Premiere in Romania: The first autonomous PENNY store has opened in Bucharest. The new shop in Bucharest's Politehnica district offers a completely digital and faster shopping experience. The modern and easily accessible new store represents the strategic development of the PENNY brand in Romania.
After 80,000 hours of preparation, the store has been open since the end of May. Customers can do their shopping quickly in a spacious area of 349 square metres. The selected products are automatically recognised at the self-service checkout, where the shopping list is checked for accuracy before payment. This new way of shopping is secured by advanced technology. This is ensured by 5,000 sensors distributed along the entire shopping route.
Data protection is an important aspect in the development and operation of the system. The system only records data that enables it to recognise which products are removed or put back on the shelf. No facial recognition is used. The system cannot recognise customers after a shop visit and does not collect any personal data.
Although the technology used offers a 100 per cent digital shopping experience, the team in the store is on hand to answer customers' questions and support those who need help with the automated process. In addition, the colleagues ensure that there are enough products on the shelves throughout opening hours. "The improved shopping experience, rapid expansion, digitalisation and the range of products we offer consumers are strategic pillars on which we are building our business. And the new standalone PENNY store is further proof that our strategy is working and that we are continuously adapting to our customers' needs. We are proud of our contribution to the digitalisation of Romanian retail and want to keep up with new trends, even though it was an intensive testing phase of new technology for this new format. As this is the first fully autonomous PENNY store in Romania, we will be monitoring the feedback from our customers very closely," said Daniel Gross, CEO PENNY, REWE Romania.
The PENNY store will operate around the clock, offering flexibility and accessibility to consumers in Bucharest, regardless of the time of day or night.
*** English Version ***
The investments of PENNY in digitalisation in Romania bring a premiere on the local market, with the launch of the first autonomous PENNY store in the country, in Bucharest. The new store, located in the Politehnica area, offers a 100% digital and faster shopping experience to that audience with an alert lifestyle. The modern, friendly and accessible environment of the new store represents the strategic evolution at operational level of the PENNY brand in Romania.
After an 80,000-hour preparation period, the store will be open to the public from May 29. In a generous space of 349 square metres, customers can make purchases quickly, selected products being automatically recognised at the self-checkout cash register, where the shopping list is checked for accuracy before completing the payment. The process is secured by advanced technology and 5,000 sensors are placed throughout the shopping route.
Data protection is a key aspect in the development and operation of the system. The system only records data by which it can recognise which products are taken or put back on the shelf. No facial recognition is used, the system cannot recognise customers after a store visit and does not collect personal data.
Although the technology used offers a 100% digital shopping experience, the in-store team is ready to answer questions from customers, to assist those in need in the automated process, but also to ensure that stocks of products on the shelf are sufficient throughout the entire opening hours of the store. Basically, repetitive work diminishes and customers benefit from a better experience.
"The improved shopping experience, rapid expansion, digitalisation and the assortment of products we offer to consumers are strategic pillars on which we base our business. And the new autonomous PENNY store is yet another proof that our strategy works and is continuously adapted to what our customers want. We are proud of our contribution to the digitisation of Romanian retail, we like to keep up with new trends even if it was an intensive period of testing the new technology for this new format. Given that this is the first fully autonomous PENNY store in Romania, we will monitor very carefully the feedback of our customers", said Daniel Gross, CEO PENNY | REWE Romania.
The PENNY store will operate non-stop, thus responding to the flexibility and accessibility needs of consumers in Bucharest, regardless of the time of day or night.
To find out what a new way of shopping means, we invite you to access this video.
