All employees go home for lunch, but customers can continue shopping in the afternoon at the local supplier in Gaflenz, Upper Austria. The reason for this is that employees are expensive or impossible to find. Gaflenz is not the only one with this model. Are these stores without employees really the future?
From Monday to Thursday, the sales staff and cashiers go home at 12.30 pm and lock the entrance door of Nah&Frisch in Gaflenz behind them. But customers can also do their shopping in the abandoned supermarket in the afternoon: they can open the door with a debit card and pay at the self-service checkout. Only the shelves for alcohol and tobacco remain closed. ‘Hybrid market’ is the name of this mix of staff and self-service.
Personnel were crucial
“The personnel issue and personnel costs” were crucial for the switchover in September 2022, said Ferdinand Rettensteiner, chairman of the cooperative, which claims to operate the first hybrid market in Austria. It took some getting used to for the older customers: “We took them to the store ourselves and showed them how it works. It has been very well received by young people,” said Rettensteiner.
increasing trend
The local supplier in Gaflenz is no longer alone. There are already about a dozen hybrid markets in Upper Austria, estimates Wolfgang Benischko, lobby representative for food retail at the Upper Austrian Chamber of Commerce. Is this even the future of shopping? “There will have to be more because there are no more staff,” said the expert.
Additionally, customers are increasingly losing their fear of self-service checkouts, Benischko says. “But ultimately we won’t be shopping alone anymore.”
Source: Krone
I am Wallace Jones, an experienced journalist. I specialize in writing for the world section of Today Times Live. With over a decade of experience, I have developed an eye for detail when it comes to reporting on local and global stories. My passion lies in uncovering the truth through my investigative skills and creating thought-provoking content that resonates with readers worldwide.
