Last week’s biggest retail technology deals

RTIH rounds up the stand out retail technology deals, deployments and pilots from the past seven days.

Italian sport and casual fashion brand, Maxi Sport, has announced a two-year deal with Mercaux. 

It has deployed Mercaux's Sales Assist, Digital Styling & Omnichannel offerings in a bid to enhance the in-store experience and streamline the path to purchase. There is also the option to implement additional solutions.

PayTech big hitter Adyen is rolling out Giving, enabling its merchants to accept charitable donations during the online and in-store checkout process.

It has partnered with the likes of Gap, Delivery Hero and Crocs for the launch and says that it will absorb the full cost of donations, subject to eligibility criteria.

Stockholm-headquartered startup Bambuser has entered into a live video shopping pilot agreement, worth £35,000, with online fashion venture Farfetch. 

Paperless receipts and digital rewards startup Flux has announced a partnership with H&M.

The deal marks the FinTech venture’s first foray into clothing and apparel and sees its solution available at over 300 H&M UK stores.

Flux and H&M customers will also be able to use their digital receipts to return items, either by scanning a barcode embedded in the receipt or by citing an ID to the cashier.

Caper, the New York-based company behind the Caper Cart, an AI-powered shopping cart for grocery stores, is rolling out the Caper Counter, a plug and play countertop pitched at mini markets and retail stores with under ten thousand feet.  

The venture says that this has been deployed in several stores with a national convenience retailer, with additional locations coming soon.

Chloé is tapping into EDITED’s pricing data platform.

Supplies For Candles is deploying Brightpearl digital operations platform as it looks to grow its e-commerce websites thesoapkitchen.co.uk and suppliesforcandles.co.uk and to improve upon the speed and efficiency of delivery to the firm’s customer base across the UK and further afield.

US drugstore chain Rite Aid has partnered with Quotient to connect brands and advertisers to its digital customers.  

Office Depot Europe has extended its supply chain and e-commerce relationship with CommerceHub by inking a five-year agreement.

Selecta has clocked up its 200th MicroMarket in Europe with a launch at medical supplies manufacturer Renolit, based in the Netherlands.

The self-service solution, branded FOODIE’S in mainland Europe and Express HUB in the UK and Ireland, can be found in workplaces, enabling employees to get fresh lunches, snacks and a range of drinks 24/7.

PayPal is taking on the likes of Klarna and Laybuy with the launch of Pay in 3, which allows UK shoppers to pay for purchases between £45 and £2,000 in three interest free instalments.

Retailers including Crew Clothing, French Connection, Robert Dyas and Ryman are integrating the solution, which will be available from late October.

French spirits group Rémy Cointreau has embarked on a digital transformation initiative with Google Cloud’s range of systems, applications and products.

It is looking to optimise the supply chain process and the manufacturing of products, adapt to consumer needs and competition from premium beverage brands and create data driven personalised experiences for its customers.

German fashion company, s.Oliver Group, has implemented Centric Software's Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) solution.

FinTech venture GoodBox has partnered with Pret A Manger to enable The Pret Foundation donations via in-store contactless devices across Manchester and London.

A trial was launched two weeks ago, with the retailer reporting that it has increased total donations in participating stores by 122%. 

Data optimisation specialist Clekt is partnering with La Perla as part of its digital transformation project. 

Laybuy has become Premier League club Manchester United’s official buy now, pay later provider in the UK, New Zealand and Australia.

Asda has launched a personalised chocolate machine at its innovation store in Stevenage. 

It has also launched Fragrance Point in its health and beauty aisle. This is a self-service kiosk with over 300 fragrance lines, from Vera Wang to Hugo Boss, that customers can browse, purchase and get delivered to their home. 

Apex Hotels has begun the roll-out of Infor technology across its ten UK property portfolio, including a 100% remote implementation at its flagship London site.

The platform, which comprises Infor’s Hospitality Management Solution and Sales & Catering, delivers a cloud-based architecture that replaces a legacy system.

Woolworths Australia has launched its first supermarket featuring automated picking technology. 

The retailer last year announced a tie up with Takeoff Technologies covering an initial three sites. The first store is in Carrum Downs in south east Melbourne. The 2,400 sqm space uses technology to sort and move products from automated storage units directly to team members hand picking customer orders. 

These units can hold up to 10,000 of the most in-demand grocery products, while fresh fruit and vegetables and meat will continue to be picked from the shopfloor.  

Sainsbury’s is accelerating the roll-out of its SmartShop solution.

The technology will be deployed at all 770 of its convenience branches over the next three months, in time for Christmas. This is up from 250 Local branches currently, alongside all Sainsbury’s supermarkets.

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