Top 10: last week’s most popular retail technology articles

These are the RTIH retail systems articles that caught your fancy last week, including Amazon, AMC Theatres, eBay UK, and the 2021 RTIH Innovation Awards.

Amazon Fresh store set to open in Chingford East London

Amazon is gearing up to open an Amazon Fresh checkout-free location in Chingford, London.

No news on the exact launch date. But we can reveal that this will be the e-commerce giant’s eighth such UK convenience store to feature Just Walk Out Shopping tech.

The other seven are in Camden, Ealing, Wembley Park, White City, Canary Wharf, East Sheen and Dalston, whilst a ninth one is due to launch in Holborn soon.

Amazon Just Walk Out tech ‘makes every other grocery store obsolete’

The grocery sector’s ‘Pearl Harbor Moment’ has arrived courtesy of Amazon Fresh, according to Brittain Ladd, a supply chain consultant and former Amazon executive.

In the US, the e-commerce giant has just opened a 35,000 square foot store with Just Walk Out capability.

Something, Ladd argues that most, if not all of the major grocery retailers, including Walmart, didn't think would be possible for several more years.

“What Amazon has done is made every grocery store in the US, and globally, obsolete,” Ladd said in a LinkedIn post.

Amazon UK takes on Tesco, Sainsbury's, Co-op with hundreds of grocery stores

Amazon UK is planning to open more than 260 Amazon Fresh grocery stores before the end of 2024.

2021 RTIH retail technology awards: shortlists at a glance

Shein, Walmart, Situ Live, Asda, Albertsons, Zalando, Farfetch, Tesco, and Starbucks are among the nominees at the 2021 RTIH Innovation Awards.

Now into their third year, the awards are sponsored by PMC, StoreSpace, Critizr, Marxent, QVALON and Selazar.

Sainsbury's preps Amazon Just Walk Out tech powered store

Sainsbury’s is set to open a cashierless store in London later this month, using Amazon’s Just Walk Out technology.

This will make it the first known customer outside the US for the tech that powers Amazon Go and Fresh stores.

InPost inks UK parcel delivery deal with eBay

E-commerce delivery and returns company InPost has announced a new partnership with eBay.

eBay marketplace sellers will now have access to its 2,500 parcel lockers for the first time, enabling them to drop off items for onward delivery to buyers’ homes.

Pureplay boohoo taps Microsoft tech for finance solutions modernisation project

The boohoo group has partnered with Nexer and Microsoft to replace its legacy finance solutions with the Microsoft Dynamics 365 Finance Application.

The new systems are due to go live Q1 2022. Nexer will be the consultancy partner leading the delivery of projects.

AMC Theatres launches online cryptocurrency payments

American cinema giant AMC Theatres is adopting cryptocurrencies for online payments.

CEO Adam Aron has announced on Twitter that the company now accepts Bitcoin, Ether, Bitcoin Cash and Litecoin.

These line up alongside traditional payment options like Apple Pay, Google Pay and PayPal.

Rapid delivery venture GetFaster bags €7.5m in seed round

German quick commerce startup GetFaster has raised €7.5 million in seed funding.

GetFaster, which focuses on the soft discounter part of the delivery market, plans to use the cash for coverage expansion, customer base growth, and product range development.