METRO Group proudly unveiled its new real,- Future Store on May 28, 2008 in Toenisvorst, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. The first customers to shop at the hypermarket of tomorrow were Dr. Eckhard Cordes, Chairman of the Management Board of METRO Group, and the chairmen of the boards of Deutsche Telekom AG and SAP AG, René Obermann and Prof. Dr. Henning Kagermann. This latest innovation testing ground for the METRO Group Future Store Initiative celebrated its grand opening in the presence of a large number of guests from the worlds of politics and business. The retailing company is confident that the real,- Future Store will provide renewed impetus for innovation throughout the retail sector. Its cutting-edge technologies and innovative shopping concepts provide customers with greater convenience and more information as well as a broader and more enjoyable shopping experience.
At the real,- Future Store, METRO Group is testing groundbreaking technologies and innovative concepts for the retail of tomorrow. The company’s aim: to tailor product ranges and services to perfectly match the needs of consumers. "The concepts and technologies that prove successful here in Toenisvorst will be introduced successively at stores belonging to our sales brands," says Dr. Eckhard Cordes, Chairman of the Management Board of METRO Group. "Consequently, the real,- Future Store is strategically important for the future development of the entire group."
These, and many other innovations, are presented to customers by the store’s innovation guides. These two robots talk to customers and, on request, show them the store’s cutting-edge technologies and novel concepts. Each of the innovation guides is equipped with a swiveling head and sensors which allow it to find its way around the hypermarket of tomorrow. They also provide customers with helpful answers to questions that can be entered via their integrated touchscreens.
Innovative technologies and new checkout systems
Even greater convenience is provided by the state-of-the-art payment options, for instance the new Pay by Fingerprint system. Customers merely need to place their finger onto a specially developed fingerprint scanner to pay for their purchases – without the need for any signature or PIN. Modern encryption algorithms make this an extremely secure method of payment.
Strategic importance
The real,- Future Store is making a fundamental contribution to the sales brand’s strategic realignment. real,- has initiated an extensive turnaround program which will significantly improve the brand’s attractiveness to customers. "At Toenisvorst, for example, we’ve implemented our very latest concepts for meats, fresh fish and cheese. These are product groups that we would like to see performing even better on the market," explains Joёl Saveuse, Member of the Management Board of METRO Group and CEO of real,-. "Innovations and concepts that prove successful at the real,- Future Store will be introduced at other real,- hypermarkets. Our new concepts for both foods and nonfoods are a direct reaction to the significant developments over recent years in what our customers expect from a modern shopping experience," he continues.
At the real,- Future Store, METRO Group is continuing a success story that began back in 2003 with the first Future Store in Rheinberg near Duesseldorf. Today, METRO Group is already using many of the technologies that were tested there in stores belonging to its own sales brands. These include innovations such as the Smart Scales that automatically identify fruit and vegetables, and Self-Checkouts where customers have the option of carrying out the entire checkout process themselves.
