MILAN, ITALY - The future may be closer than we imagine for retailers. This week, Coop Italia, one of Italy’s largest grocery chains, opened a flagship store touted as “The Supermarket of the Future” in Milan’s Bicocca neighborhood.

“Through Coop’s Supermarket of the Future, we are bringing to life how the physical and the digital are capable of converging to create an engaging and immersive grocery shopping experience,” said Alberto Pozzi, Managing Director in Accenture’s Retail Practice in Italy, in a company release. “Coop is shaping the future of supermarkets by combining hyper-personalization, deep product information, and connected devices in-line with customer buying journeys. We are looking forward to continued collaboration and bringing future innovation straight into the hands of Coop’s customers.”

According to Curbed, an online newsource focused on housing- and urban- issues, the 10,800-square-foot supermarket holds approximately 6,000 products, all organized on interactive tables and shelves. When customers reach toward specific products, relevant information like nutritional value, allergens that may be present, and recycling instructions are displayed on screens or “augmented labels” suspended above the product.

The company had previously debuted a conceptual version of the store during Milan’s Expo Milano 2015, based on designs by MIT Professor and head of the Carlo Ratti Association Carlo Ratti. Only a year later, the futuristic concept is being put into practice.

“Following the great success and positive feedback we received when we showcased the Supermarket of the Future concept at Expo Milano 2015, we got straight to work to make our vision a reality,” said Marco Pedroni, President of Coop Italia. “Using their digital expertise, Accenture and Avanade have helped us redesign the grocery shopping experience through a digital journey that meets customer demand for information, engagement, and functionality in a simple and intuitive way.”

Coop Italia partnered with Accenture and Avanade—a joint venture company between Avande and Microsoft—to completely redesign the supermarket’s information architecture and create a modular, flexible, cloud-based system that may eventually be scaled to a large number of stores.

This opening comes on the heels of a recent announcement by Amazon that it plans to open futuristic checkout-less Amazon Go stores in the United States.

For more on the future of produce retail, stay tuned to AndNowUKnow.

Coop Italia