Six retail technology lessons from last week — Retail Technology Innovation Hub

RTIH takes a not always serious look back at another eventful week for the retail technology space.

1. Tower Records is back in the groove, baby

Fun fact. During his teenage years, our Editor applied for a job at the retailer’s store in Piccadilly Circus, London. They turned him down. Sob.

It’s true! #TowerRecords is online and open 23/7 with over 500,000 titles on vinyl, CD, and cassette + exclusive merch 🟡 Plus, the latest in music on #Pulse! 🎶 https://t.co/mngp0IVfRm
— Tower Records (@TowerRecordsUSA) November 14, 2020

2. Shop local this Black Friday

This #BlackFriday we are urging people in #Plymouth to #ShopLocal via our newly created website https://t.co/itnI4QI3F9 More than 400 businesses listed. https://t.co/s29GDeSR3J
— Steve Hughes (@PressSteveH) November 22, 2020

3. And if you do buy from Amazon, don’t forget AmazonSmile

If you shop Amazon Black Friday Week deals from 20th - 30th November, you can do more than discover great deals! 🥳

Shop at https://t.co/LF7inEQkC2 or with #AmazonSmile turned ON in the Amazon app, and AmazonSmile will donate to retailTRUST at no extra cost to you! #retail pic.twitter.com/jxNp6pSw6M
— retailTRUST (@retailTRUST) November 20, 2020

4. Bad news for fans of Ikea

After Sweden bans gatherings of more than eight people, IKEA admits it’ll be temporarily impossible to put together a Billy bookcase.
— Have I Got News For You (@haveigotnews) November 19, 2020

5. Supermarkets are not causing Covid-19 to spread

It’s just a shame Boris Johnson’s government didn’t reach the same conclusion about pubs, bars and restaurants, all of which are currently closed under a second England lockdown.

So that same approach applies to bars and restaurants and hospitality - right? And we know that the ‘identifying possible outbreaks’ led PHE to conclude 2% directly attributable to hospitality https://t.co/y5H58lXbOW
— Kate Nicholls (@UKHospKate) November 19, 2020

6. Covid-19 has exposed a silver lining for retailers

In an article for RTIH, Raymond Ma, General Manager, Alibaba Cloud Europe, says: “Physical retail spaces can become experience centres, that supplement the online store, offering special product displays and demonstrations, digital signage, VR/AR capabilities, play zones, relaxed seating and so on.”

“Retailers need to be innovative, to not just drive sales but to drive interest and loyalty; but, above all, the store has to be relevant. There also needs to be consistency of products and service, regardless of channel.”