World's first tech-enabled grocery, dining concept 'habitat by honestbee' makes debut

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HONESTBEE on Tuesday launched habitat by honestbee: a supermarket, restaurant and retail innovation lab all in one.

habitat marks honestbee's first foray into brick and mortar. The Singapore-based startup was founded in 2015 as an online marketplace offering grocery delivery services; it later diversified into food delivery, laundry and ticketing services.

Occupying a 60,000 square feet space in an industrial building in Pasir Panjang, habitat is said to be the world's first tech-enabled, multi-sensory grocery and dining destination of its kind.

It comprises a full supermarket stocked with over 20,000 items, a dining area featuring some 15 food and beverage concepts, and an innovation lab for the development of new retail technology solutions.

It also features two retail experiences that are said to be global firsts: AutoCheckout and RoboCollect.

AutoCheckout is a cashless checkout system that allows shoppers to skip the checkout queue and automatically pay for their items via the honestbee app. What shoppers have to do is simply deposit their loaded trolleys at an AutoCheckout station, and their items will be automatically scanned, checked out and packed into bags.

Shoppers are then charged for their purchases through honestbee's e-wallet, beePay.

RoboCollect is a fully-automated robotic collection point where shoppers can pick up their packed bags.

honestbee said: "Orders can be processed between checkout and collection in as fast as five minutes, so shoppers will have more time to enjoy habitat by honestbee as a multi-sensory community."

As an innovation lab to test new concepts or features, habitat will partner business owners and retailers across industries to develop innovative solutions that can improve the retail experience.

honestbee said that partners can use the lab to pilot new shopping experiences while leveraging habitat's infrastructure, cashless payment system, logistics, as well as customer service and data, without having to commit to technological and operational costs.

Joel Sng, chief executive officer of honestbee, said: "Retail and food partners can maximise their revenue and expand their customer base through our enhanced ecosystem.

"We believe that technology should be harnessed in the quest of quality human interaction: whether it is to give us more time to enjoy meals with family, share conversations with friends or have a deeper understanding for food. We invite merchants and partners to join us in this 'NewGen Retail' journey together."

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