RTIH Innovation Awards roundtable discussion: key talking points
Situ Live, Go Instore, 3DLOOK, Red Ant and Halla were among the companies who emerged victorious at RTIH’s 2021 retail technology awards.
The awards, sponsored by PMC, StoreSpace, Critizr, Marxent, QVALON and Selazar, celebrate global tech innovation in a fast moving omnichannel world.
We received a record number of submissions this year across 14 categories (you can find a full rundown of the 2021 shortlists here).
Our winners and highly commended companies were announced during an exclusive event that took place at the South Place Hotel in central London last week and was attended by retailers, members of our judging panel, and sponsors.
This also included a roundtable discussion, chaired by Simon Curtis, Chief Commercial Officer at 2021 RTIH Innovation Awards headline sponsor PMC.
Key talking points included the growing use of artificial intelligence and 3D technologies within the retail sector.
Walmart is set to spend $14 billion in fiscal 2022 on AI software and robots to augment human workers as e-commerce continues to grow.
Another great example is Halla, which won Startup of the Year at the 2021 RTIH Innovation Awards.
The company has developed a plug and play platform that leverages more than 100 billion shopper and product data points and funnels them into three engines: Search, which takes into account a shopper’s preferences; Recommend, which reveals relevant complementary products as someone shops; and Substitute, which identifies replacement options.
Halla is a graduate of the Food-X incubator programme in New York. The venture completed its Series A1 round in 2021, raising $4.5 million, led by Food Retail Ventures, under former Tesco, Carrefour, and Ahold CEO James McCann.
Marxent and B&Q
As for 3D technologies, Marxent was highly commended in the Technology Implementation of the Year (UK) category for its work with B&Q.
The latter has gone from offering a siloed in-store kitchen planning service to an all new omnichannel approach to creating customers’ dream homes.
It has deployed a cloud-based 3D service that enables retail staff to work in-person or virtually with shoppers looking to remodel or design a kitchen, transforming the customer experience in the process.
“This provides the best solution to bringing a customer’s dream to life, ensuring they have the functionality to suit their life stage needs and design to suit their tastes” says Marcus Muktarsingh, Group Head of Proposition, Kitchens, at Kingfisher (B&Q’s parent company).
What’s more, Kingfisher has expanded the technology’s use to other banners such as Brico Depot Romania and further launches are planned for 2022.
But it doesn’t stop at 3D room planning tools. Kingfisher is looking at a multitude of ways to extend the same technology to help customers configure smaller product purchases, such as a piece of bedroom furniture or outdoor spaces.
Kristen Groves, Head of Digital Experience at Kingfisher, says that, as well as the use of VR and AR, the company is overhauling its customer journey and core to its strategy is “building solutions that are truly omnichannel and allow customers to have full confidence in their purchase decision.”
1822 Denim/3D LOOK
Also on the 3D front, 3DLOOK picked up the Best Retailer/Tech Supplier Relationship (Rest of World) award.
1822 Denim, a New York-based womenswear online brand, had to find a way to offer customers the in-store dressing room experience through a screen and match them with products that fitted, or sky high return rates would compromise its commitment to sustainability.
It then discovered 3DLOOK's YourFit, a solution that virtualises the shopping experience and adds a dressing room to the online customer journey.
Using two snaps of a fully dressed customer, it determines the best size and fit based on the customer's unique body measurements and shape. YourFit was the solution 1822 Denim were looking for to reduce returns, boost conversions, and provide a superior customer experience.
The store of the future
The Covid-19 pandemic has powered a surge in e-commerce sales which, in turn, has caused many retailers to ramp up their digital transformation strategies as consumer expectations have evolved.
Now more than ever before, brands must deliver best-in-class shopping experiences across the customer journey, from in-store, to online, and through social platforms. These experiences must also be personalised, seamless and catered to individual shopper needs.
To quote Shopify President, Harley Finkelstein: “The best brands I have spoken to understand that digital and physical retail don’t operate as silos: it’s all just retail.”
