Retail

Polish retailer teams with AiFi on unattended stores

Image courtesy of AiFi.

January 18, 2022

Żabka Group, a retailer based in Poznan, Poland, operates the largest chain of autonomous stores in Europe after launching 25 AI-powered stores in partnership with AiFi, a U.S.-based provider of automated store technology, according to a press release.

The stores, called Żabka Nano in Poland, enable shopping without checkout clerks, queues or cash to sell products matched to location and customer demographics.

The stores operate in several formats such as standalone container-based vending machines, traditional brick-and-mortar and store-within-a-store points of sale, each leveraging AI-powered computer vision technology.

Żabka Group created the Żabka Nano autonomous concept and opened the first store in June 2021 in Poznań, then expanded to 25 locations across Poland within six months. Through an integration with the Żappka mobile application, which is already used by over 8 million users, it co-created an ecosystem of digital services for enhanced customer convenience.

The AiFi platform is a camera-based solution leveraging computer vision and machine learning to recognize products removed from shelves, and automatically finalize the payment when customers exit the store. The system does not use biometrics or facial recognition to identify customers to guarantee full privacy and security.

Żabka Group has 1,100 traditional stores which opened in 2021 and over 7,900 traditional modern convenient stores.