Unstaffed, digital supermarkets transform rural Sweden

The Lifvs start-up has opened 19 stores across the country, choosing remote places that have lost their local shopsEmma Nilsson’s husband is harvesting hay in the hot summer sun and she has popped into the village shop to get him a bottle of water. But there’s no friendly face at the checkout, or opportunity to swap local gossip. Instead, she pulls out her phone, logs in with BankID, the national identification app operated by Sweden’s banks, and opens the locked glass door wit