PolandRetail and e-commerce2021 – ongoingŻabka Group
Żabka Nano checkout-free stores
Żabka opened 50 AiFi-powered checkout-free stores within about a year and called it Europe's largest autonomous chain
Problem
Convenience stores depend on staff at the till, which limits where small outlets can open and what they cost to run. The Polish convenience chain wanted formats that could operate in busy spots such as stations and inside other stores.
Approach
With the US start-up AiFi, Żabka developed stores where cameras and computer vision track what shoppers pick up and charge them without a checkout; customers can enter with a payment card. The first Żabka Nano opened in Poznań in June 2021. The format came as standalone container units, conventional shops and store-in-store points, and Żabka also took part in AiFi's 2022 funding round.
Results
Takeaway
The chain scaled quickly in the first year, from one store in June 2021 to 41 in nine cities by May 2022 and 50 by July 2022. Żabka did not disclose sales or profitability for the format.
Categories
- Size
- Large enterprise
- Industry
- Retail and e-commerce
- Business function
- Production and qualityCustomer service
- Innovation type
- Product and service innovationBusiness model innovation
- AI technology
- Computer vision
- Adoption
- Vendor solution
- Evidence
- Company's own claim
Sources
Source summaries
Żabka reports that the Żabka Nano project won a 'Technology of the Year' award from money.pl. It says 41 Nano stores were operating in nine cities, that the first opened in June 2021 and that the concept was developed with AiFi. It lists the container, conventional and store-in-store formats and calls the network Europe's largest chain of autonomous stores.
Retail Technology Innovation Hub reported that Żabka opened its 50th Nano store about a year after the first, with a new store opening roughly every week. It quotes Żabka managers on placing stores in city centres, underground stations and large-format shops, and notes that customers can enter with a payment card. It also mentions AiFi's 2022 funding round, in which Żabka invested.
Full details are in the original sources.
