No workers, no worries at new smart bookstore in Guizhou

The positive response is good news for Touqiao, which has worked hard to become the first in Guizhou with a smart bookstore.

Zheng Bin, a community official, said the bookstore is part of its "15-minute living circle project", which focuses on improving lives by installing infrastructure like businesses, parks and public transportation residents can access within a 15-minute walk from home.

Wei echoed Zheng's remarks, saying that the pursuit of social benefits was behind the store's creation. He sees the store as a means of providing a convenient service to residents while also promoting Xinhua Bookstore.

As e-commerce and e-books become more popular, the time-honored brand is exploring new ways to turn a profit. Since it opened, the store has only sold a few books a day on average, but Wei said he isn't worried.

"We will make up for the losses with gains from better-performing bookstores," he explained.

Speaking of future plans for smart bookstores, Wei said Xinhua plans to analyze reading habits and preferences based on data collected with customer permission to better tailor book offerings to tastes.

As it continues to improve its unstaffed service experience, Guizhou Xinhua Bookstore launched two more smart bookstores in Qiandongnan Miao and Dong autonomous prefecture and Bijie city, days after Guiyang.

"Next, we will focus on promoting unstaffed bookstores by making them into new local landmarks and popularizing them on the internet," Wei said.