligence (AI) technology and smart cameras track and detect customers’ shopping behaviour in the store, which can currently hold up to five people at a time.