Jednota Volyně operated the town’s COOP store to a normal standard until 2021, and for some time its profitability was at the break-even point.

At the beginning of 2022, COOP headquarters selected this store as the 1st pilot store to test whether Knowinstore’s unattended solution, together with a partial renovation of the interior space and the introduction of a hybrid mode, could bring the expected revival of shopper interest and increased footfall.

Prior to this first project, there were a lot of question marks on the retailer’s side – whether it would work, whether shoppers would be interested in shopping unattended, whether there would be a large number of thefts, etc. However, the implementation in practice has shown that the fears are not misplaced. The unattended store in Strakonice has met all basic expectations and started a new revolution of autonomous shopping on the Czech market, especially in the COOP Group, where almost 30 more 24/7 stores with automated sales have been established since March 2022 and dozens more projects are planned.