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European retailer Metro Group opened a Future Store where consumers ask robots questions, sip wine, use mobile phones to find products and pay for purchases with their fingerprint.
The Future Store opened last week in Toenvorst, Germany. The concept aims to provide consumers with more than a place to shop, but rather a shopping experience. Metro will introduce into its other stores the technologies that prove successful in Toenisvorst, according to Eckhard Cordes, the company's chairman.
Among the technologies consumers will find, a Mobile Shopping Assistant developed in collaboration with Deutsche Telekom. The MSA allows customers to use their mobile phone to scan-in purchases while shopping. The goal: make long lines at checkouts a thing of the past. Consumers als can use MSA to find specific products in the store or to call up product information.
Consumers looking for more information on products and services offered in the store can the new interactive kiosks, too. In the newly designed "beauty & more" department, terminals have beauty tips and tricks. At the interactive skin care Information Terminal, for example, shoppers can search for their skin type and find corresponding expert advice.
Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) also plays a role in the store. The technology works to assure meat products prepared in the in-house butchery remain fresh and at the highest quality. RFID chips are affixed to the packages and stored in a freezer, which monitors stock levels and best use-by dates on all items. Readers in the case identify each time consumers remove a product from the shelf, triggering a signal for store personnel to replenish stock.
Avery Dennison RFID supplies the RFID technology for the project. The application uses the company's AD-222 inlay to tag the foam meat-packing trays. The meat-tagging application is intended to help Metro manage the flow of perishable products, reduce costs and save time on restocking.
Fasson Roll Materials Europe, a division of Avery Dennison, worked with the company's RFID division to provide S-2000N food contact compliant adhesive. The RFID tags were designed to meet Metro Group's food labeling safety requirements.
Aside from the RFID technology, the Future Store also offers a wine tasting counter with a range of 16 chilled wines that consumers can dispense into testing cups at the push of a button.
While the try-before-you-buy concept helps consumers make the correct choice, a cashless pay-by-fingerprint system lets them tap and go, leaving the plastic and cash at home. Customers place their finger on a specially developed fingerprint scanner to pay for purchases, without the need for signature or personal identification number (PIN). Metro Group says "modern encryption algorithms make this an extremely secure method of payment."
Indeed, technology in the Future Store aims to treat shoppers to a unique experience. And for those who need assistance, two store robots can demonstrate the technologies, as well as find products and answer questions. Each is equipped with a swiveling head and sensors allowing it to find its way around the Future Store.
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