For most vending machine operators, replenishment is another tedious and costly part of the whole operation process. But since the smart vending machine was invented, replenishment is no longer a problem.

The NAMA Show took place in New Orleans during Aug. 18-20, 2021. The team of SandStar North America attended the show with the company's AI vending machine and unmanned store solutions, which are smart retail solutions with the most promising future for commercial applications. Many leading retailers, including PepsiCo, Nestlé, and Starbucks, also came to the show.

The World Economic Forum announced its selection of the 100 most promising Technology Pioneers of 2021 - companies that are shaping industries from healthcare to retail and many more. SandStar, which provides AI retail products and solutions leveraging Computer Vision as core technology, made it to the selection for its innovation in the field of Retail.

In order to explore and cultivate more influential retail technology startups with a growth potential, the China Chain Store & Franchise Association (CCFA) joined hands with organizations including Deloitte China, Microsoft Accelerator, Intel to pick out the 2021 "CCFA Retail Technology Startups", which were officially announced at the 2021 China International Retail Innovation Summit in Shanghai on May 25, 2021. SandStar CMO Andrea Wang attended the conference on behalf of SandStar, one of the 2021 "CCFA Retail Technology Startups".

This month, SandStar CEO Yili Wu was invited to an innovation forum of the retail industry at a corporate digital transformation summit celebrating the opening of the EY wavespace™ flagship center in Beijing.

Earlier this month, winners of the inaugural ORIGIN Innovation Awards of TechNode Global, a spin-off of TechNode, were announced. The awards cover the innovation ecosystem of East Asia and Southeast Asia. Nearly 400 companies and individuals from 18 countries and regions of Asia Pacific were nominated for the awards. SandStar was recognized by all the jurors to win one of the Startup Awards in the sub-category of Artificial Intelligence.