ORLEN combines smart store and automated station in Berlin
The retailer has fully launched a new unmanned convenience concept in Germany, integrating a smart store with an automated fuel station to offer round-the-clock shopping and fueling.
ORLEN Deutschland has completed the rollout of a new smart retail concept in Berlin that combines an automated fuel station with an unmanned convenience store, creating what the company describes as a first-of-its-kind format in the German market.
Located on Otto-Suhr-Allee in central Berlin, the site brings together an ORLEN express automated fueling station and a Smart Store under one roof. Following several months of testing and operational refinements, the location has now been fully established as part of the retailer’s broader convenience strategy.
Customers enter the store by tapping a credit or debit card at the entrance terminal. Once inside, they can select products and leave without visiting a cashier. Payment is processed automatically in the background through the store’s digital system.
“With the Smart Store, we are not only testing new technologies, but actively developing the future of convenient shopping as part of our convenience strategy,” said Dariusz Kwieciński, CEO of ORLEN Deutschland.
The assortment includes beverages, snacks, confectionery, tobacco products, coffee specialties and ice cream. The system also incorporates the legally required age-verification procedures for purchases of tobacco and alcoholic beverages.
ORLEN said the Berlin location serves as a testing ground for future digital convenience concepts, demonstrating how automation and smart retail technologies can simplify the shopping experience while complementing modern mobility services. The project is part of the company’s broader efforts to explore new retail formats that combine fueling, convenience and digitalized customer journeys.
