A customer enters an unmanned store run by China's online retail giant JD that uses facial recognition identification. [Photo/VCG]

Chinese e-commerce giant JD has recently opened an unmanned supermarket in Chongqing's Liangjiang New Area, the first of its kind in Southwest China, local media reported on Sept 19.

Located in a popular shopping center in Liangjiang New Area, the pilot high-tech zone of Chongqing municipality, the 140-square-meter JD.CQ X-Mart is equipped with JD's latest unmanned store technologies, such as facial recognition, intelligent shelves and frequency identification for store management.

"I live many blocks away and it has been a long drive for me," said Zhou, a Chongqing resident who came a long way to experience the unmanned mall, "Well, I have to say this is so worth it."

Here, home-developed technologies are giving shopping a digital touch, customers can easily pick up whatever they want and walk straight out of the store without any delay such as getting in lines for payments.

Special devices deployed around the space will track and recognize customers' movement, and generate activity heat maps reflecting traffic flow, product selection and customer preferences.

The AI-powered store offers an expanded product selection, including food, fashion and apparel, as well as fast-moving consumer goods and beauty products. Imported commodities from Italy, Japan, Indonesia and Singapore are also ubiquitous on the shelves.

Different from JD unmanned stores in other regions, the Liangjiang store serves an extra variety of spicy delicacies. They are the symbol of Chongqing's food culture. Foreigners or Chinese, it seems that nobody can say no to the temptation of Chongqing food, even in an unmanned store.

To enter the store, customers need to scan a QR code and register an JD account. "The whole process will just half a minute," according to Zhou.

The unmanned shop is supported by ten some warehouses in Southwest China. JD's world-class logistic expertise made a significant push in developing offline store sector as part of its boundaryless retail vision -- the idea that consumers should be able to buy whatever they want, wherever and whenever they want it -- online or offline.

The trial run started in July and was well received by locals. By the end of the first Smart China Expo in Liangjiang, the daily traffic flow has reached five hundred. Opening of the Liangjiang store will intensify competition among major e-commerce players who have been rapidly expanding their presence in Southwest China.

Adjacent to the unmanned store, the experience center for JD global mall is being decorated and is expected to open for the public in October.

Chongqing is among China's pilot cities for e-commerce trade. JD big data revealed that Chongqing consumers have a much stronger taste for cross-border items than those in other inland cities. An increasing number of young people, the millennial generation in particular, are becoming the main force of overseas product lovers.

Thus, JD picked Liangjiang New Area to open its first experience center for global purchasing.

An advertisement of JD's experience center for online global shopping is seen in Chongqing's Liangjiang New Area on Sept 19. [Photo/liangjiang.gov.cn]

The e-commerce behemoth is also planning to build a "JD Smart Community" centering Liangjiang New Area. With a total area of 10 square kilometers, convenient shops, unmanned stores and home appliances malls will form a boundaryless retailing circle, which can further stimulate Liangjiang's e-commerce industry and provide a better living environment for both residents and tourists.

Address: No 1 Honghu East Road , Yubei district, Liangjiang New Area, Chongqing