Trading cashiers for connected tech
By Matthew Daldalian, LJI Reporter
The city of Laval has turned a big-box parking lot into a three-week experiment in ‘smart’ retail it says could help bring life back to its main streets.
The pop-up, branded ‘Lab Achetons plus ici’ (“Buy More Here”), runs until Sept. 28 and puts automation front and centre: self-scanning on smartphones, Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) checkout that rings up a basket in one pass, and wired inventory systems. Officials describe it as a real-world trial before asking independent merchants to adopt anything more widely.
A Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) checkout inside the ‘Achetons plus ici’ lab on the RONA Pont-Viau lot on September 8 2025. (Matthew Daldalian, NewsFirst Multimedia)
“The ‘Achetons plus ici’ Lab demonstrates our desire to collaborate with local businesses to boost the local economic fabric and modernize our commercial arteries,” said Christine Poirier, the councillor for Duvernay–Pont-Viau.
For Laval Économique, which is steering the project, the aim is as much urban as technical. “The goal of the laboratory is to see how we can transform commercial arteries, how we can change a little the way customers see commercial streets and shopkeepers,” said Lidia Divry, director of the city’s economic development arm, in an interview. She called the set-up “more of an experimental approach,” an invitation for residents to handle the tools themselves and for shopkeepers to judge whether any of it could make them “more efficient, more competitive.”
The pilot lands on a stretch of boulevard des Laurentides by design, said Professor Fabien Durif, who leads Université du Québec à Montréal’s (UQAM) Observatoire de la Consommation Responsable and helped design the project. “We’re really in a format that is a connected, autonomous, temporary micro-business,” he said. The immediate target isn’t ringing tills so much as people on the sidewalk. “The objective is to see if we can increase foot traffic so there really is this idea of revitalization.”
The ‘Achetons plus ici’ lab outside on the RONA Pont-Viau lot on September 8 2025. (Matthew Daldalian, NewsFirst Multimedia)
Inside the compact, seasonal micro-store, the merchandise is deliberately ordinary— batteries, rugs, tools, fertilizers, cleaners, paint and stain— so the friction (or ease) of the tech is the point. Shoppers can scan and pay on their phones, or pass tagged goods near a reader that tallies everything at once. Labels from Les Produits du Québec mark certified local products.
What counts as success? Not sales, at least not at first, Durif said. “Success isn’t necessarily sales. Success is the number of people who will come in, who will want to test the technologies, who will want to take part in the studies.” His team will track where visitors come from and how they traveled.
Divry described the effort as a proof of concept: “We’re in innovation. So this first project, it’s really to test innovation, to test the proof of concept.” Part of that means understanding hesitations and limits. Some residents will arrive ready to tap-to-pay; others will need reassurance or help. One hard constraint is built in. “It’s clear that you need to have a cellphone in this case,” she said, adding, however, that many older adults became comfortable with online purchasing during the pandemic as retail itself moved toward automation.
(From left to right) Bernard Pitre, Fabien Durif, Lidia Divry, and Youri Cupidon outside the ‘Achetons plus ici’ lab on the RONA Pont-Viau lot on September 8 2025. (Matthew Daldalian, NewsFirst Multimedia)
The project is being run by Laval Économique with UQAM’s business school, where Professor Fabien Durif’s observatory and GreenUXlab are studying how people use the technology. RONA is providing the store site, and Les Produits du Québec is making sure local products are highlighted. Funding comes from a 2023–2026 regional innovation agreement supported by Quebec and the City of Laval.
After Sept. 28, officials say they will weigh the findings and decide whether the automation tested in Pont-Viau belongs on Laval’s shopping streets. Residents can try the systems during the run and leave feedback. The numbers and how people feel will determine what survives beyond a RONA lot.
