The five biggest retail technology news stories of the week
It’s Friday, the week is nearly done, so let’s kick back and reflect on another eventful week for the retail systems space. Here's your briefing on the most important stories from the past five days, including Aldi UK, Asos, Alibaba Group and Tesco.
1. Asos set to open Belfast technology hub in 2022
Online fashion retailer Asos is to invest £14 million in a new tech hub in Belfast, Northern Ireland and create 184 new jobs over the next three years.
Nick Beighton, CEO, Asos, comments: “As a rapidly growing business at the forefront of online retailing, we’re continually investing in our technology capabilities.”
“Our new hub will provide us with cutting edge tech expertise to support future growth. Belfast has a wealth of tech talent and we’re excited to be establishing a permanent base in such a vibrant city.”
The facility will be operational in early 2022, with 52 dedicated roles in the first year.
2. Tesco strikes InPost automated parcel machines deal
InPost has announced a new partnership with Tesco, which will see its automated parcel machines (APMs) deployed across the grocery giant’s entire large format store estate in the UK, potentially up to 500 sites, by the end of November.
Shoppers will be able to collect their online orders or send parcels, and also drop off returns in seconds thanks to InPost’s paperless Instant Returns service.
3. Alibaba Group Xiaomanlv robots hit e-commerce delivery milestone
Alibaba Group’s Xiaomanlv robots have delivered more than a million parcels in China within one year of their launch.
Wang Gang, Head of the Autonomous Driving Lab at Alibaba’s global research arm, DAMO Academy, says: “Xiaomanlv achieving over one million delivery orders is just the beginning. It’s laid the groundwork for the future development and application of our autonomous driving technology.”
4. Deliveroo Hop rapid delivery service goes live with Morrisons
Deliveroo Hop has launched in central London in partnership with Morrisons.
The service, available through the Deliveroo app, will offer grocery delivery in as little as 10 minutes.
Deliveroo says that it will benefit from a deep integration between its newly developed grocery management technology and the company's logistics algorithms and network of over 50,000 delivery riders across the UK.
5. Aldi UK tests out checkout free concept store in Greenwich, London
Aldi UK has announced Greenwich, London as the location for its first ever checkout free store.
This will use a system of cameras, sensors and artificial intelligence to identify the items customers take from shelves, alleviating the need to pay at a till.
It has also pledged to invest £1.3 billion over the next two years (2022-2023) in a bid to further accelerate its share of the UK grocery market.
