Self-service technology enables economic operation of new store concept to ensure local supply in rural areas
It is now possible to quickly pick up a packet of flour or a bottle of wine around the clock including weekends in the village of Freckenfeld (Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany). The local village store had been closed since May 2023 and was recently reopened with a new operator and a new concept: as a 24/7 grocery store with self-service. To ensure a smooth operation, Diebold Nixdorf equipped the store called “Dorfladen Freckenfeld – Powered by EDEKA Paul” with two DN Series® EASY eXpress self-service checkouts for cashless payment. Both systems run in a special unmanned mode keeping them ready for use at all times, for example, by deleting uncompleted transactions after a timer has expired.
In the mornings, employees are on site to replenish the shelves and assist customers when required. During this temporary presence of staff, the purchase of age-restricted goods such as alcoholic beverages – the range in the village store includes numerous products from local winegrowers – can also be carried out using automatic, AI-based age verification. When an item is scanned at the self-service checkout, the Vynamic® Smart Vision I Age Verification solution from Diebold Nixdorf asks customers whether or not they would like automatic age recognition. Once consent has been given, the customer’s facial characteristics are analyzed using a camera installed on the system and sophisticated AI algorithms determine their age. If this age is above a predefined threshold, the transaction can be continued.
If there is no staff in the village store, the area with the age-restricted goods can only be entered upon presentation of an ID card, which then also authorizes the purchase.
The new operator of the store is Benedikt Paul, who already runs two EDEKA stores in Rhineland-Palatinate as part of the EDEKA Group, which is one of the leading German supermarket organizations: “Our ‘Dorfladen Freckenfeld – Powered by EDEKA Paul’ offer has been very well received. We are delighted that, together with the residents of Freckenfeld, we have been able to develop a new approach to convenient local shopping that optimally meets the needs of our customers with a modern store concept and innovative technologies, while at the same time enabling cost-effective operation.”
Matt Redwood, vice president, Retail Technology Solutions at Diebold Nixdorf, said: “The village store in Freckenfeld is a successful example of how modern store technology with self-service checkouts can help to ensure that local supplies, which are urgently needed in rural areas in particular, are available around the clock. The automatic, AI-based age verification solution also enables a faster checkout process. This pleases customers and allows employees to concentrate on their core tasks.”
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