Rewe trials unmanned container stores for forgotten hamlets

A container in which you can do your shopping 24 hours a day, 7 days a week: that is “Josefs nahkauf BOX”, a new shopping concept that the German supermarket group Rewe has developed for the smallest villages and hamlets that have long seen their last store disappear.

Deserted places

How do you provide convenience and service in rural, sparsely populated areas where all other retailers are leaving (or have already left ages ago)? German supermarket chain Rewe thinks this can be achieved with unmanned container shops: its existing, nationwide local shop concept “nahkauf” is now also available in a container version without staff or cash: “Josefs nahkauf BOX”.

The first BOX is located in the municipality of Pettstadt in Upper Franconia and is a so-called “walk-in store”: on a sales area of 39 sqm, customers can shop there day and night, including Sundays. The range consists of 700 everyday items, from apples to toothbrushes. Payment is made by card at a self-service checkout.

With this test, Rewe wants to find out whether it is possible to supply the small community (with only 2,000 inhabitants) with fresh food and daily needs in a cost-effective way. Two remarkable findings: there are no alcoholic drinks for sale, and customers do not have to use a mobile app to enter. They just walk in and out with their bank or credit card.

For an older population

The shop is thus primarily intended for the older, less-mobile part of the population and responds to the significant ageing of the rural population. However, this concept is also a sustainable solution for the mobile population, if they want to avoid long distance shopping trips, merchant Josef Sier says.

“In Germany alone, there are around 8,000 municipalities where the supply is too small and people have to travel very long distances for their daily shopping. Our nahkauf formula, which guarantees local supply where all competitors have withdrawn, is perfectly suited to this”, Rewe divisional board member Peter Maly adds.

The supply and maintenance of the unmanned BOX is carried out by a local nahkauf shop operator. Franchisees can use this type of shop to test out new markets with a view to opening a fully-fledged branch later. In this way, Rewe wants to prevent the container shops from looking dirty and empty, as is often the case in unmanned mini shops in China. This type of shop has been around for some time, but has not gotten off the ground due to poor maintenance.