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August 14, 2017 • Issue 17:08:01

Self-serve economy

opens new sales channel

landing-pad equipped, and may soon feature holographic
virtual assistants to aid app-enabled patrons.

While testing of futuristic self-service concept stores
continues, many enterprises are experimenting with self-
guided shopping experiences, and how to revise labor
tasks and repurpose floor plans to optimize productivity
and accommodate this expanding revenue channel.
Order ahead

A major trend redefining the self-service sphere is the
order-ahead movement. Mobile order-ahead apps –
platforms that enable customers to remotely purchase
items for in-store pickup – are rising, particularly among
quick-service restaurants (QSRs). Business Insider predicted
sales on these platforms will reach $38 billion by 2020.
By Ann Train
"It's a new sales channel for restaurants," said Raymond
onsumer expectations and digitization are driv- Pucci, Associate Director, Research Services at Mercator
ing self-service as a promising sales channel Advisory Group. "It's what the drive-through window did
for restaurants and for numerous other retail 50 years ago. If you think about it, it's a third sales channel
C segments and professional services businesses. if you figure in-store ordering, the drive-through, and
Pilot projects involving integrated technologies bundled now mobile order and pay as the third sales channel."
in unique formats offer glimpses into the future of brick-
and-mortar retail, where shoppers use mobile devices to Richard Crone of Crone Consulting LLC agreed, adding
navigate unmanned stores and complete purchases. that order ahead is the ultimate self-service and literally
every retail segment will have an opportunity to take
The Amazon Go concept store that opened earlier this advantage of order ahead in the future.
year in Seattle enables shoppers with an Amazon Go app
to add food and other grocery staples to a digital shopping
cart, then pay and walk out without waiting in a checkout
line. Equally ambitious, and a year ahead of Amazon Contributed articles inside by:
Go, a Swedish IT entrepreneur opened a local Naraffar
convenience store, providing an app that allows shoppers Aaron Nasseh .........................................................................................32
24/7 access, as well as scan and pay convenience.
Steven Feldshuh ...................................................................................35
Stockholm, Sweden-based Wheelys Inc. acquired Naraffar Brandes Elitch ........................................................................................38
in 2016 and recently began pilot testing an unstaffed
concept store in Shanghai, China. Described as an TOC on page 3
autonomous convenience store, its mobile Moby Mart is
self-driving, solar and electric powered, drone delivery
Continued on page 30