In July 2020, the convenience store chain opened an 8sqm store on the 27th floor of a high-rise office building in Brisbane. The 7-Eleven mini store is cashless and cardless and only available to employees within the building. The concept is based on a trial store in 7-Eleven’s own headquarters in Melbourne.

The Brisbane building is home to Concentrix and its offshoot, Tigerspike, a digital services company that works with 7-Eleven. Concentrix describes itself as “a technology-enabled global business services company specializing in customer engagement and improving business performance”. They help companies “accelerate digital transformation, and deliver actionable CX insights”. CX, in case you’re wondering, is digi-speak for customer experience. As distinct from UX, which is user experience.

With all that, presumably the staff would be entirely comfortable with the mini-store’s digital-only setup. The store is without staff. Customers need to download an app to their phones, scan their purchases using the app and pay directly from the phone. “There’s no queuing, no register, and it’s 100 per cent digital and contactless,”  7-Eleven chief executive and managing director Angus McKay told Domain.

The 7-Eleven mini store was designed to carry a smaller range of merchandise, apparently geared towards snacking, including coffee, sandwiches, sushi, salads and a select range of Krispy Kreme doughnuts. It operates 24/7, so workers pulling an all-nighter need not go unnourished.

The store is operated by a 7-Eleven franchisee who owns a regular 7-Eleven nearby. Staff from that store handle re-stocking, clean and fill the coffee machine and maintain the mini-store. Domain commented: “The trial of a store where customer interaction is nonexistent seems particularly fortuitous at a time when workplaces throughout the country are becoming increasingly conscious of reducing contact points that may transmit COVID-19.”