Grocery chain SPAR has revealed that it used Digital Twins to refurbish 60 of its stores in Switzerland. Having acquired the gas station outlets from a third-party, the retailer steadily wanted to change their layout and facades to match its signature branding, while minimizing any downtime.
Initially, SPAR tried to convert these with traditional floor plans, but many of the fixtures didn’t fit so it racked up significant extra transport and merchandising bills. However, working with local asset mapping partner BIM Facility, the firm has since found it possible to laser scan all the stores and create ultra-accurate, up-to-date Digital Twins of each building’s layout.
Fitted with updated counters, shelving, fridges, and check-out areas, the rebranded stores have now been reopened to the public. It’s anticipated that getting the SPAR Express outlets open as soon as possible has allowed them to generate another 10% in revenue. Not a bad return on the $160,000 or so paid for BIM Facility’s 3D scanning efforts!
