Fully Automatic In-Store Retail Automation for EDEKA

E 24/7 is the name of EDEKA Südwest’s new fully automatic grocery store in Offenburg, Germany. It offers customers convenient shopping around the clock, seven days a week. The innovative retail automation technology for the new 24-hour store – RetailStore – was delivered by KNAPP, who shares a long-standing partnership with the EDEKA group. The group consists of multiple regional subsidiaries, with EDEKA Südwest being the second largest location in Germany.

Cutting-edge robot technology benefits both retailers and consumers

In the Offenburg town center, EDEKA Südwest operates a space-effective, fully automatic grocery store offering a comprehensive range of goods, including various regional foods as well as drugstore products. Customers can watch RetailStore’s robot through a window how it takes out the desired goods from the rack and dispenses them to the customers. “This takes the shopping experience to a whole new level,” says Christian Bauer, Managing Director of KNAPP Smart Solutions. “It’s what our scalable and powerful RetailStore can do best.”

Customers can shop using the in-store terminal or online with an app

Selecting the goods is easy: Customers can use one of the two terminals in the store or an app on their phones. Payment is also convenient – the store accepts both debit and credit cards. The technology also ensures consumer safety. To buy alcoholic beverages, customers have to verify their age by scanning their ID.

How the solution benefits retailers

KNAPP’s retail automation technology gives retailers numerous advantages. Since the scalable solution includes both a warehouse and vending area, the space needed for storage is reduced by as much as 70 percent. RetailStore also has a documentation feature, keeping data on stock up to date at all times. Even employees working in the stores benefit from the innovative solution, as it relieves them of monotonous tasks such as filling shelves with goods. When new goods are delivered to the store, they just need to be placed on a conveyor belt and RetailStore does the rest, automatically scanning the barcodes and storing the goods space-savingly, thanks to the robotic arm.

Long-standing partnership major factor behind success

The EDEKA group and KNAPP share many years of partnership. Their first joint project was implemented in 2013. Since then, EDEKA has benefitted from various KNAPP solutions, from sustainable systems such as the empties management solutions at EDEKA Rhein-Ruhr, Südwest and Südbayern, to concepts for store delivery and space-saving, in-store retail automation. Together, the EDEKA group and KNAPP translate market requirements into new and flexible automation solutions.

RetailStore live at the EuroShop retail trade fair

Would you like to learn more about KNAPP’s innovative retail automation solutions?
Drop by our stand at the EuroShop – the largest retail trade fair in the world – in Düsseldorf, Germany.
Experience KNAPP’s robot technology for retail first hand
at Hall 11, stand C57,
from February 26 to March 2, 2023.