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SINGAPORE, 22 January 2024 — Stellar Lifestyle, a business arm of SMRT, today announced the launch of Hive 2.0, its retail innovation hub at Esplanade Xchange. Officially launched by Ms. Low Yen Ling, Minister of State, Ministry of Trade and Industry & Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth, Hive 2.0 is located within the Esplanade MRT station.
Hive 2.0 is Stellar Lifestyle’s showcase of how it envisions the future of retail innovation through the lens of technology, enhancing the vibrancy of space around it and creating new commuter experiences. Commuters can experience about 10 unique retail concepts, mostly developed by up-and-coming local startups, within the 32,00 sq ft innovation space daily.
Mr Tony Heng, President of Stellar Lifestyle, said, “Hive by Stellar Lifestyle continues to support Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) by introducing and validating innovations. This year, Hive 2.0 will leverage Artificial Intelligence (AI), robotics and connected networks to help our merchant partners become more operationally resilient. We designed these innovations to leverage our extensive rail network, allowing us to create new in-store experiences where consumers can enjoy greater convenience and enhanced retail experiences. What you see here today could scale across the train network in the future, as SMRT is committed to Moving People, Enhancing Lifestyles.”
Office workers at South Beach Development will be able to use a first-of-its-kind robo-delivery service from Esplanade MRT station to their office building, ordering items from Esplanade MRT station’s 7-Eleven through the QuikBot app. For the first time in Singapore, QuikBot’s delivery robots will autonomously transport purchases, consolidating orders on larger robots with a fleet of smaller ones, seamlessly navigating lifts, gantries, and multiple buildings to deliver items directly to office floors. These robots will exchange items with each other to optimise logistics efficiency and they will also be the first to self-navigate on common corridors as they move between Esplanade MRT and South Beach Tower
Other unique highlights include a room-sized robotic retail dispensing machine developed by Mr. R Robotics, and a showcase of local Singapore brands curated by local space aggregator Yzel, a pop-up sampling solution that allows merchants to offer their products to customers on a short-term basis in curated retail spaces.
First launched in 2022, the Hive innovation hub connects Stellar Lifestyle and hundreds of its tenants with partners in the technology ecosystem. Hive 2.0 features a new lineup of startups and partners, including select startups from Stellar Lifestyle’s Stellarate Innovation programme. Other exciting innovative retail concepts by Stellar Lifestyle include 7-Eleven Shop & Go – its first self-checkout retail store where commuters can tap their credit card to enter. Leveraging AI, smart cameras, deep learning and multi-sensor fusion technologies, the 7-Eleven self-checkout store provides a frictionless retail experience to shoppers with a seamless Tap, Shop and Go process.
This is the first automated self-checkout store in an MRT Station in Singapore. In the coming months, commuters can also order bubble tea while they are on the train and pick it up from JAVIS, a robot bubble tea store, when they arrive at Hive 2.0.
The featured technologies are used to help retailers improve business efficiency and deal with issues such as rising workforce and logistic costs, while simultaneously providing commuters with unique retail experiences.
Hive 2.0 demonstrates Stellar Lifestyle’s iterative approach to developing solutions that support its retail partners, benefit the local community and transform retail at MRT stations into vibrant lifestyle destinations. This goal is achieved through placemaking, by incorporating new technologies, creating new commuter experiences, and reimagining the use of existing spaces. Other exciting commuter experiences by Stellar Lifestyle include the sprawling 22,000 sq ft Timezone at Orchard Xchange and the bustling bazaar at Dhoby Xchange with its eclectic range of F&B and lifestyle outlets.
Convenience through innovation
The Hive 2.0 retail and technology partners include:
● 7-Eleven Shop & Go: The first ever autonomous store in Singapore to enable the seamless tap, shop and go process. Commuters only need to tap their credit card to enter, shop what they need and leave the store. Their purchases will automatically be charged to their card as they walk out.
● QuikBot: Leading with its “Autonomous Final-mile Delivery Platform-as-a-Service” (AFMD), QuikBot is transforming Singapore’s urban infrastructures into “SMART” systems integrated with robotics and IoT. Set for a January 2024 launch with partners like Stellar Lifestyle, South Beach Consortium, and 7-Eleven, South Beach Development office workers can conveniently order from the Esplanade MRT station’s 7 -Eleven from the Quikbot app, after which its autonomous robots will transport these orders directly to their office floors, self-navigating along common corridors as they move between Esplanade MRT and South Beach Tower.
● Mr.R Robotics: Singapore’s first adaptive robotics retail store, serving frozen, chilled
and ambient products concurrently.
● Yzel: An AI-powered, pop-up sampling solution that helps local brands access complementary physical spaces for product display, sampling and sales.
● IncuBaker: An F&B Incubator offering a co-working kitchen workspace and studio to help aspiring F&B entrepreneurs test and sell their products.
● The Gym Pod: An on-demand fully-private state-of-the-art gym to help health-conscious commuters hit their fitness goals.
● Le Tach Vending: An intelligent vending machine operator that stocks traditional and non-traditional products, ranging from herbal teas to bak kwa (sweetmeat) and fresh fruit.
● Tap Tiles: Tap Tiles is a startup that designs kinetic floor tiles which can harvest clean energy in the form of electricity and data from footsteps while engaging the users in the process..
● BuzzAR: An AI-powered virtual assistant that provides shopping guidance and recommendations to Hive customers.
● JAVIS: An upcoming fully automated bubble tea store that can brew freshly made bubble tea tailored to customers’ preferences.
● NOYES: For retailers, a fully automated nano-warehousing storage solution to support re-stocking and self-collection.
Sky Oh, Contributor
Sky's The Technovore's International Man of Mystery. He travels the world, enjoying the high life but still finds the time to write!
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