Guide · Unmanned store · 2026
How to start an unmanned store
A complete guide to opening and running a store with no staff on site. We walk through the steps from premises to opening, the hardware you need, how the customer gets in and pays, what the Swedish cash register rules require and how you keep shrinkage down — factually and without shortcuts.
Background
What is an unmanned store — and why now?
An unmanned store is a store that stays open with no staff in the premises. The customer gets in on their own, scans their goods themselves and pays on the phone. Instead of a cashier at the door, the technology lets the right person in, takes payment and issues the receipt. The model has gone from a niche to a common way to run everything from farm shops and kiosks to groceries in smaller towns.
The driver is simple: staffing is the most expensive and hardest part of staying open. An unmanned store lets you sell in the evenings, on weekends and in the early mornings — the hours it never quite paid to staff. At the same time, the tools have matured. With a modern unmanned-store solution, access, self-scanning, payment and accounting fit together from the start, instead of you having to buy and integrate four separate systems.
This guide is written for you if you're thinking about starting. We stick to what actually applies — technology, law and practice — without promising numbers we can't back up.
Step by step
How to get started — six steps
From idea to open door. The order isn't set in stone, but it keeps the decisions that hang on each other together.
- 1. Decide on concept and range Start with what the store will sell and to whom. An unmanned store suits a range that works without advice: groceries, farm produce, kiosk goods, accessories. Work out when customers actually want to shop — unmanned operation earns its keep on the hours it never paid to staff.
- 2. Secure premises, power and network The store needs power, an internet connection to the controller and a door with an electric lock — an electric strike or a motor lock. If the door only has a mechanical lock, add an electric one. You keep the frame and the door leaf.
- 3. Install the controller and lock The controller connects to the electric lock and to the network. It runs the opening locally: permissions live in the controller, not only in the cloud, so the door keeps working even if the network briefly drops.
- 4. Set up range and prices Items are set up in the platform with barcode and price. The customer then scans the goods themselves on their phone — no till to buy and staff. Categories and campaigns are managed in the same place.
- 5. Choose how the customer gets in Decide which ways to open the door apply: BankID, a door code, QR or SMS. With BankID, every opening is tied to a verified person, which keeps shrinkage down in an unmanned store.
- 6. Test, sign and open Run an internal test of the whole flow — verify, open, scan, pay, receipt. Put up clear signage at the door about how to get in and pay, and switch between staffed and unmanned mode on a schedule if you want to start cautiously.
Hardware
The hardware you need
An unmanned store needs surprisingly little fixed equipment — much of the till sits in the customer's own phone. These are the parts that make the store run itself.
JOBBS builds its unmanned store on its own controller and cloud-managed door control. Having the lock, access, payment and accounting come from one supplier means one contract and one support line instead of four systems to hold together.
How the customer gets in
BankID vs door code vs app — pros and cons
How the customer gets in decides how much control you have over shrinkage and traceability in an unmanned store. The three common methods have different strengths — and many combine them.
Verifies the person behind the opening, not a device. Every opening is logged per person, which keeps shrinkage down and makes follow-up simple. Nothing to hand out or collect.
Requires the customer to have BankID. International visitors and anyone without BankID need an alternative.
Works for anyone with a phone — no BankID required. A good complement for occasional visitors. A digital, time-limited door code can expire on its own.
A fixed, shared code quietly spreads and has to be changed by hand. Use time-limited, personal codes instead of one code everyone knows.
Convenient for returning customers. The QR sign at the door opens the store's flow in the phone's browser — no account to create to get started.
It takes a repeat habit for an app to pay off. The QR sign has to be well placed and protected against weather and wear.
With BankID, the person verifies before the lock releases, and every opening is logged per person. That's the difference from a shared code, which only proves someone happened to have it — see how an unmanned store with BankID fits together in practice.
Payment & receipt
Payment on the phone — and the receipt rules
In an unmanned store, the customer's phone is the entire till. The customer scans their goods and pays with card, Apple Pay, Google Pay or Swish, and the receipt is issued straight to the phone. You avoid buying a fixed register and a card terminal, and several customers can pay at once without queuing at a single point.
But unmanned doesn't mean rule-free. The Swedish cash register rules (the SKVFS framework on cash registers) apply in principle to all sales of goods and services against cash or card payment, and they require, among other things, that the customer is offered a receipt and that sales are recorded correctly. There are exceptions and special rules — for example for certain market and distance selling — so check what applies to your operation, ideally with the Swedish Tax Agency (Skatteverket) or an accountant. The point here is simple: solve the receipt question before you open, not after the first inspection.
With JOBBS, a compliant receipt is issued on every sale and lands straight on the customer's phone. It's part of payment and accounting fitting together, instead of being two systems you have to connect yourself.
Accounting
Accounting: SIE4 to your accounting software
The part often underestimated is the accounting. An unmanned store can sell around the clock, and without an automatic export every month-end becomes a puzzle of transactions, fees and settlements. The answer is for sales to be booked continuously and for you to get a standardised export to read into your accounting software.
