Self-service convenience store chain Aisle 24 opened in London last week.

The 24/7 cashier-less market, which only accepts debit, credit and smart phone payments, has grown from half a dozen locations in the Greater Toronto Area, to more than 29 locations across Canada, with several more under construction.

“Our basket size is over 30% higher than the typical convenience store at $12.50 average,” says CEO and company co-founder John Douang. This average basket size will grow, he says, as Aisle 24 starts to open bigger footprint stores, and with a new large-format location slated to open later this year in Atlantic Canada.

The brand engages and markets to its consumer base of roughly 70,000 members via digital and social channels. It provides customer service and marketing initiatives directly through its mobile platform, and has live chat features directly through its mobile app.

Douang tells strategy the brand’s success is due to the business being able to address the needs and wants of a customer base when the world was faced with a global pandemic, and with fast changing consumer expectations and habits, Aisle 24 has been able to address customers’ demands by adapting quickly.

The retail space that Aisle24 competes in was recently disrupted by healthier option convenience store player, KaleMart opening in Montreal.

“Aisle 24’s business concept provides for an innovative approach to physical retailing,” Douang says, telling strategy younger generations are craving unique retail experiences.

As Douang explains, while many stores have experimented with new technologies to enhance the retail experience, not many have committed to nationwide roll outs or to pushing the envelope when it comes to incorporating new technology into their strategies.

“We see AI, augmented reality and other new emerging technologies [playing] a pivotal role in retail success going forward,” he says, as Aisle 24 primarily targets Gen Z and millennials. As Gen Alpha gets older, the brand expects adoption from that segment too.

“With anything new put out in the market, there are always the naysayers who do not support what you are doing,” Douang says, conceding that some of detractors will focus on the exclusion of certain segments of the population that are not technologically savvy.

The goal when launching Aisle 24, he maintains, was to be very iterative with experiences to facilitate an easier transition to the new way of shopping. As with anything new, there are early adopters and there are laggards, he notes.

Douang says the brand always intended to partner with third-party delivery platforms like SkipTheDishes, Uber Eats, DoorDash and Instacart, but understood that the convenience and small-format grocery market relies on being conveniently located for the customer.

“Their needs have always been immediate and as such we haven’t prioritized these partnerships,” Douang says. “However, we are now in discussions with the various platforms to determine feasibility of operation and technology integration to support both sides of the business.”

Much like its c-chain brethren, loyalty is a key component to growth. Douang says it is working on the development of a points program that makes sense for its growing network.

The brand handles most of its marketing in-house at the moment, but has utilized small agencies in the past for social and creative work, but not for PR or general media.