Enter the Robotshop Paris is embarking on an affair with metal man ­ an automated grocer who operates in a store that’s so convenient customers don’t even have to go in. Hélène Aubrée reports Busy Parisians are setting a trend by shopping for snacks and meals from the pavement outside stores, using new technology that looks set to extend throughout France. The automatic store concept ­ Shop24 ­ was launched two years ago by Belgian company New Distribution System (NDS) and was not immediately successful. But in October 2000, the concept returned with a vengeance to Paris, where it is proving a big hit. Serge Botmel, the former sales manager at Promodès (which merged with Carrefour in 1999), launched a new company ­ Sodimap ­ with the aim of setting up the Shop24 stores in the French capital. He called them Yatoopartoo ­ a French play on words which means “there is everything, everywhere”. His plan was to create points of sale which were open 24 hours/seven days a week, catering for shoppers’ food and drink convenience needs. The shops, manned by robots, allow shoppers to choose products and make their transaction from the pavement. Products are displayed behind a five-metre long window on two shelves, each shelf comprising 11 compartments. Each product has a code and customers make their choice and key in the code on a keyboard on the right hand side of the window ­ in the same way they would at a drinks vending machine. Shoppers can then either pay in cash or by debit card. Once the order has been placed, a robot picks out the product and drops it into a box. If several products are ordered, the robot repeats the operation, before releasing them into the compartment below for collection. The consumer then only needs to retrieve their bankcard or change. An identical, but refrigerated section is behind the product display area. It is restocked two or three times a week and a further weekly follow-up is made by the manufacturers who restock the empty shelves, while more regular checks are also made to ensure products are not past their sell-by dates. Automatic retailing has become an increasingly common phenomenon in France over recent years with drinks, snacks and telephone cards all available from vending machines. But the company waited until the idea had been properly trialled in other areas before it ventured into food. Until the end of last year, Shop24 had had little success in France. Of the 115 robot shops operational in Europe (in the Netherlands, Germany, Austria and Portugal), only four had been set up in France by the Casino group ­ one in Lyon, another in Marseille and two on the outskirts of Paris. But Casino’s shops are not likely to be expanded. A Casino spokesman explains: “The department responsible for the company’s local trade prefers to place more emphasis on the development of traditional stores.” Yatoopartoo shops concentrate on fresh and ready-to-eat products, including sandwiches and salads, and ready meals, which make up almost three-quarters of the offer and are proving particularly popular with shoppers. Botmel says: “Regardless of the time of day, the consumer can find everything that they might need among the 200 products which are available ­ everything except perhaps luxury commodities.” He adds: “There are six robot shops already in the capital ­ where people are on the move, live or work, one at the exit of a Metro station and another in the corner of a public park.” Yatoopartoo’s development strategy is likely to be more aggressive. The plan is to open a new store at the rate of one every 15 days. If it keeps up the pace, 30 new shops would open in Paris this year and 100 by 2003. “We are planning to open stores in the south of France beginning with Cannes, Nice and Monaco,” says Botmel. And with an estimated turnover of between 1 million to 1.2 million francs for an investment of 750,000 francs per robot, he intends to try to launch the concept in the country’s other major cities. Botmel believes though that however popular the concept becomes, it will never lead to the extinction of small corner shops. “The two forms of trade are complementary rather than conflicting,” he insists. And it seems he has a point ­ 60% of Yatoopartoo sales take place at night, between 9pm and 5am, when the traditional stores are closed. He says shoppers’ reasons for using the robot shops are different too ­ most only want to buy one or two items and in the shortest possible time. The average basket size is about 23 francs for about 2.2 products. Bulk packs are not sold and vary from those on offer in corner shops as well. Yogurts for example, which are not sold in packs of six or eight, are sold in packs of two with a spoon, allowing instant consumption. Indeed, manufacturers of the main branded products have insisted on pack sizes and specifications because of the lack of staff and after-sales service. {{DISPATCHES }}