Valora Group, the Swiss-based retail and foodservice company, is flexing its convenience retail and foodservice credentials with its new avec branded store at Freiestrasse in Zurich.
The 159sq m store is a strong contender in The Best Foodvenience Store in the World contest, and it’s not difficult to see why.
The store is all about foodvenience and fulfils avec’s aim to put the consumer at the centre of its decision making, states Roger Vogt CEO Retail at Valora Group.
With a 25-year career in the industry, Vogt has an expert view on convenience and food retail.
He started out as an apprentice butcher where “you are very close to the customer all day – you have to speak to customers and serve them, which is key in this business”; before moving to Coop, one of Switzerland’s largest retailer for 20 years.
There he had responsibility for 350 supermarket stores in the German-speaking part of Switzerland and went on to develop new convenience formats including “Coop to go”.
From Coop he joined Valora to head up convenience operations in Switzerland before taking responsibility for convenience in all Valora markets – Switzerland, Germany, Austria and Luxembourg – six years ago.
Two years ago, the Valora Group was acquired by Fomento Económico Mexicano, S.A.B. de C.V., (FEMSA).
The Mexican beverage and retail company was looking for a foothold in the retail and foodservice sector and recognised Valora as a lead foodvenience player in Europe with dual competencies – it is the market leader in Swiss convenience and a chief player in European foodservice.
The acquisition has given FEMSA that foodservice competence and Valora the opportunity to grow.
Store growth and format evolution
When Vogt joined Valora in 2018 it had approximately 150-160 avec stores. Today it has 370, adding nearly 200 new stores in the last five years and during Covid.
The new avec store, which is situated in the residential area of Zurich-Fluntern, represents the latest evolution of the format and has been developed to meet changing customer needs.
“We change the assortment, formats and offer because we always see what the customer wants. Expectations on the quality of food and convenience food are growing, so we have to adapt our concept,” Vogt says.
Five years ago, a triangular sandwich was completely ok and matched consumers’ expectations, he maintains.
Today, that’s no longer the case – customers want a broader selection of fresh food, like sandwiches, hot dogs and also fresh coffee.
“We always have to adapt the assortment and also the store so that it fits together, avec is not like a supermarket but a modern convenience store with huge competence in foodservice,” Vogt says.
Central to the concept is a new kitchen – “The Kitchen” by avec – located directly by the entrance.
It’s completely open to enable customers to see food being freshly and authentically prepared.
The range is extensive spanning pizzas, kebabs, panini, hamburgers, hot dogs, chicken wings and nuggets, veggie balls and hummus sticks and approximately 20% of The Kitchen offer is vegetarian or vegan.
The Kitchen showcases avec’s foodservice competence and represents a huge jump in terms of the fresh food offering.
Bakery, another key category for avec, is included in a Bakery Tower module, featuring pastries, breads and baguettes.
In the new avec store in Zurich, The Kitchen and Bakery Tower including pretzels – Valora is one of the world’s leading producers of pretzels – are combined for the first time in one store to expand Valora’s foodservice offering.
And there’s not let up, as Vogt says: “We are a foodvenience retailer and eager to always adapt our concepts. For us a concept is never finished – we are always thinking what is the next step.”
Latest ordering and payment tech
The Zurich avec store features the latest digital ordering and payment systems to enable customers to place and pay for orders quickly, speeding up the entire process. Shoppers can also order via the retailer’s app and elect their own pick-up time.
In January 2025 there will be another step change with the integration of foodvenience ordering on the self-service checkouts. Currently, the Self Order Terminals (SOTs) are only set up for foodservice ordering, not the entire store offer. In the New Year, customers will be able to order across the whole store on the self-service checkouts, developed in-house by Valora.
The move emphasises Valora’s keen focus on learning and developing. “We’ve built the store but found things we can do better,” Vogt says. “We want to provide a seamless customer experience and make it easy for the customer,” he says.
The new ordering and payment solution will help to speed up customer journeys, especially during the lunch time rush when avec aims to serve customers within 1.5 minutes. The newly adapted checkout-terminals will remove SOT and cashier queues and will also help to increase basket size since 50% of customers use the self-checkout and all the store’s offers will be available in that location, Vogt reports.
The Zurich avec store features the latest digital ordering and payment systems to enable customers to place and pay for orders quickly, speeding up the entire process. Shoppers can also order via the retailer’s app and elect their own pick-up time.
