24/7 unstaffed stores are gaining ground with digital price tags

More and more unstaffed grocery stores are seeing the light of day thanks to Unlimit Group, which is behind ‘Near’ – a new chain of stores in Denmark. These stores use digital price tags from Delfi Technologies, ensuring efficient operation and a modern customer experience without the need for staff.

Friday, May 3, 2024, was a festive day in Vester Hæsinge on Funen. Here, an unstaffed grocery store named ‘Near’ opened. The store, developed by Unlimit Group in collaboration with a local initiative group, combines groceries, kiosk items, tobacco, and package delivery in one solution.

For us, digital price tags are crucial because we are not in the store at all once our concept is up and running.

Lars Petersen Sales Director at Unlimit Group and Chain Manager for Near

The new store in Vester Hæsinge is a groundbreaking step for the small village and serves as great inspiration for other local communities where grocery stores either have to close or are threatened with closure.

Efficiency with Technology

In close collaboration with Unlimit Group, Delfi Technologies has played a significant role in this project by providing digital price tags for an efficient and modern customer experience. The signage solution is cloud-based, allowing Unlimit Group to update prices and information in real-time.

“The digital price tags are a prerequisite and help us make it simple to run the unstaffed stores. With digital signs, we can manage prices and promotions centrally—without the need for staff to change signs,” says Mads Laursen, CEO of Unlimit Group, which is behind “Near” and other unstaffed store concepts.

An automated store

The unstaffed grocery store in Vester Hæsinge consists of 56 sqm of retail space and 12 sqm for storage/receiving. The shopping experience is fully automated: customers check in with an app or credit card, select their items, and leave the store. Upon leaving, customers receive a mobile receipt, and the payment is automatically deducted from the registered payment method.

Electronic date control and digital price tags make it possible to lower the prices of items nearing their expiration date. This allows for quick price adjustments on relevant items, ensuring they can be sold before new supplies arrive.

“For us, digital price tags are crucial because we are not in the store at all once our concept is up and running. We have people to come and restock, but we are not there to change shelf labels – that process is handled digitally from the office, in one or more stores,” explains Lars Petersen, Chain Director for Near.

About Movable Unstaffed Grocery Stores

  • The stores are 68 square meters in size and are movable pavilions.
  • Local civic associations provide the space and pay a deposit of 100,000 DKK.
  • The unstaffed store needs to generate 2.5 million DKK in annual sales to be viable.
  • The company behind it, Unlimit Group, takes care of the setup and restocks the store daily.
  • The store is unstaffed but monitored similarly to unstaffed libraries.
  • Access is granted with ID, so, for example, the section with alcohol closes if a minor enters.

About Unlimit Group

Unlimit Group is a Danish company that develops and operates unstaffed store concepts. Unlimit Group developed and opened Denmark’s first unstaffed grocery store in February 2022 in Faxe. Since then, the company has undergone significant and rapid development.

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