The Alza Concept Store’s main goal is to satisfy customer's needs in the shortest amount of time. It will be a quick and convenient purchasing experience. Self-service facilities clearly show technological progress. Nobody needs to wait in a queue, and it'll be open 24/7 hours a day, 365 days a year. The store first open in Prague's Flora metro station (on the corner of Vinohradská and Jičínská Street, opposite the OC Flora shopping centre). It'll run for several weeks, but there are plans for opening new Alza Concept Stores at the Můstek and Budějovická metro stations.
"The Alza Concept Store with unlimited business hours will include many services like those found in traditional stores. The customer can shop with complete privacy. However, if you want to discuss something or have questions about a particular product, you can easily connect to an expert via video chat. And in this respect, a new concept moves forward in terms of shopping convenience. There’s no other shop in the world where a customer can access over 100 experts in one place,” said Jan Moudřík, Director of Expansion and Facility at Alza.cz, whom believes in turning innovative ideas into reality.
Despite its size, the convenient self-service store can handle over 1,000 customers a day and save them a lot of time. Everything works quite simply: In a small entry room, the customer orders with the option of expert help via video chat and then selects to receive the items at the Alza Concept Store. As soon as the items are paid (by card or on-line), a glass door opens automatically to the next room, and the customer follows LED lights that signal where to go and what mailbox to open.
The dispensary room has 40 columns with hundreds of individual mailboxes of various sizes that hold the assortment of popular items. Instantly take away, for example, a large 150cm wide television, various laptops, an iPhone X, or any other phones or beauty products.
The planning and developing for this project from start to finish lasted about a year, and everything was done internally. The dispensary has mailboxes that can hold the dimensions of up to 80% of Alza’s product portfolio. The opening glass doors are made of resistant material and the floor is covered with a rubber surface. Stock will be filled twice a day.
The location of the first Alza Concept Store was chosen in a central, convenient location. Being located right at metro stations, customers can easily stop by on their way home from work or with kids coming from school, buy what they need in a few minutes, and be on their way again. If the project is successful after evaluation, other Alza Concept Stores will open in neighbouring countries where Alza have branches - Slovakia, Hungary and Austria.
About Alza.cz a.s.
Alza is a market leader and trendsetter, as evidenced by not only the record €644 million turnover in 2016 (excl. VAT), but also the number of innovations it has launched in the field of e-commerce. Alza delivers its products and has open stores on business days and weekends, though Alza's customers can also collect orders via a wide network of self-service AlzaBoxes. The company offers a unique Alza Premium club program, supports promising start-ups with its AlzaVenture investments, has opened the Alza TechZone for gaming and hi-tech enthusiasts, and is constantly expanding its product catalog. Alza has established unique Apple Shops in Prague and Bratislava. For its business accomplishments, Alza has won many prestigious awards in CEE, including the Most Trusted E-shop Brand. In the third edition of the Alza Awards, the company celebrated the best companies and products of the year. A detailed history of the company and its milestones can be found here.
