3-Point box gives butchers extra sales opportunities
At Slavakto, Interkring Vers and Innovend will present a new concept: the mobile 3-Point box for fresh food shops. This unit, equipped with Zuply locker modules including a payment system, can be used as a ready-to-use, unmanned shop. This allows traders to extend their opening hours and significantly increase sales without additional staff costs.
Slavakto is the trade fair for butchers and caterers in the Netherlands. The event will take place on 4 and 5 October 2022 in the Werkspoor cathedral in Utrecht. There, Interkring Vers and Innovend will launch their exclusive collaboration project for the 3-Point box.
That consists of a Zuply iQ locker module, a Flex max payment module and a Flex Pusher. That combination of refrigerated machines enables the sale of all kinds of fresh products and has an integrated payment and collection system. This allows a butchery to operate a complete unmanned shop. The mobile unit can be operated either at its existing shop or a stand-alone facility at another location.
The 3-Point box will be on display at Interkring’s stand at Slavakto. ‘So butchers can see what the concept entails and all the products they can sell in it,’ says office manager Jeroen Wolters.
Excellent opportunity to increase sales
Interkring Vers sees Innovend’s unmanned solution as an excellent opportunity for its customers to strengthen their market position. Their partnership comprises a total of seven fresh food wholesalers in the Netherlands. They supply a wide range of products to artisan butchers: meat, cold cuts, salads, spices, packaging materials and so on.
‘Our members know their customers, the butchers, and know whether and how they can benefit from an unmanned shop,’ says Jeroen Wolters, explaining why Interkring chose to work with Innovend. ‘They also know the problems butchers face: staff shortages and competition from large retailers who can have much longer opening hours. A butcher cannot stay open until 10 p.m. or open his shop on Sundays. He already works six or seven days a week. With the 3-Point box, sales will continue and the butcher may be able to reach new target groups.’
Extension of the shop
The 3-Pointbox, like other Innovend solutions, offers butchers’ shops the chance to extend their opening hours or create an extra point of sale without additional staff costs. This generates extra sales. In practice, customers also experience it as a service enhancement because they can buy fresh products from their favourite butcher in the evenings and at weekends. For example, if they have forgotten something, if they have unexpected visitors or for a spontaneous BBQ.
Jeroen Wolters sees many opportunities for Interkring customers: ‘You can use it to serve various target groups during the course of the day: consumers who come to buy a sandwich at lunchtime, someone who wants a fresh meal at the end of their working day, but also people who want to enjoy a tasty drink on Friday evening.’
He calls the self-service concept an extension of the butcher’s shop. ‘In several ways. It can also be a pick-up point for orders… That a customer orders a gourmet dish during the day, which is freshly prepared for him in the evening and which he picks up at a time that suits him.’
Webshop for orders
Innovend and Interkring help butchers take the first steps with unmanned sales all the way. Also with ordering via the Internet, if they are not already doing so. ‘We offer cooperation with a party that provides webshops and with which we already have good experiences,’ says Innovend director Sander Sciarone. ‘It’s a matter of plug & play and that webshop can be completely customized to your own look & feel as a butcher. Customers can then order and pay for items online there and collect them from our refrigerated lockers. For that, they receive an automatically sent QR code, with which they can open the right compartment.’
Buy or rent
The 3-Point box can be either bought or rented. Renting is also available in a special form, Sander Sciarone points out: ‘Where the basic rental price is lower and we receive a percentage of the sales. With this, we want to make things even easier for butchers and we both benefit if the unmanned shop is as successful as we think. It shows how much confidence we have in this concept.’
The same goes for Interkring. Jeroen Wolters: ‘We help butchers to maintain and, where possible, increase their sales. The 3-Point box can certainly contribute to that. We are closely connected to the market. If butchers do well, our fresh wholesalers do well too.’
