三洋堂書店 has introduced unmanned operations at 40 of its 66 stores. Staff are absent for 4 hours between 7 a.m. and midnight, with sales continuing during unmanned hours through a system that manages store entry using AI facial recognition.
The bookstore chain 三洋堂書店 is reviewing the hours during which its stores have traditionally been staffed and is moving to operate without staff during specified periods. Unmanned operations are set for 4 hours in the morning and 4 hours at night, stated as a total of 4 hours, and have expanded to 40 of the 66 stores. This is advancing a store operating model in which part of the staffed hours is converted to unmanned hours, rather than simply extending the previous opening hours.
HOUSEI's AI facial recognition system "WelcomID" is used for entry during unmanned hours, and the company also provides store operation support services, including monitoring and unmanned payments. Operations vary by store, with some operating without staff only in the morning and at night, some switching to unmanned operations after staffed hours end, and others operating 24 hours a day.
According to published materials for the fiscal year ending March 2026, 32 stores had introduced unmanned operations, of which 24 had replaced part of their staffed hours with unmanned hours. Against a backdrop of rising labor costs and labor shortages, efforts are under way to separate opening hours from staffing allocations.
One example of this initiative is a case cited in a 2024 interview in which sales during unmanned nighttime operating hours exceeded 12% of total store sales. This was the result for an individual store and does not indicate an overall average or increased sales across all stores.