Tracking the retail technology sector during the coronavirus

Retail Technology Innovation Hub rounds up the key Covid-19 developments from last week.

CoreRFID is supplying Brompton Bike Hire with RFID readers and tags to track over 2,300 bicycles for rent by the public and staff at St Bart’s Hospital and NHS London.

The project includes the Wheels for Heroes scheme which offers NHS employees free bicycle rental as an alternative to public transport during the coronavirus crisis.

Neiman Marcus has launched Your Neiman’s, a digital hub where customers can learn about and access a variety of offerings.

73% of holiday consumers do not plan to reduce spend on 2020 shopping (compared to 2019), according to research from Rakuten Advertising.

Alibaba Group is introducing the Starbucks in-store pickup feature, Starbucks Now, across some of its most popular apps.

The share of British adults feeling comfortable about heading to the shops almost doubled from May to June, according to research from EY. Its survey of over 1,000 UK consumers found that feeling positive about shopping in grocery stores has risen from 25% in May to 48% in June.

Amazon unveiled a six-wheel delivery robot, Scout, last year and has been slowly expanding its field tests.

After launching in a single neighbourhood in Snohomish County, Washington and then adding a larger site in Irvine, California last August, Scout is now undergoing trials in Atlanta, Georgia and Franklin, Tennessee, Amazon has announced.

Software AG has launched an employee social distancing solution.

Beta tests of the product have taken place in food production facilities and process manufacturing plants. The Göbecke bakery in Germany is one of the first companies to trial it.

American outdoor clothing brand Woolrich is working with distributed order management platform, Fluent Commerce, to boost its omnichannel capabilities in Europe.

Bazaarvoice, a provider of product reviews and user-generated content, has flagged up trends for the 2020 winter holiday season to help retailers plan for the final quarter as the effects of the coronavirus pandemic continue to be felt.

B2B food delivery service Brakes launched a new direct-to-consumer platform on the SAP Commerce Cloud in seven days during the coronavirus outbreak.

66% of UK shoppers say the coronavirus safety measures put in place by retailers will determine where they spend their money, according to research conducted by Vitreous World for Cennox.