The frog must look back. Piko24 is hot on its heels

The Piko24 chain is opening new service-free points, moving more and more boldly into the niche previously occupied mainly by Żabka Nano. According to “Wiadomości Handlowe”, new locations will join the existing branches – in Katowice and Bielsko-Biała.

Piko24 is a compact format with an area of ​​just over 20 m² (module dimensions are 7 by 3 meters). The purchasing process is shortened to a minimum: an average customer spends about two minutes inside, and on subsequent visits this time drops to even less than a minute.

To use the store, you must download appropriate application, register and connect your payment card. Entrance to the facility takes place after scanning an individual QR code, and payment for selected products is made automatically through the application upon exit.

When I talk about shopping time, I mean the entire process: from entry, through product selection, to exit (payment and fiscalization take place in the background, without the customer's involvement). We see that it is extremely convenient for customers – says the founder of Piko24, Krzysztof Gawałek for WiadomościHandlowe. This means full autonomy and no need to scan products, for example.

The key advantage of the system is full autonomy – the customer does not have to scan the goods himself. The network's operations are based on the native Shelfio technology. The camera system, combined with image recognition algorithms and real-time data analysis, allows the application to “see” what products have been taken off the shelf.

An additional advantage is mobility. If the store in a given location does not achieve the expected results, the module can be easily moved to another place because it is not permanently attached to the ground. Currently, the most desirable locations are in modern housing estates, next to student residences or office buildings.

Żabka Nano remains the market leader, with approximately 50 branches. However, Piko24 intends to chase the competition. Although the company does not currently offer a franchise model, Krzysztof Gawałek admits that such a solution is being considered in the future.

ed. ed.

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