MediaMarktSaturn opens Europe’s first checkout-free consumer electronics store in Austria
Ingolstadt / Innsbruck, 8 March 2018 – Europe’s first checkout-free consumer electronics store was opened today by the MediaMarktSaturn Retail Group in Austria. Saturn Express fronts a totally new shopping concept in which Europe’s leading consumer electronics retailer has combined the advantages of online and offline shopping. At Saturn Express, customers can experience technology in-store and, if they wish, benefit from outstanding sales assistance in the traditional manner. The difference is that customers simply pay for items using an app. In this pilot project, Saturn is once again underlining its aim to assist consumers as their partner and navigator in the increasingly digital world.
The principle is very simple. Thanks to this ingenious concept, Saturn Experience combines a digital shopping experience with sound sales advice. The only thing missing compared to a traditional store is the tiresome waiting at the checkout! Instead, customers use an app specially developed for Saturn which lets them scan the barcode of the items they want to buy and pay for them by credit card or PayPal. Customers can download the app on their smartphone free of charge.
Customers can seek detailed advice before buying from the trained shop assistants at Saturn Express, who answer questions about the very latest tech, Saturn Express’s product range, and in-app payment. A study carried out in Austria by Saturn last autumn found that, especially when it comes to buying modern tech, customers regard expert advice taking their needs into account as vital.
The cutting-edge project Saturn Express has been implemented in conjunction with British startup MishiPay. By developing the app, the multi-award winning startup team laid the technological basis for Saturn Express. MishiPay is one of the first ten participants of the Retailtech Hub, the start-up accelerator in Munich run by the MediaMarktSaturn Retail Group. “Disruptive innovations are almost always developed by startups. MediaMarktSaturn launched the Retailtech Hub to bring the biggest retailers in various sectors and the most exciting startups for tomorrow’s shopping together, and to enable customers to rapidly benefit from innovation,” declared Martin Wild, Chief Innovation Officer of the MediaMarktSaturn Retail Group. The core of the programme comprises joint pilot projects between startup and dealer which are swiftly implemented – such as Saturn Express in Austria.
“Today’s launch is another solid step in our journey to revolutionise in-store shopping” said CEO of MishiPay, Mustafa Khanwala. “By launching Europe’s first checkout-free store ‘Saturn Express’, MediaMarktSaturn is leading by example for every retailer in the world and puts customer experience at the forefront of innovation. It’s a clear path forward to step-up their in-store journey by bringing the best of the online checkout experience to the physical store, using our Scan, Pay and Leave technology.”
Digitalization is opening up completely new possibilities for people and changing the way we shop. Customers appreciate quick, easy online shopping just as much as personal assistance and the haptic in-store shopping experience. By launching Europe’s first checkout-free consumer electronics store, the MediaMarktSaturn Retail Group is building a bridge between these two approaches.
Saturn Express is one of the many initiatives being taken by the Austrian subsidiary of the MediaMarktSaturn Retail Group to strengthen the country as a centre of digitalization and business. Together with other measures in the areas of training and the workplace, Saturn is implementing aspects of the Digital Roadmap Austria.
The new Saturn Express is located at the Sillpark shopping centre in the Austrian city of Innsbruck. It stocks everyday tech for customers, including popular trend items such as headphones and Bluetooth speakers as well as a wide range of brand-name accessories from the worlds of consumer electronics, computers and domestic appliances.
A video of Saturn Express can be found here.
