From the beginning of May, Aldi will reduce the prices of 12 fresh meat and four frozen meat products.Continue reading
Shops are opening in Hungary that we have never seen before, writes Világgazdaság. They will have no sales staff and will operate non-stop, seven days a week. The first unmanned shops will be launched in Hungary as early as this summer, according to a statement.
The stores will operate in traditional mode during the day and automatically at night, without staff.
The technology will allow these shops to serve customers non-stop, seven days a week.
The model is not unprecedented in the region, and is already being used successfully in the Czech Republic, among other countries. It is the Czech example that has shown that remote monitoring can make it economically viable to run a business in locations where it is impossible to operate a shop profitably under the traditional model. From this point of view, this new solution could also offer the possibility for people living in smaller, rural communities to have access to basic food and other products locally at any time.
The new model has been adapted to local conditions by Laurel Ltd. The company will present the concept in detail in mid-May, however, it is already known that
the system is planned to be introduced in several chains.
Laurel believes that the innovation will not only bring improvements for shoppers and retailers, but could also help tackle a growing social problem. “It is clear that even the biggest global players in retail are looking at how to introduce automated convenience stores in the most efficient and economical way. Amazon, for example, has recently backed away from the concept of Just Walk Out and machine vision systems in its large stores. The solution we have developed is fully automated, even for container-sized stores, but our analysis shows that the so-called hybrid model is currently in greater demand in the domestic market,” explains István Bessenyei, owner of Laurel Ltd.
In practice, existing stores are expected to operate as before during the busiest hours,
while outside normal opening hours (nights and holidays) they will be fully automated, by remote monitoring.
Shoppers can then enter the store and pay using technologies that are already reliably in operation in a number of locations.
The company says it is reasonable to assume that the system will be a success in Hungary, meaning that customers will find it easy to use and will be happy to come into the store at any time. Furthermore, retailers will gain significant additional revenue while optimizing their operating costs.
Moreover, István Bessenyei pointed out earlier that these shops would not necessarily be limited to Budapest and larger cities. According to the reference data, nighttime hours can increase turnover by more than 10 percent in any location.
Via Világgazdaság; Featured image via Facebook/Kisbolt – Szigliget