Middle East’s first self-scanning shop to open in Madinat Zayed in June

The Middle East’s first supermarket using self-scanning technology is due to open in Madinat Zayed in Abu Dhabi’s Western Region in June, the 2nd Al Gharbia Development Forum in Abu Dhabi was told this afternoon.

The new shop, branded as Souq Planet, has a floor area of 2,000 square metres. It is owned and managed by the NCC Group of Companies of Abu Dhabi. The NCC owns four Abela supermarkets in the UAE. These are to be converted to the Souq Planet brand, the forum was told by NCC chief executive officer Tarek El Goweiny. He said long-term plans include taking the Souq Planet brand outside of the UAE.

Self-scanning technology allows customers with an account with Souq Planet to use an electronic scanning device to capture information about the price and nutritional and other details of items bought in the supermarket.

For full details, see www.meed.com