What does the store of the future look like? Stargazing is a mug’s game but Coop Italia’s vision is a pretty cool one.
First built as a prototype to showcase innovation at the Milan Expo in 2015, the Italian co-operative knew it “needed to transfer the ideas showcased into reality” says MD Andrea Colombo, and the 9,000 sq ft store is now open for business in the bustling Bicocca Village on the fringes of the city.
The store is overflowing with technology: customers browse items suspended from the ceiling, while digital screens display augmented labels detailing information on availability, nutrition, provenance, promos and waste disposal instructions. To find out more they simply gesture and Microsoft Kinect sensors interpret their movements.
Smart screens adjacent to shelves give those with diet restrictions the opportunity to filter Coop’s 6,000 products digitally, while the store also boasts real-time data screens featuring offers, recipes and bestsellers.
All state-of-the-art innovation then. Unfortunately on The Grocer’s visit few customers appeared to notice it, let alone make use of it. And for the few that did, the technology could be temperamental.
Colombo remains confident though. The co-operative and partner Accenture are “continuing to invest” in “testing the technology we have in the store at the moment”, with a willingness to introduce more “suitable” tech if need be.
It provides huge opportunities for data too, he adds, “to help better understand consumer habits, and allow us to improve the products we offer”.
That said, it is the physical, rather than digital, elements of the supermarket that appear most effective, with the offer carefully tailored to the ‘shopper of the future’ - the throngs of health-conscious millennials drawn to the neighbourhood.
The retail industry is in an era where a straightforward supermarket isn’t enough, says Alberto Pozzi, Accenture’s MD and grocery practice lead for Europe, Africa and Latin America. “It has to combine lifestyle activities to serve different customer demands” and provide a “seamless convergence of the physical and digital experiences together with high-quality fresh and healthy products”.
Coop has recreated the atmosphere of an open air market. It appears spacious and disconcertingly unblemished, largely driven by the low shelves and wide aisles, with every detail of the layout specifically chosen for this modern, wellness-focused shopper.
Coop’s own brand health and wellness food range, Vivi Verdi (‘live green’) is strategically placed at the store’s front, alongside its fruit & veg. There is no deli or butcher, unlike most Italian stores, with the grab and go mission prioritised instead.
For those with a little more time, there is in-store restaurant Fiorfood, named after its premium own label range. Serving 300 customers each lunchtime with these own brand products, the space also has a social element, offering entertainment including cabaret.
For all these new, forward-looking elements though, some things don’t change: own label products are weaved throughout the store to help it stay true to its original values - convenient, safe, ethical, transparently sourced products and respect for the environment. “Our ethics are really important to us and we make sure there are no issues in the supply chain in terms of underpayment of employees or child labour,” Colombo says. “We have as many of our own brand products in the store as possible” so it has as much control as possible over supply chain.
First impressions are that despite being a visual treat, the store is more like a work in progress. But current teething problems with technology, and ensuing customer frustrations aside, the innovation will attract and retain customers in the long term, insists Colombo.
“The shop was booming in terms of footfall when it first opened in December 2016,” he says, with customer numbers growing every day and up 2% year on year.
It might not be the finished product, then, but undoubtedly the futuristic technology and experimental offer on display at Coop Italia will offer valuable lessons.
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