By akademiotoelektronik, 10/12/2022

Ximiti, the 100 % robotic store channel, opens its first point of sale in PACA in Cannes

A ""new generation"" mini -market.The leader of food stores without a seller, Ximiti, opens a point of sale in Cannes this Wednesday.100% connected, and robotic.A UFO landed in the city's commercial landscape.

From the outside, the secret is well kept.At 46 boulevard Carnot, a white storefront, an automatic counter.This Wednesday, October 27 in the morning, the machine will start.

Inside, on 45 square meters of shelving, grocery store, drugstore, hygiene and perfumery products, 700 references available 24 hours a day and 7 days a week.To do their shopping, customers will not see anyone.It is a robot that will be responsible for delivering orders placed either directly to the terminal, on site or via the dedicated smartphone application.

This point of sale is the first that Ximiti, the leading brand in France of 100 % automated local trade, opens in the PACA region.

The man who embarked on the adventure knows well the world of mass distribution.

Florent Lebrault has previously directed a supermarket in the Grassois hinterland, with a hundred employees.A director tapped by the desire to be on his own, who has seen the advantages of this robotic formula: ""We can concentrate a large number of references in little area"".No employees.The manager takes care of receipt of the goods when she arrives, then management can be done remotely.Free of his choices, Florent Lebrault claims his organic commitment, with ""at least 70 references, and regional products"".

The confinement effect

Since the first confinement, the ""Sans Contact"" store brand, created in 2017, has actually experienced a good boom in France.From 11 points of sale in May 2020, it increased to 25 units.

The brand's objective is to ""double the number of points of sale franchised in a year"", explains Charlène Guidez, in charge of communication.The target is twofold: ""Centers, for extra shopping, and more rural areas, where this type of store can be more profitable than traditional grocery"".

""Trying, innovating, if it works, it's great!""

In Cannes in any case, there is no shortage of local trade.Small points of sale by distributors, more modest, have already emerged, then disappeared.This time, the concept is more elaborate, with the ambition to offer most of the current consumer products.

The representatives of traders are waiting to see the result of the experience.

For Eric Chaumier, this offer would make more sense in peripheral areas, where local shops are missing.""In the city center, I am not sure of its integration into the commercial landscape...""

James Theis, President of the Fateo, a federation which brings together a dozen merchant associations, is in a more positive expectation:

""Je suis commerçant, et je soutiens l'entrepreneur qui tente"", poursuit James Theis. ""Avec la crise sanitaire les habitudes des consommateurs ont évolué.But what will he stay in time?Will it respond to a request?Trying, innovating, if it works, it's great! ""

If the Cannes experience is conclusive, Florent Lebrault, hopes to be able to open other Ximiti franchises on the French Riviera.