Parliament House now has a smart convenience store

Malaysia's parliament opened its own smart convenience store in its premises, as part of the lawmakers' move to adopt more tech innovations.

The parliament house here, in achieving a milestone of sorts, has created history by becoming the first parliamentary institution to feature a smart convenience store in its premises.

The outlet, known as the ‘Ximplicity smart convenience store’, operates round the clock without the need for cashiers, and is equipped with security systems.

The store also features a product identification system that will be able to check available stock based on scanned images.

Speaking at the official opening of the store today, Dewan Rakyat Speaker Datuk Mohamad Ariff Md Yusof said the store's concept could perhaps be emulated by other retailers in the country to reduce dependency on foreign workers.

"The smart store is also representative of our commitment to propel this legislative body to greater heights in the digital technology era,” he said, while also noting that there were many reasonably priced local goods sold there as well.

Hari ini dalam sejarah. Kedai serbaneka pintar yang pertama di bangunan Parlimen sedunia hari ini telah dilancarkan secara rasmi oleh YB Speaker Dewan Rakyat Dato Mohd Ariff. Tahniah kepada seluruh anggota Parlimen. @MYParlimen @bernamadotcom #SayangiMalaysiaku pic.twitter.com/JEJFtaEjcv — Nga Kor Ming (@NgaKorMing) July 1, 2019

Meanwhile, Deputy Speaker Nga Kor Ming said to enter the store, customers will need to download the BingoBox application on their smartphones before scanning QR codes and paying for items via credit or debit cards, or through Boost e-wallet as well as online payment platform Alipay. – Bernama