How Hybrid Work Is Driving B2B Self-Service Tech

New forms of catering have emerged in response to the rise of hybrid working.

In a system where everyone’s work hours are in a fixed and shared location, predictable catering solutions make a lot of sense. But in the more dynamic reality of 2023, it can be challenging for businesses that serve office workers to meet irregular demand for food and beverages.

As a result, running an office catering facility is not the static challenge it once was, and self-serve, automated solutions that are available 24/7 are on the rise.

For example, Belgian retailer Colruyt Group recently introduced a new catering concept, Spar For You, designed to meet the needs of the flexible, on-the-go worker.

A B2B solution whereby office managers can install smart fridges that remain open 24 hours a day, the concept is intended to solve the problem of a modern workplace in which the set lunch break looks increasingly outdated.

The smallest possible set-up is a single smart refrigerator made by Smart Technics, Colruyt Group’s innovation hub, while Solucious, the group’s B2B food service arm, takes care of stocking the units.

To use the smart fridges, customers simply need to tap a contactless card or mobile wallet to its payment terminal, take the items they want, and they will be automatically charged for their purchase.

Digitizing Payments

With major cost efficiencies that resonate with the evolving dynamic of modern working patterns, other players in the space have also doubled down on automation.

Selecta, a Swiss firm that operates a pan-European vending machine network, has expanded the concept far beyond chocolate bars and sodas. These days, the company counts a range of smart fridges and smart vending machines among its self-service food and beverage solutions.

As well as adapting to the way people work, the likes of Colruyt Group and Selecta are also embracing the digitization of payments.

In a January interview with PYMNTS, Paul Hearne, the U.K. and Ireland managing director at Selecta Group described how none of its newer units, including its smart fridges, are equipped to take cash.

He said the company has run trials throughout the past year “to really understand whether this is the time that we bite the bullet and say we’re not doing cash.”

Despite the widespread adoption of digital payment methods in the U.K., removing the option to pay with cash in some of its older vending machines resulted in lower sales volumes, an indication that cash is still king.

According to Hearne, cash still accounts for as much as 20% of the transaction across Selecta’s network and appears to hold an important role in self-service food and drink.

But a small, automated store in a built-up office isn’t the same as an old vending machine in a train station, one would argue. The former offers more choice, including fresh options. And clearly, both Colruyt Group and Selecta are betting on not losing sales by installing them with the means to accept cash.

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