Far from being dead in the water, physical stores remain a vital piece of the omnichannel puzzle.
As Ikea Group’s Peter Jelkeby recently commented: “Even though e-commerce is accelerating at a rapid pace, physical retail continues to be a vital part of high streets, and our stores (large and small) will always be an essential part of the Ikea experience – as places for inspiration and expertise.”
At the same time, however, the store of the future will look very different than in December 2021, and we saw signs of the direction of travel at the 2021 RTIH Innovation Awards
Take, for instance, Situ Live, who picked up the Editor’s Choice gong.
A new immersive consumer experience which reimagines the traditional commercial retail model, Situ Live opened the doors to “the UK’s first discovery playhouse” this autumn, at Westfield London.
The aim is to allow consumers to connect with brands, with an emphasis on personalisation, picking products suited to their lifestyle, complemented by advice from Situ Live’s team.
Shoppers are able to compare products, deciding whether to discover more or purchase direct from the manufacturer by scanning a QR code.
Warren Richmond, Founder and CEO, Situ Live says: “Consumers have told us they want to browse and be inspired on the high street, and then purchase online.”
“Situ Live allows exactly that, with our digital platform making it easy to compare complex product specifications and then consider a purchase at their own pace.”
Checkout free stores
Hardly a month went by in 2021 without a new checkout free store grabbing headlines. And the technology was mentioned on more than one occasion during our roundtable discussion.
In the 2021 RTIH Awards Bricks and Mortar Innovation category, Lifvs, Europe’s largest unmanned 24-hour grocery store chain, emerged victorious for deploying electronic shelf labels from Pricer’s Plaza platform, a cloud-based SaaS solution, to power in-store digital capabilities.
Whilst in the Technology Vendor of the Year (Rest of World) category, Standard AI impressed the judging panel with its computer vision-based autonomous solution that allows retailers to transform existing stores into a checkout-free experience without disruption to day-to-day operations.
In 2022, the Worcester Red Sox and Standard AI laid claim to baseball’s first autonomous retail experience at the WooSox Market in Polar Park.
Tapping AI powered cameras and the cloud, this enables fans to shop for snacks and memorabilia and pay without any scanning, waiting in line, or stopping to checkout.
Using the Standard AI Checkout app, they can add payment information and view their receipt shortly after purchase.
Covid-19
Last but not least, you won’t be surprised to hear that the coronavirus pandemic reared its ugly head on a number of occasions during the roundtable discussion.
There were some excellent examples of innovation in hugely challenging times at the 2021 RTIH awards, including Ribble, the built to order bike retailer, seeing the opportunity during the outbreak to take advantage of its limited physical presence to provide an improved journey for its online customers.
Ribble wanted to offer personalised consultations to those customers who weren’t close to its showrooms.
Seizing the chance before lockdowns in 2020, it integrated Go Instore into its long-term digital strategy, dedicating an entire team to answering video calls and giving online shoppers the same exclusive experience in-store customers receive.
In the 2021 RTIH Awards Best Coronavirus Innovation category, meanwhile, Red Ant won out.
Developed as an extension of its clienteling app during the pandemic, its shoppable virtual consultations solution was the first of its kind to launch to market.
Burger King Russia/Qvalon were highly commended in this category.
Qvalon worked with Burger King Russia to put into a mobile application all the business processes that regulate and monitor the quality of cleaning and janitorial services, and deployed special digital checklists to ensure compliance to all Covid related hygiene and safety standards and protocols.
In conclusion
Scott Thompson, Editor and Founder of RTIH, says: “Innovation and technology play a critical role in the success of the retail sector, so it was great to recognise standout examples through our awards and also discuss them during our hugely enjoyable roundtable event.”
“Competition was tougher than ever, so to emerge victorious was no mean feat.”
He adds: “Congratulations to our winners and highly commended companies. And thank you to our 2021 judging panel; their assistance in producing the winners list is hugely appreciated.”
