Ten retail technology investments you need to know about
These companies are leading the way in providing innovative retail systems powered customer and employee experiences, including Amazon, Tesco, boohoo group and Nespresso.
1. boohoo group
Fashion retailer, boohoo group, has launched a Debenhams online marketplace, powered by Mirakl technology.
2. Ocado Group
Ocado Group has announced a partnership with and £10 million investment in startup Wayve as it looks to accelerate the development of autonomous grocery deliveries for complex urban environments.
This closely follows Asda’s tie up with Wayve.
The collaboration includes an autonomous delivery trial that will see Wayve’s deep learning and camera-based technology technology fitted onto a selection of Ocado vans and tested out on urban routes for 12 months.
A portion of Ocado’s existing delivery fleet will also be outfitted with Wayve’s data collection devices to provide data for training and validating Wayve’s technology.
3. Pets at Home
Go Instore has announced a partnership with Pets at Home.
The retailer will tap its HD-video technology that enables customers and their pets to connect with store colleagues via video calls.
4. Tesco
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.
5. Asda
Asda is set to implement several SaaS-based capabilities within Blue Yonder’s Luminate Planning, Luminate Commerce and Luminate Logistics solutions, as well as Luminate Control Tower.
With the UK grocery giant needing to transition from its legacy solutions as a result of moving to a UK-based ownership, it was looking for end-to-end retail solutions that would cover commercial, supply chain, logistics, and retail operations.
This includes artificial intelligence powered forecasting, end-to-end supply chain visibility, omnichannel fulfilment, and workforce management capabilities.
6. Amazon
Amazon has opened the doors to the first Amazon 4-star store outside of the US.
Situated in Bluewater, this offers a range of products that are rated four stars and above, are top sellers, or are trending on Amazon’s UK site, including consumer electronics, toys, games, books, kitchen, and home.
Customers can purchase online and collect orders at the store as soon as the next day. It also offers parcel free, label free returns for items purchased both in store and online.
Digital price tags are located alongside each product with the item price, average star rating, and the number of customer reviews.
Amazon account holders will pay the price as they would on the UK site. Prime members will receive exclusive perks and deals throughout the store.
7. Nespresso
Nespresso has debuted its new experiential boutique concept in the UK at the Bluewater, Kent shopping centre.
The aim is to meet shoppers’ changing needs by offering immersive, localised and personalised experiences.
The store opened its doors to the public last week. It includes an interactive ‘Taste & Discover’ area, where customers can explore and create their own coffee recipes using iPad tutorials and Nespresso machines.
An augmented reality experience, meanwhile, gives people the opportunity to immerse themselves in the stories, heritage and expertise behind Nespresso coffees and understand how capsules are recycled.
8. Nhood
Nhood has signed an agreement with Situm to implement indoor location technology in its shopping centres.
The first deployment, covering navigation, mapping and customised promotions for shoppers, will be at the Vialia Estación mall in Vigo, Spain, which opened its doors last month.
9. SberMarket and METRO
SberMarket, a grocery and off-the-shelf goods online delivery service, has partnered with METRO to open what is pitched as the first joint dark store (aka micro-fulfilment centre) in Moscow.
10. Desigual
Spanish fashion retailer, Desigual, says that it has increased employee engagement and streamlined operational efficiencies in partnership with Yoobic.
As part of a digital transformation project, it recognised the need to modernise and streamline communications and visual merchandising processes and compliance across its store network and, accordingly, deployed Yoobic’s mobile platform.
