Lawson
ローソン
Business focus
Consumer Brands, Apparel & Retail
Description
Lawson has been piloting stores staffed by digital avatars: at its experimental Green Lawson store in Tokyo, a self-checkout display shows a 3D avatar of a real employee who assists remotely via camera and microphone. The number of trained avatar operators has grown to roughly 70, and the format has expanded from 17 to 28 stores, including operators working from abroad (e.g. Sweden). Stores also trial a robot that partially automates frying Kara-age Kun fried chicken and a floor-cleaning robot, and since June 2025 Lawson has beta-tested a futuristic "Real×Tech Lawson" format with KDDI.