Retailers are beginning to offer hydrocarbon-cooled pick-up stations for food purchased online. As consumers become increasingly 'digitised’, ‘Click & Collect’ services look set to become more commonplace across Europe – with supermarkets leading the way. Manufacturers are beginning to tune into this trend, with German firms Viessmann and Hauser presenting innovative cooling systems for this application at EuroShop. ‘Click&Collect’ allows supermarket customers to order their shopping online and easily collect it from an external pick-up station – such as a train station, supermarket car park, petrol station, bus stop or airport. Viessmann presented its ‘Click4Food’ solution using propane and isobutane for cooling, while goods kept at the outside ambient temperature use no refrigeration at all. The company's goal is to develop the ‘Click & Collect’ concept together with its retail customers, expanding sales of refrigerated goods beyond the tradiitional grocery business, according to Mikko Blomqvist, product manager at Viessmann. Viessmann's system differs here again. With the ‘Click4Food’ system, customers receive a code via SMS to enter into the system. The code grants access to lockers containing the goods.
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