Half a year ago, the first autonomous store in Lithuania under the "Iki" brand opened its doors in Vilnius, opened in cooperation with the start-up "Pixevia", and receives customers around the clock. Tomas Lenkšas, head of innovation and business development of the "Iki" shopping chain, says that residents favor independent shopping and visit this store both day and night.
"This capital city in the old town the stand-alone store has been operating for 6 months. It is focused on intensive flows of buyers. It is appreciated by modern and active buyers who live, work or spend their free time in the old town. The assortment of the stand-alone store was formed thinking about the needs of customers who expect fast shopping, fresh and ready-to-use products. When we observe the sales data, we see that the majority of the shopping basket consists of various drinks and snacks", says T. Lenkšas.
In the summer months, the most sold drinks in the autonomous store are coffee, fruit juices, natural mineral water. In second place according to sales data are sweets and snacks: potato chips, bars. On hot days and weekends, ice cream is also often found in customers' baskets.
T. Lenkšas says that the largest flow of customers in this modern store is recorded on Friday and Saturday nights, especially from 22-23 p.m., when other stores are closed.
"We see that the concept of an autonomous store is acceptable to Lithuanians. There are no cash registers or shopping carts in the stand-alone store, so the shopping process is very simple. It is interesting that, according to sales data, during the day, buyers prefer smaller bottles of fruit juices and hot drinks. Meanwhile, at night, hot drinks give way to larger packages of drinks and fruit juices, which are convenient to share with friends," says the innovation and business development manager of Iki.
According to T. Lenkš, shopping in an autonomous store is extremely easy. When you enter the door, you need to touch the machine near the gate with your bank card, the gate opens automatically and you can start shopping. You can simply put the goods in your pocket or backpack, then access the tablet next to the gate, which automatically displays the shopping cart. If the basket is correct, confirm it, add the bank card again.
The assortment of the independent store consists of approximately 500 different types of goods. It is open 23 hours a day, seven days a week. From 7:XNUMX until XNUMX o'clock in the morning it can be accessed using the app. Only one customer can be in the store at night.
The "Iki" retail chain currently consists of a total of 232 "Iki" stores, 2 logistics centers, a culinary production center and 3 regional bakeries. Almost 6 thousand people work in the trade network. workers. The retailer also owns home delivery startup LastMile.
