STMicroelectronics in Sicily Enables Employees to Shop On-site in Smart Store Operated by COOP and Based on WIB's Advanced Patented Technology

ST Catania staff enjoys world's first fully automated 24/7 smart store implemented by WIB Srl, a start-up venture born in Sicily

 

Geneva, January 30, 2015 - STMicroelectronics (NYSE: STM), a global semiconductor leader serving customers across the spectrum of electronics applications, announced today that its employees working in Catania (Sicily, Italy) can now buy a wide range of products for their families' needs online and pick them up on their way home at Coop Qui, the world's first fully automated on-site smart store operated by WIB Machine for COOP, the Italian retail-chain leader. 

The Coop Qui store combines physical and digital sales channels, provided by WIB, a Sicilian start-up. Its web-based approach enables customers to make purchases on site as well as remotely from their PCs or mobile devices, choosing from a catalogue that includes groceries, food, toiletries, and products for home and personal care. WIB's patented technology uniquely enables automated picking of shopping-list orders of multiple items regardless of those items' shape, weight, and fragility. Coop Qui is designed to help ST Catania employees, who want fresh food and top-quality goods, make and collect their purchases at the end of their working shift 24/7, directly from the unmanned WIB automated store located in their parking lot.

"The distribution method made available by Coop Qui simplifies the lives of people who refuse to sacrifice quality-even without the time to shop every day. Food offered by Coop Qui consists mainly of COOP-branded products and fresh Sicilian produce. We fully support the smart idea of WIB that has already managed to receive accolades from all over the world, and are grateful to STMicroelectronics, a center of technological excellence in Catania and innovation leader, for being the world's first to open up to this unique project," explained Lucio Rossetto, CEO of COOP Sicilia.  "COOP anticipates that this model will be popular with consumers and can be replicated in different locations in the city of Catania and worldwide."

WIB was created in 2013 from an idea of its founder and CEO, Nino Lo Iacono. After completing a degree in Mechatronics Engineering at the Polytechnic of Turin and a couple of years at FIAT Research Center, Lo Iacono decided to start his own business in Sicily, the region where he grew up and found support from ARCA, the business incubator of the University of Palermo.