At the star Station on Otto-Suhr-Allee 132 in Berlin, ORLEN Deutschland has opened its first Smart Container. The 9 x 3-meter container, with a total sales area of 18 square meters, will handle the sale of the station’s product range until the planned Smart Store in the former gas station building is completed. After intensive planning and development, the Smart Container was precisely tailored to ORLEN Deutschland requirements.
Shopping with “Grab & Go” Technology
The Smart Container offers an innovative shopping experience: customers enter the container using a debit or credit card, make their purchases, and simply leave. Payment is automatically processed via the card used, without scanning or cashiers. The product range includes tobacco, non-alcoholic and alcoholic beverages, snacks and confectionery, car accessories, and hot drinks. To ensure an optimal shopping experience at all times, the container is cleaned and restocked daily.
Technology and Security
A combination of highly sensitive scales in the shelves and AI-powered cameras ensures that every item movement is accurately recorded. This creates a virtual shopping cart that is automatically charged when leaving. Products such as alcohol or tobacco are only released after successful age verification – directly and securely via interfaces with the ID card or driver’s license.
“With our Smart Container in Berlin, we are demonstrating what the future of convenience shopping at a fuel station can look like: fast, effortless, and fully digital. We offer our customers a modern shopping experience that integrates seamlessly into their daily lives – independent of opening hours or on-site staff. At the same time, we gain valuable insights that will help us for the future operation of our Smart Container. This allows us to gradually transform our locations and unlock new opportunities at unmanned fuel stations,” explains Torsten Rieger, Executive Director Commercial Retail at ORLEN Deutschland GmbH.
Pilot for Future Locations
The Smart Container in Berlin is a temporary solution until the shop in the fuel station building is renovated expected by October 2025. Afterwards, the mobile container will move to the soon-to-be-built e-charging hub in Elmshorn.
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About ORLEN Deutschland GmbH
ORLEN Deutschland GmbH was founded in March 2003. It is a 100 per cent subsidiary of the Polish multi-energy group ORLEN S.A. and part of the international ORLEN Group. The company currently operates over 600 ORLEN and star filling stations on the German market. ORLEN Deutschland GmbH, based in Elmshorn, is one of the ten largest filling station operators in Germany and is involved in a wide range of sports and cultural sponsorship activities (e.g. handball, winter sports, music festivals).
In keeping with the claim “Moving forward together”, ORLEN and star filling stations offer high-quality fuels as well as their own shop products at an attractive price-performance ratio. ORLEN Deutschland is increasingly focussing on the expansion of electromobility offerings, alternative, sustainable fuels and the environmentally friendly use of resources. Customers receive additional services such as car washing, ATM and package services at many stations. Filling stations with 'star café' and 'stop.café’ invite customers to take a break in a feel-good atmosphere and offer coffee specialties throughout the day, a wide selection of food, as well as hot and cold snacks.
ORLEN S.A. further expanded its market position in the DACH region at the beginning of 2024 with the acquisition of Turmöl fuel stations. With over 260 stations, ORLEN has a market share of around 10% in Austria, making it one of the three largest owners of fuel station networks in the country.
Further information about ORLEN Deutschland can be found on www.orlen-deutschland.de as well as www.star.de
Press Contact:
ORLEN Deutschland GmbH
Erika de Gier
Head of Corporate Communications
Phone: +4915146251041
erika.degier@orlen-deutschland.de
Klaus-Peter Dittrich
Corporate Communications Manager
Phone: +49412147501768
klaus-peter.dittrich@orlen-deutschland.de