While many of us were still getting used to the prospect of stores being closed on most Sundays of the year, a young brand has creeped its way into the Polish market, with a new model of supermarkets which may not be included in the ban at all. Its secret? Self-service.
Bio Family is a brand new chain of supermarkets in Poland, whose core values lie in providing organic products in an accessible way. Their stores don’t just have an extensive “bio” sector – it stretches across the entire floor plan. All of their products have organic food certificates, and they’re free from artificial colorants, or chemical pesticides. So far, the chain can only be found in three cities: Wrocław, Swarzędz, and Poznań, and the final location has just started testing out an innovative solution which could revolutionize the way we look at supermarkets.
The brand new store opened in Poznań operates 24/7, but the convenience doesn’t come at the expense of tiring night shifts for its staff: after regular business hours are over, the supermarket shifts into complete self-service mode. In order to access the store after-hours, a customer needs to register in person, or on Bio Family’s website. Afterwards, they receive a personalized magnetic card, which can then be used to open the store’s entrance and pick up their necessities at any time of the day, or night. It’s important to note that the Open 24/7 service operates on a cashless basis: customers are able to pay for their carts’ contents with payment cards, BLIK, Apple Pay or Google Pay.
While the prospect of a self-service supermarket isn’t something we’ve never seen before, with Amazon Go making the rounds in the United States for nearly a year now, Bio Family is the first chain to introduce the technology to the Polish market. The company has announced their plans to expand the program to eventually expand the program to their other stores, provided that the innovation receives a warm welcome in Poznań.