SIE4 is the Swedish standard format for moving accounting data between systems — a file format that Fortnox, Visma and most other accounting programs can read. If you get sales as a ready SIE4 export, you skip entering figures by hand, and your accountant has something to work with straight away. With JOBBS, the SIE4 export is created automatically with settlement, so card fees and the like are already handled in the export. A compliant receipt on every sale and a finished accounting export are simply part of the platform — not something you buy separately and wire in.
Security
Shrinkage and security in unmanned operation
The most common worry before going unmanned is shrinkage: what stops someone from just walking off with goods? The answer lies in who gets in. If no one can open the door without verifying, and every opening is logged against a real person, the calculation changes for anyone thinking about cheating. That deters in itself — and if something still happens, you know who was inside, not just that the door was used.
With BankID at the door, every visit is tied to a verified person. That gives an entry log per person that makes follow-up simple, unlike a shared door code that only proves possession. A camera in the store reinforces the effect and helps with follow-up — but remember that CCTV falls under data protection rules: sign the surveillance clearly and keep the footage only as long as you actually need it.
A final security question is operation. If the door only works when the network is up, the store stops at every outage. That's why permissions should live locally in the controller, so the door keeps working through a brief network drop — and the platform should be monitored so deviations are caught before they become a stop at the door.
Age limits
Tobacco, beer and other age limits
Some goods can't be sold just anyhow. Tobacco and tobacco-free nicotine products require a permit or notification respectively, and folköl (class II beer) may only be sold to those aged 18 or over. Responsibility for the age check lies with the seller — and in an unmanned store there is no cashier to ask for ID at the counter.
That doesn't make an age-restricted range impossible in an unmanned store, but it demands a considered age check and a routine you can stand behind. A common and sensible first step is simply to keep tobacco and folköl out of unmanned operation — sell them during staffed hours and let the rest of the range stay available around the clock. If you want to sell age-restricted goods unmanned, find out exactly what applies before you start, ideally with the municipality and the Public Health Agency as sources.
Avoid the pitfalls
Common mistakes to avoid
Most problems with an unmanned store can be foreseen. Here are the traps that most often cause trouble.
Checklist
Checklist before you open
Tick off these points and you've covered both the technology and the requirements.
- Premises with power, network and a door that can take an electric lock
- Controller and electric lock installed and tested
- Range set up with barcodes and the correct prices
- Chosen how the customer gets in (BankID, door code, QR or SMS)
- Payment on the phone live (card, Apple Pay, Google Pay, Swish)
- Receipts compliant with the Swedish cash register rules
- Continuous accounting with a SIE4 export to your accounting software
- Camera fitted and signed under the data protection rules
- Age-restricted range handled or deliberately left out
- Clear signage at the door on how to get in and pay
Want to see what it comes to for your particular store? See the pricing, or book a demo and we'll go through the flow from locked door to finished accounting.
FAQ
Start an unmanned store — common questions
What does it cost to start an unmanned store?
The cost varies with the premises, the range and how much you already have in place. The clear items are the controller and an electric lock as a one-off investment, plus a recurring monthly platform fee. Because the customer pays on their own phone, you avoid buying a till and a card terminal. On /priser you'll find listed prices to work with — get in touch with your premises and we'll cost it together.
Does the customer need an app to shop?
No, not necessarily. The customer can open the store's flow in the phone's browser via the QR sign at the door and scan the goods there — nothing to install and no account to create to get started. An app is handy for returning customers but not a requirement.
Is it legal to run a store without staff?
Yes. There is no general requirement for a store to be staffed. The same rules apply as for a staffed store, though: you must issue a receipt under the Swedish cash register rules, follow the data protection rules for CCTV, and keep age-restricted goods such as tobacco and folköl within their special requirements.
How do I keep shrinkage down in an unmanned store?
The strongest lever is that no one gets in without verifying. With BankID, every visit is tied to a real person and every opening is logged — that deters in itself, and if something happens you know who was inside, not just that the door was used. A camera and clear signage reinforce the effect.
Do I have to use BankID, or is a door code enough?
You decide. A door code works for anyone with a phone and is a good complement, but a fixed shared code quietly spreads. BankID verifies the person behind the opening and gives an entry log per person, which is hard to beat for shrinkage and traceability. Many combine the two: BankID as the default and a time-limited door code for occasional visitors.
Can I be staffed by day and unmanned at night?
Yes. The store can switch between staffed and unmanned mode on a schedule, with its own rules per mode. It's a common way to start cautiously: staffed during the rush and unmanned during the hours it otherwise never paid to stay open.
How is the accounting handled?
Sales are booked continuously and you get a SIE4 export to read into your accounting software. A compliant receipt is issued on every sale. Instead of tallying up a month afterwards, the export is ready to hand to your accountant.
Ready to open your unmanned store?
Book a demo and we'll show how access, self-scanning, payment and accounting become a single flow — from verifying at the door to a finished SIE4 export.
Book a demo