Autonomous stores: How levels of in-store automation affect store patronage
研究自主商店（无店员）的便利性维度（签到、协助、结账、核对）如何通过感知便利、自主和安全影响消费者光顾意愿，发现消费者偏好有店员商店，且便利与安全存在权衡。
Autonomous stores operate without needing on-site staff present to support and monitor customers. This study seeks to determine which autonomous stores are most likely to succeed. By adapting convenience theory and drawing on secondary and qualitative data, the authors identify unique features of autonomous stores that constitute convenience dimensions: options for check-in (access convenience), staff support (assistance convenience), check-out (transaction convenience), and to allow customers to check their itemized baskets (verification convenience). Perceptions of convenience, autonomy, and safety explain the influences of unique store features. A conjoint experiment provides a test of the direct effects of each dimension on store patronage and indirect effects through convenience, autonomy, and safety perceptions. The results indicate that, with the exception of check-out, consumers prefer staffed stores; having to check in (e.g., with a credit card), limited access to (remote) staff, and an inability to verify the basket before payment represent significant barriers. In turn, some trade-offs arise: Store features that increase convenience and autonomy undermine safety perceptions. Finally, community-based and rural locations are better suited for autonomous stores than anonymous traffic hubs. Retail managers can leverage these findings to decide whether to establish autonomous stores and, if so, with which design.