Valora opens the first cashierless convenience store at Zurich main station

Access, shopping and payment are made via the Avec app. The aim is to make shopping possible even outside normal business hours. The store offers a convenience range with fresh food for on the go, groceries for daily needs and household essentials.
 
The Aec box is located in Zurich Main Station until April 22, 2019. It will be open from Monday to Thursday from 04:30 to 00:30 each day and from Friday 04:30 continuously until Monday 00:30. Staff will be present on site during the morning and evening rush hours, during which time they will assist customers with their shopping, restock the shelves and keep the space tidy.

The announced Avec Box at Wetzikon station is still planned for spring 2019. After that, a roll-out to other regions in Switzerland is envisaged. The new concept is designed to complement existing formats. The Avec Box is Valora's response to growing customer demand for greater autonomy and flexibility in shopping, it said in a statement. The company is currently gathering experience before rolling out the concept.

Also on April 6, 2019, the Avec X Future Store opened its doors at Zurich main station. This serves Valora as an innovation laboratory for the shopping of tomorrow. Here, customers can enjoy the latest convenience food trends on an ongoing basis. Digital shopping experiences are also being tested, such as new payment options and personalized shopping. At the start, newly developed modules will be used to enable customers to individually compose fresh tea, salad and muesli creations, for example. At the coffee and tobacco vending machines, customers receive an individual product suggestion based on the products they have purchased in the past.

According to the press release, there are no plans to roll out Avec X in other regions. Rather, the ideas tested will be further developed with the help of customer feedback and ideally integrated into its other sales formats such as Avec or K Kiosk, Valora writes. Avec X has the same opening hours as Avec Box.

In both stores, the avec app is a prerequisite for shopping, as they do not have checkouts at all. People aged 14 and over can register in the app, which is available for iOS and Android. After successful registration, the customer enters the store by scanning a QR code. Subsequently, he can scan the desired products at his own pace - or, as with the avec X, tap them later via NFC (Near Field Communication) - and add them to his personal shopping cart. Finally, payment is completed in the Avec app - without any queuing. (hae/pd)