RTIH awards: Most Innovative Global Retailer shortlist announced
RTIH INNOVATION AWARDS OVERALL SPONSOR
RTIH has unveiled the tenth and final shortlist for its 2020 Innovation Awards.
Most Innovative Retailer (Rest of World) sits alongside the Most Innovative Retail (UK) category.
Our judges are being asked to look at retailers’ 2020 tech deployments, pilots etc and decide which one has been the most consistently forward thinking and customer centric this year.
Last year, Walmart emerged triumphant. This year, the runners and riders are as follows.
Alibaba Group
Alibaba Group put a heavy focus on livestreaming for Singles’ Day 2020.
It reported that orders on its e-commerce platforms during the shopping extravaganza hit a record 498.2 billion yuan ($74.1 billion).
Alibaba Group and Swiss group Richemont said they were investing $600 million ($300 million each) in online luxury fashion platform Farfetch and $250 million each for a 25% stake in a newly formed Farfetch China joint venture.
Its Alibaba Cloud division unveiled an autonomous logistics robot for last mile deliveries.
The Chinese e-commerce giant also made a hefty investment in smart speaker technology.
Whilst its Ant Financial Services Group, owner and operator of Alipay, took a minority stake in Swedish buy now, pay later specialist Klarna.
Ant Financial also announced plans to open its Alipay platform to 40 million service providers in China over the next three years and help them digitise their offerings.
Amazon
Amazon adapted strongly to the challenges posed during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Its existing infrastructure meant it was able to cope with the spike in demand and continue to grow its business.
Moreover, the cleverly timed Prime Day allowed it to own the beginning of the peak discounting period, contributing to the creation of a 10-week ‘Mega-Peak’.
On the tech front, Amazon had another busy year, with highlights including its first customised electric delivery van.
There was also the introduction of Amazon One, which enables people to use their palm for the likes of paying at a store, presenting a loyalty card, entering stadiums, or badging into work. Customers can now use it as an entry option at two Amazon Go locations in Seattle.
Amazon is developing its Amazon Scout vehicles for use in the UK following the coronavirus powered boom in online shopping. Work is taking place at its Cambridge centre.
It opened its first ever Amazon Fresh grocery store, in Woodland Hills, California, including the Amazon Dash Cart, which enables customers to skip the checkout line, and new Alexa features to help people manage their shopping lists and better navigate the aisles.
And it also received approval from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) in the US to operate its fleet of Prime Air delivery drones.
Amazon also deployed its new Distance Assistant solution at a handful of its buildings. This is a magic mirror like tool that helps employees practice physical distancing.
Carrefour
Carrefour chose Pricer as its preferred supplier for new ESL (Electronic Shelf Label) installations and upgrading of stores that are already equipped with the venture’s tech.
AnaCap Financial Partners entered into exclusive negotiations for the purchase of a 60% stake in Market Pay from Carrefour. The aim is to commercialise the omnichannel payments platform outside the French retail giant.
Carrefour also opened up its Marketplace to independent retailers for free.
And it launched a new e-commerce platform, developed by VTEX.
Coop Sverige
Shortlisted for the launch of Scan&Pay, which enables people to scan products with their mobile phones whilst shopping. When finished they pay via phone in an app or with their debit card and leave.
Coop Sverige is also planning to launch unmanned stores. These will be open 24/7 and operate as normal during the day but at night will use Scan&Pay to remain open. The offering targets those living in isolated areas such as ski resorts.
Cooper, meanwhile, is an EBI.AI powered virtual assistant Cooper which boosts customer engagement with personalisation options, recipe ideas and product information.
There’s also the implementation of an augmented reality in-store game, pitched at kids. Paired with the latest navigation technology, an app takes kids on a recipe scavenger hunt in selected stores, making it the first mixed reality game ever played in a grocery outlet.
Finally, Coop has recently announced an automated goods terminal, set to be in use by 2024. Spanning over 276,000 square metres, equating to around 51 football pitches, it will be one of the largest in Europe.
Two train tracks on site which will enable Coop to increase the level of food delivered by train, which already stands at 35%. The site will create around 500 jobs and will be able to transport food to the whole of Sweden.
H&M
H&M announced a partnership with paperless receipts and digital rewards startup Flux.
It appointed Alan Boehme as Chief Technology Officer.
Together with Daniel Claesson, Chief Product Officer, Boehme wil be heading up the new organisation Business Tech, the aim of which is to strengthen the ability to innovate and develop the business, producing an improved and smoother shopping experience for customers.
H&M Group deployed a smart vending machine from Social Vend at its & Other Stories store in Galeries Lafayette, Paris.
It also installed an in-store system, called Looop, that turns old clothes into new ones.
Kroger
The Kroger Co. announced that its Kroger Ship platform would now include an extended ship-to-home assortment through a marketplace offering of third-party sellers powered by Mirakl.
Bitcoin rewards startup Lolli announced a partnership with Kroger. Its users can now earn up to 1.5% Bitcoin back on grocery orders for pickup or delivery.
Kroger confirmed Romulus, Michigan, as the site for its first Ocado powered mini customer fulfilment centre (CFC).
And it launched two on-premise ghost kitchens at stores in Metro Indianapolis, IN and Metro Columbus, OH.
Walmart
Walmart unveiled a new subscription service this year.
Called Walmart+, the Amazon Prime competitor costs $98 a year and includes perks like same-day delivery of groceries and general merchandise, discounts on fuel at Walmart gas stations, and early access to product deals.
Walmart announced a new store design and layout focusing on a digitally enabled shopping experience.
This will come to 200 of its 4,500 US stores over the next few months and another 800 next year. The aim is to create “seamless omnichannel experiences that save our customers time and inspire them whether in-store, online or via mobile”.
It also expanded its pickup and delivery services.
What’s next?
We will now ask our judging panel to cast their votes and provide their feedback.
The winner will be revealed in mid-December.
You can also check out the other shortlists here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here and here.
