Swedish village store with no staff opens its doors

The world’s first effectively staff-less supermarket has opened in Sweden.

Customers use mobile payment by smartphone to buy anything on the shelves except cigarettes, drugs and alcohol.

Once customers register and download a smartphone app they can use their devices to unlock the door of the 24-hour store and purchase goods.

They scan their purchases with their smartphone camera and put them in their shopping bag.

Customers are sent an invoice at the end of each month to pay for what they have bought.

The store is the brainchild of Swedish IT entrepreneur Robert Ilijason who has produced the Näraffar (shop nearby) smartphone app.

The supermarket is in the village of Viken, north of Helsingborg.

The store operator ensures that the shelves are filled, and cameras monitor the purchasing and deter thieves.

As a security precaution, the shopkeeper is alerted by smartphone if the front door is open for longer than six seconds.