Sweden Is Now Home To An Unstaffed Supermarket

Embarrassing drunken late-night convenience store purchases may become a thing of the past. No, not because you're going to stop making munchies runs, but because there may no longer be anyone in the store to judge you. As of January, Sweden is now home to the first unstaffed supermarket.

The futuristic store is located in Viken, a small town in southern Sweden. Customers can access the store 24 hours a day, seven days a week, by unlocking the door and making purchases using an app called Näraffar. Shoppers are then charged a monthly invoice, making mindless purchases that much easier. The store opened in January after Apple approved the app.

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Robert Ilijason, a 39-year-old IT specialist, came up with the idea after driving 20 minutes one night in search of an open convenience store. Now he mans the shop remotely.

Though no one is watching the inventory in person, Ilijason tells The Daily Mail that he has "every inch of the store checked by at least one camera." ABC reports that he has six cameras in the 480-square-foot space.

The shop sells basics like milk, toilet paper and diapers, but does not carry items like cigarettes or alcohol "because of the risk of theft," the Associated Press reports.

Although the market hasn't seen a ton of customers due to its remote location, Ilijason tells The Daily Mail he hopes that other people will use the technology to open these remotely operated stores elsewhere.