First Żabka Nano in a Leroy Merlin store

First Żabka Nano in a Leroy Merlin store

The Żabka Nano is a very flexible concept that allows further unmanned facilities to be built in a variety of locations. Customers and employees of the Decathlon store, the Zdrofit fitness club, and now also the Leroy Merlin GIGAmarket at 244 Jerozolimskie Avenue can benefit from quick and hassle-free shopping. Jerozolimskie 244 in Warsaw. This is the beginning of cooperation between the largest chain of unmanned stores in Europe and a major player in the construction and decorative industry. The common goal is to increase the comfort of customers when shopping.

– Our partners, in cooperation with whom we develop the Żabka Nano concept, are the leaders of particular market segments. We share a common goal – the desire to find more innovative solutions that can further simplify the life of customers. Working with the Leroy Merlin chain opens up new opportunities for knowledge and experience transfer, which is extremely important for us to further improve the Żabka Nanon concept in the store-in-the-store model – says Paweł Grabowski, Head of Unmanned Solutions at Żabka Future.

The assortment in Żabka Nano at Leroy Merlin GIGAmarket in Warsaw includes approx. 400 products. The offer of the store includes among others, Żabka private label products such as Shamamm ready dishes, Tomcio Paluch sandwiches, Foodini liquid snacks, Wycisk juices and lemonades, and freshly ground coffee from a coffee machine. During the pandemic restrictions, only a single person will be allowed to stay in the Żabka Nano at a given time.

– At Leroy Merlin, we have always focused on development, value creation, and cooperation. This applies to our customers, employees, and business partners alike. We are an innovative company, therefore, we not only observe trends in the market, accelerating digitalization or omnichannel purchasing, but we try to be a trendsetter of these activities. Hence the cooperation with the Żabka Group, with which we test the store-in-the-store solution in an innovative variety, i.e. an unmanned Żabka Nano store in the Leroy Merlin omnichannel store. We believe that this solution will increase the comfort of shopping, affecting the satisfaction of customers and the desire to visit our stores. I am convinced that this is not a test case, but the beginning of a long-term cooperation that will meet the expectations of our partner, but above all of our clients – says Anna Paszt, Marketing Director at Leroy Merlin Poland.

The Żabka Nano at the Leroy Merlin GIGAmarket uses an innovative method of authorization and payment for purchases, implemented in cooperation with Adyen. Access to the facility is possible using a payment card – the customer holds it in front of the terminal before entering the Żabka Nano store. Once the process is completed, the door will open automatically. On the first visit, the customer will provide a phone number to receive a text message confirming the purchase. Once the customer is inside, the shopping will only take a moment – they just take selected products off the shelf and leave. The camera system installed in the Żabka Nano uses algorithms of among others machine learning to recognize the products removed from the shelves, charge the appropriate amount, and then automatically finalize the payment using the payment card used at the entrance to the Żabka Nano. The system does not identify customers, nor does it remember the image, which guarantees full privacy and security.

The possibility of shopping in the Żabka Nano will undoubtedly affect the comfort of visitors to Leroy Merlin. In addition to support at every stage of the construction, renovation, or refreshing works, customers will be able to benefit from a unique range of food products tailored to the needs of the buyer. This is helpful because some of the customers not only do the shopping, but use the advice and design services, and good coffee or a healthy snack will be the perfect complement to these activities.

Unmanned Żabka stores are part of the Żabka Future Business Incubator initiative, which combines three elements: managing and searching for innovations, transforming them into new products and services, and commercializing them. The project also fits perfectly with the strategy of the Żabka Group, which assumes the implementation of actions aimed at maintaining climate neutrality – the Żabka Nano uses only the equivalent of green energy for its activities.

Currently, there are 27 Żabka Nano stores, which are located in Gdańsk, Kraków, Piaseczno, Plewiska, Poznań, Sopot, Warsaw and Wrocław. The store-in-the-store model is developed by the Żabka Nano in cooperation with business partners: Decathlon, Zdrofit, and from now – the Leroy Merlin chain of construction and decoration stores.