Selecta trials new automated store concept in Belgium

Swiss vending machine specialist Selecta is speeding up its tests with fully automated stores: after striking a deal with Albert Heijn in the Netherlands and Delhaize in Belgium, it is now testing a “Shop & Go” store in Hasselt’s technology campus Corda. The aim is to implement the concept internationally.

Proven technology

Selecta’s Foodies Shop & Go (rather confusingly not related to the unmanned Shop & Go concept Selecta previously developed for Delhaize) is an unmanned convenience store that can best be compared to a small Amazon Go: upon entering, visitors scan their payment card or app, after which they can take products off the shelves and simply walk out with them – without having to pass a checkout.

The store works without facial recognition , but with sensors and cameras that track what someone picks up, puts in his bag or puts back. This way the system knows what someone is buying and can automatically deduct the purchased amount from the payment card. In this way, the store can be open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. “The technology has already proven itself in Scandinavia, so we are pretty confident about that. What we mainly want to test here is the experience and interaction with users”, Selecta marketing manager Dick Deroo says.

To hundreds of locations

The test location was chosen because it employs many people involved in technology, and also because it is a semi-public location: anyone can walk in and try the store, but traffic will mainly come from staff and visitors to the campus who come to buy lunch or a coffee. Belgian Hasselt narrowly defeated nearby (but Dutch) Eindhoven to become the host to Selecta’s test location.

The range in the shop includes a mix of suppliers, and will continuously be adjusted over the coming weeks and months (the test store will remain open for six months). If the concept catches on, Selecta is already dreaming aloud of an international implementation to hundreds of locations. They would be ideal for high-density places in public or semi-public locations. However, there are no concrete plans yet: “We really need the learnings from this test first.”