Würth Automatic Store: a new sales format that can be used in self-service mode, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week

Würth Italia is a branch of the German multinational leader in the distribution of installation and mounting products and systems for professionals in the artisan, construction, industry and automotive sectors with over 125,000 products in their range, including small metal and plastic parts, electrical parts, pneumatic tools, woodworking tools, chemicals, safety clothing and equipment, storage systems and workshop fittings.

Being able to ensure increasingly efficient service and facilitating the purchasing activity of all touchpoints, while integrating the offline and online channel in a “phygital” way, is an integral part of the corporate strategy at Würth. The main challenges is to create a new automated store that combines the possibility of buying on-site, with the option of collecting purchases made online, at flexible times, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, avoiding the need to wait in for couriers or risk missing deliveries.

At the heart of project “Würth Automatic Store”, which was awarded the 2019 Smau Innovation Award, there is BuyBox, the innovative “phygital” solution, which can be used in self-service mode 24/7. It consists of an actual automated point of sale, installed outdoors and based on a modular structure that has been integrated inside a movable, 13-metre long container. The structure is therefore resistant to both atmospheric agents and vandalism. Designed to meet the specific size requirements established by Würth, the structure can hold over 6,000 item codes, or in other words, 1,800 articles, which can vary greatly in terms of size, weight and packaging and may even include temperature-controlled items, which are managed by an air-conditioning system. The purchase, collection or replenishment of materials is achieved using the so-called “In-Out Point”, designed to respect safety, ergonomics and design-for-all criteria.