In January 2025 there will be another step change with the integration of foodvenience ordering on the self-service checkouts. Currently, the Self Order Terminals (SOTs) are only set up for foodservice ordering, not the entire store offer. In the New Year, customers will be able to order across the whole store on the self-service checkouts, developed in-house by Valora.
The move emphasises Valora’s keen focus on learning and developing. “We’ve built the store but found things we can do better,” Vogt says. “We want to provide a seamless customer experience and make it easy for the customer,” he says.
The new ordering and payment solution will help to speed up customer journeys, especially during the lunch time rush when avec aims to serve customers within 1.5 minutes. The newly adapted checkout-terminals will remove SOT and cashier queues and will also help to increase basket size since 50% of customers use the self-checkout and all the store’s offers will be available in that location, Vogt reports.
Food development
The food offer is under constant scrutiny too.
Valora focuses heavily on data analysis to understand the key growth categories and new market opportunities.
The business also leverages its employees who are in stores and speak with customers every day for feedback.
Personally, Vogt spends one day a week out in stores, talking with employees and customers to gauge measures for improvement.
Surveys are also deployed, while the retailer’s mobile solution captures feedback too by asking customers to rate its menus etc.
Further, the team visits competitor outlets, not just in Switzerland but across Europe, to seek out new ideas and provide fresh solutions for customers.
At the new Zurich avec store, those customers are pretty youthful.
As well as serving a local population of approximately 9,000 residents with a potential increase of 1,000 by 2030, it’s close to key institutions such as Zurich university with around 30,000 students, a university hospital, vocational schools and an art gallery.
According to Vogt, students are very open to sharing ideas with avec and how it can develop and improve the format. They are also incredibly tech savvy, he says.
This has created a distinct advantage for the retailer.
While avec is open and staffed Monday to Saturday, Swiss regulations prevent staff working on site on Sundays but customers are able to use the avec 24/7 app to go into store and buy products.
For students that technology is a breeze, Vogt says. “They mostly are ahead of the time,” he smiles.
Next steps and future trends
If it’s not already apparent, Valora is not standing still and is already monitoring the next trends in order to meet customer expectations and needs, whether that’s adapting the assortment or building a new format or module within the store.
Omni-channel is increasingly on the radar, Vogt says. It provides an opportunity to fulfil online orders, for pick up in-store or home delivery, from convenience stores, which are closer to customers and would provide a more seamless experience with just one touch point.
Vogt suggests avec is exploring how it could deliver this through loyalty, its self-checkout app and terminals, as well as the cashier desk.
There’s definite potential, he says. Foodvenience-based stores are growing in Switzerland and taking over from the role of traditional supermarkets.
“Previously, customers made weekly shopping trips at supermarkets but today they decide at 5pm what they want for dinner,” Vogt says.
“The convenience/foodvenience format is more important than in the past and takes over the role of supermarkets so we need to adapt to be a one-stop solution for the customer,” he says.
“We offer services already but there is a potential to grow in that sector and catch the customer,” Vogt says.
The company will also continue to improve the quality of its offering by investing heavily in the education of its employees to drive customer satisfaction.
Competence in foodservice will increase the quality of the food.
“The triangular sandwich used to be enough – today it’s completely different, customers want a completely freshly prepared sandwich,” he emphasises.
Best Foodvenience Store in the World
Valora and its avec format, entered in this new contest, thrive on competition.
“We love competition, I love competition – it drives you to become better,” Vogt says.
“Our Kitchen offering is completely new in the market – it’s so special and creates a completely new customer experience so it’s great to join this competition.”
Vogt has also won value from observing the other entries from a broad span of countries and picking up on their idiosyncrasies.
In Germany, for instance, sandwiches are served open to the customer, while in Switzerland a packaged product is a sign of quality.
“There are different customer needs so it’s interesting to learn and see what the other offers are,” Vogt says.
He’s bullish about the company’s chances too, as a result of its impressive performance – the food and beverage sales share in the new “The Kitchen” by avec store is a record 90%, he reports.
It’s a winning foodvenience format but one that will flex to meet customer needs.
“What sets us apart is getting so close to customer needs.
Others don’t change their format or offer for five years.
We are constantly adapting our offer.
In January, we will continue to adapt the offering in our new avec store to meet customer requirements even better,” says Vogt.
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