Westfalen launches smart store pilot project

The 18 m2 unmanned site has been inaugurated in cooperation with Lekkerland and fillibri to offer customers a smart and cashless retail experience.

Westfalen has launched its"Alvore Smart Shop," a pilot project for an unmanned store to keep up with the current developments across the international retail industry. Located in Münster of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, the container store is designed to provide a continuous convenience offering.

Customers will be able to access the shop at any time in an area of 18 m2 and complete their purchases through cashless payments. The store offers a wide range of products, from beverages to confectionery and snacks to frozen items, salad boxes and more.

This new site is another innovation under the Alvore brand, under which Westfalen is currently developing its service stations into future-proof mobility hubs.

"It already starts with access, which takes place via legitimation with a credit or debit card or ID card. The latter is also used for age verification when purchasing alcohol and tobacco products. Since we have opted for free availability of goods in the store and therefore do without vending machines, payment takes place at a self-scan checkout that accepts EC and credit cards as well as Apple and Google Pay," describes Sandra Schütte, Head of Convenience, Gastronomy and Services at Westfalen, about the purchasing process.

The project was completed in partnership with Lekkerland and fillibri. In the mid-term, the purchase process is to be made even easier via integration of the fillibri app and the roll out of the Scan and Go feature across all brands.

The Alvore Smart Shop’s pilot phase will last approximately six months and, after a potential success, the next step will be to deploy the container at a publicly accessible location.