State Trading Organisation (STO) has announced that the STO smart store in Hulhumale' Phase I will now operate 24 hours.

The smart store opened in July 2023 is the first of its kind in Maldives and the second largest of its kind in South Asia. The store uses AI vision technology to replace cashiers and allow customers to self-checkout.

According to STO, smart store will reduce the time spent by customers and also remove confusion in cash transactions. Therefore, those who wish to do business at the store will have to register on a mobile application and enter their card details to shop at the store.

The cameras installed in the store will identify customers and detect any goods removed from the shelves, which are then added to the customers virtual cart, STO said.

The customers will be charged automatically on their cards depending on the goods they add to their carts using a 'tokenisation' feature, STO said.