Two pilot self-payment convenience stores were opened in Beijing and Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province on Saturday as a one-day integrity test, with 82 percent of the transactions faithfully paid for.
There were no cashiers in the two stores and customers can voluntarily pay for their purchases in cash or by E-wallet. There are no employees to supervise the stores.
The store in Hangzhou sold merchandise worth 16,700 yuan and received 13,700 yuan.
"Most of the customers chose to pay in good faith … self-service stores might appear in the near future … we hope to promote a social credit system through the test," read the press release sent to the Global Times by a user data-based credit scoring system which supported the two stores.
The system is affiliated to an Internet financial service company in China.
Meanwhile, a customer came to the store in Beijing several times to get cigarettes and bottles of wine but only paid 10 yuan. Another three customers allegedly took several expensive items without paying, according to news website cnr.cn.
"The result of this activity is quite good and only a small minority of customers pay less or nothing," Zhang Daosheng, an employee of the company told the Global Times.
"Supermarkets and stores offering the self-payment service could help reduce operating costs," read the press release.
A society with a mature social credit system could also help customers enjoy the convenience, it added.
