Many old residents in Yangpu District, in particular those who once studied in Fudan University, have heard of Zhida Bookstore. This 14-year-old bookstore, on the World Reading Day on April 23, was renovated into the first unmanned bookstore in China.

The Zhida Bookstore, most favored by alumni of Fudan University, was opened in 2004 on 525 Guoquan Road, nourishing many students Fudan University over the past 14 years. Today, you will find it has totally changed its look.

Customers enter the bookstore after their faces are scanned, purchase books on their own and paid via unmanned cashier. The 14-year bookstore close to the southern entrance to Fudan University, which is open 24 hours a day, has become China’s first New Retail+ unmanned bookstore. The black technology in the bookstore bring the all-new reading and shopping experience for readers attracted by its fame.

The newly-opened Zhida Bookstore, with nearly 100 square meters in it, sells more than 6,000 books in over 5,000 kinds. In includes two sections, the Common Sense Section and Literature + History + Philosophy Section. Readers can make shallow and profound reading in the same bookstore, meeting the diverse reading demands of readers.

Following the on-site guidance, customers can use Scan in AliPay and get into the bookstore; bind the AliPay account by scanning their faces, and open the password-free payment.

They first enter the Common Sense Section. The entrance to the bookstore is a narrow passage. On one side of the bookstore is the book wall ranging from the entrance to the end of the passenger. The other side of the bookstore is designed as the mirror-surface stainless steel plate, which expands space through reflection. At the end of the passage is a square space. The surrounding bookshelf stays closely to the walls. Some sofas are placed in the bookstore for readers to rest and read books.

The Literature + History + Philosophy Section is a narrow book lane. The customized black-metal bookshelf stands high. In the embedding square wood bookshelf are sets of academic books.

The bookstore does not have staff working in it. Price label is pasted on the lower part of the book cover. After selecting their books, the customers walk to the payment passage to scan their faces. Then the system makes settlement automatically.

“I hope that, by using new retails and technologies, etc. more people will fall in love with reading so that book industry will continue to be invigorated”, said Luo Hong, the principal ofZhida Bookstore. This unmanned bookstore is just the beginning of future bookstores. In the future, bookstores will have interactions such as critics and peripherals to enrich readers’ experience. At the same time, it will actively expand the 24-hour operations, by adding the cloud shelf and breaking the limits of physical space in it.

Zhida Bookstore

Address: 525 Guoquan Road, Yangpu District (close to Fudan University)

Operating hours: 09:30-21:00

Book emits the fragrance of eternal life. Human life is most beautiful when reading is the routine habit. Please don’t hesitate to go to the bookstore and enjoy the tranquil reading time.