It's cold, it's gloomy, and if you run out of milk, it's a fifteen-minute drive to the supermarket. But this wooden container offers a lifeline. You use an app to open the doors. Your phone scans whatever you need. And the bill's charged to your bank card.

这里寒冷而阴沉，如果牛奶喝光了，要开车15分钟才能去到最近的超市。但这个木制集装箱提供了一条生命线。顾客用应用程序开门，拿手机扫描任何需要购买的商品，账单会记在银行卡上。

 

Critics argue it's a less sociable¹ shopping experience. But during the pandemic, that's a bonus.

批评者认为，这种购物方式缺乏社交互动。但在疫情爆发期间，这却是一件意外的好事。

 

A manager stocks the shelves here once a week, but with no other staff to pay, it's saved the firm's founders² a lot of money.

一位经理每周会到这里把货品上架一次，但由于没有其他店员，不需要支付额外的薪水，公司创始人节省了一大笔钱。

 

Daniel Lundh, Cofounder, Lifvs

We've definitely seen a great interest from other countries as we've been expanding our own chain here in Sweden. Interest from England, Spain, Portugal, Germany. So, we'll definitely expand outside Sweden in the near future.

丹尼尔·伦德       Lifvs 创始人

“当我们在瑞典扩展自己的连锁店时，确实看到其它国家的人对此产生了极大的兴趣，包括英格兰、西班牙、葡萄牙和德国。因此，在不久的将来，我们肯定会向瑞典以外扩展业务。”

 

Cities are the next target for the business – and they're not alone. Amazon's testing unmanned stores in the US. And here in Sweden's tech-savvy capital, a major supermarket chain is also trialling the concept.

城市是该企业的下一个目标，不过经营同类业务的并不只此一家。亚马逊正在美国测试无人商店。而在科技发达的瑞典首都，一家大型连锁超市也在试行这一概念。

 

Many of the entrepreneurs here think unmanned stores will soon be mainstream³.

这里的许多企业家都认为无人商店很快就会成为主流。

 

Cecilia Johansson, Entrepreneur

The challenge is, of course, the older generation that have a habit of going to store and meet the person, but I also think that we have seen quick, rapid growth of digitalisation due to the Covid situation. So we are changing the behaviour of the consumers.

塞西莉亚·约翰逊       企业家

“当然，难就难在老一辈人习惯去商店面对面接触工作人员，但我也认为，由于新冠疫情，我们已经看到了数字化的飞速发展。因此，我们正在改变消费者的行为。”

 

But so far, there are no plans to take staff away from Sweden's biggest supermarkets, where retail⁴ bosses say customers want advice and inspiration, not just something to snack on. Back in Hummelsta, nine out of ten adults have already tried the unmanned store, and anyone struggling with technology is offered help – so it's easy to pick up that carton of milk or perhaps something to sweeten the taste of Sweden's dark, bitter winter.

但到目前为止，还没有计划从瑞典各大超市撤走员工，超市零售业老板们说，顾客想从店员那里得到建议和启发，而不仅仅是去买点零食吃。回到胡默尔斯塔，90%的成年人已试用过无人商店，而那些不熟悉这种技术的人会得到帮助。这样，人们就可以轻松买到一盒牛奶，或者一些可以给瑞典的严冬带来一丝甜蜜的东西。

点击收听单词发音