This small village in Lot-et-Garonne is considering setting up a self-service supermarket

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The town of Samazan (Lot-et-Garonne), who wants to revitalize their town centerraised the possibility of setting up a self-service mini-market, proposed by the company API, based in Charente-Maritime.

Based on the observation that nearly a third of municipalities in France no longer had businesses within 25 minutes round trip of their homes, API was inspired by a Swedish concept : self-service convenience stores, open every day of the year, with 700 everyday products at supermarket prices.

Four cameras with no blind spots in this business

Associated with the Carrefour group, 70% of the products offered are distributor brands similar to those sold in Carrefour Markets and at the same price, 25% national or international brands, the remaining 5% being reserved for local producers within a 50 kilometer radius.

The first mini-market opened in November 202283 were operational in October and around a hundred will be in place by the end of 2024. This mini-market operates autonomouslyin the form of a chalet placed on a platform to which access can only be done from an application via a smartphone, with an account associated with an identity document, or with an access card issued by API.

Also for the consumer, it will be enough, after having “bleep” the articles and to scan your QR code before paying with your mobile phone or credit card, the only authorized means of payment.

Equipped with four cameras, without blind spots, inside plus two outside, the supermarket is monitored from a command post located in Bordeaux in liaison with the Securitas agency with the help of artificial intelligence (AI) capable of detecting strange behavior.

In the area, one person, recruited on site, is in charge of convenience stores within a 30 kilometer radiusand comes every day, including two at fixed times to meet the needs of people in potential difficulty, ensure proper functioning and supply.

A business project that remains under study

Based on this observation, the municipality decided to study this possibility which remains conditional on the one hand to the fact that API must find, within a radius of 30 kilometers, two other municipalities interested in this conceptand on the other hand to the financing of the platform capable of accommodating the chalet with the IT and electrical services, but the first quote received this week, of €46,400 excluding tax, leaves no room for error.

Finally, if the project is carried out, two agreements must be signed between the municipality and API. The first will oblige API to pay the municipality the sum of €600 per year, over 20 years, for the right of occupancy, and a second, for one year renewable, obliging the municipality to pay operating costs, or in paying the charges (electricity and waste disposal), or by paying €15 per day to API…

The deliberation taken in municipal council does not commit the municipality in any way to this daybut allows you to deepen the technical and operational characteristics.

Finally, even if this personal service seems to meet a real need, we are still far from the friendly aspect what a real meeting and exchange point could offer.

With JJ.B.

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