Esselunga has opened its first experimental proximity store under the La Esse banner, reports suggest.
Located in Corso Italia in Milan, the store spread across three levels houses around 2,500 products.
It was designed to address the evolving buying habits of customers by offering an all-encompassing experience within one store.
At the entrance of the store, customers have the option to comfortably have a meal or drink a cup of coffee in its Elisenda pastry shop.
The products offered in the pastry shop are the same as in Bar Atlantic, Esselunga's restaurant banner, the retailer said.
Neighbourhood Market
The first floor of the outlet houses a classic neighbourhood market, with all products bearing RFID labels.
For loose fruit and vegetables, the same labels are printed when pricing the products.
For payments, customers insert the entire shopping bag into the compartment of one of the four cash desks, and the system automatically recognises the products and calculates the total amount.
The store also offers Click&Vai Locker facility for customers who wish to pick up their online orders.
Other novelties include a button for assistance in purchasing wines and Esse branded water bottles.
The bottles can be filled up, free of charge, with the help of Fidaty customer loyalty cards in dedicated stations in the catering area.
The new La Esse store launched days after Esselunga opened the innovative Brescia Triumplina Superstore, featuring a new layout and a retail area of 4,600 square metres.
© 2019 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest retail news. Article by Branislav Pekic. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: The European Supermarket Magazine
