No Employees in Sight... Lotteria Opens Smart Store 'L7 Hongdae Branch'

The Lotteeria L7 Hongdae branch, which opened on the 22nd, features tiered seating arrangements reflecting the characteristics of the university commercial district, and a large media art wall installed at the back of the hall.

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Hye-seon] Lotteria is introducing a new contactless store with no staff in the hall by applying kiosks for ordering and an unmanned pickup system for food.

A store with 5 employees working only in the kitchen

The Lotteria 'L7 Hongdae Branch,' a hamburger franchise under Lotte GRS that opened on the 22nd, has no customer service staff. There are a total of five employees, all working in the kitchen. Customers can complete the entire ordering process for hamburgers, cola, coffee, and sauces using information devices in a smart store format without facing any staff from entering to exiting the store.

The 'L7 Hongdae Branch,' approximately 258.02㎡ (about 78 pyeong) in size, is a concept store of the testbed type, meaning an environment or system/facility where the performance and effects of new technologies, products, and services can be tested. The biggest feature of the smart zone is the one-stop ordering process without any face-to-face interaction with staff from entry to exit. Additionally, the drink and coffee menus are organized as a self-service zone to minimize customer movement within the store, and a smart pickup zone applying the unmanned pickup system tested at the Seolleung branch last October has been set up. Vending machines selling additional necessary sauces are also installed.

Terraced seating with media facade

The dining area features a space specialized in time and place that can only be experienced at Lotteria stores. To differentiate from existing burger stores, the dining space is arranged in terraced seating to reflect the characteristics of the campus commercial district, and a large media facade multi-vision is installed at the back of the hall. There is also a 'Goods Play Zone' composed of clothing and fancy goods, where the characters Roy, Rody, Rocking, and Roni introduced in 1999 are reinterpreted with 2021 sensibility.

They are also launching a differentiated single-operation menu. The Hongdae Chi’S Burger, operated exclusively at the L7 Hongdae branch, offers an authentic cheeseburger with three beef patties and three slices of cheese. Dessert packs for hotel guests will also be prepared and introduced.

In addition, to commemorate the opening of the L7 Hongdae branch, Lotteria held a promotional event giving away prizes such as accommodation vouchers for L7 Hongdae by Lotte Hotel and free admission tickets to Lotte World to the first 100 customers.

: Unmanned kiosks and unmanned pickup zones installed in Hall 1 of Lotte Ria L7 Hongdae branch, which opened on the 22nd.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.