Entry, purchase and payment by app: on Thursday, 24 June 2021, Deutsche Bahn opened its first 24/7 ServiceStore in Ahrensburg near Hamburg. This is the German premiere of Valora's digital convenience solution, which has already proven its worth in Switzerland with the cashier-free avec box. Valora is making this technology available to a third-party company for the first time.
As of today, in the 24/7 ServiceStore of Deutsche Bahn (DB) at Ahrensburg, the “Zukunftsbahnhof” (station of the future), customers will have access to a tried-and-tested range of convenience products such as food and tobacco. Entry, shopping and payment take place via the 24/7 ServiceStore app that enables a completely autonomous 24/7 self-checkout process. The app acts as a kind of personal key allowing customers to shop flexibly, at their own pace and also outside of normal business hours – without any need for queuing.
The technology underlying the 24/7 ServiceStore and corresponding app is identical to that of the avec box, which has proven its worth in Switzerland. With this format, Valora in April 2019 launched Switzerland's first cashier-free convenience store, which is open 24 hours a day, seven days a week. This self-checkout solution is also used in two Swiss avec 24/7 hybrid stores. During the day, customers are served by staff, and at night and on Sundays they can enter, shop and pay autonomously.
Convenience throughout the entire shopping experience
“We're delighted to be able to offer our long-standing partner DB and its customers a new form of convenience with this solution, which has already been tested in Switzerland,” says Roger Vogt, CEO Retail of the Valora Group and member of the Group Executive Management. “With the new 24/7 ServiceStore, convenience refers not only to the product range, but to the entire shopping experience.”
Bernd Koch, Chairman of the Management Board of DB Station&Service AG: “We're making Ahrensburg, “the station of the future”, even more attractive with our 24/7 shop. From now on, our guests can shop here around the clock. Our defined objective: with modern stations and innovative services, we want to motivate travellers to leave their cars at home more often and opt for eco-friendly rail transport.”
ServiceStore DB is a Deutsche Bahn brand and concept. Valora has been an operating partner since 2012 with currently over 100 sales outlets.
