The retail technology space during the Covid pandemic
Retail Technology Innovation Hub rounds up the key retail systems related Covid-19 developments from last week, including the 2021 RTIH Innovation Awards, the booming rapid delivery space and an underwhelming Black Friday 2021 for UK online retailers.
Burger King, Qvalon, Red Ant and Scantranx are among the nominees in the Best Coronavirus Innovation category at the 2021 RTIH Innovation Awards.
The pandemic has had a major impact on the way that we shop and the way that retailers operate.
This award, sponsored by Critizr, will go to the company who has best turned to technology to solve the challenges presented by the Covid-19 era, improving in-store and/or online experiences for both staff and customers.
2021 shortlist as follows:
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.
When Covid-19 forced consumers to stay home for much of 2020, they logged online in droves to order their groceries. But, while online grocery shopping enjoyed 300% growth, consumers complained about the disappointing and frustrating experience of online grocery shopping. Enter Halla.
Developed as an extension of its clienteling app during the pandemic, Red Ant’s shoppable virtual consultations solution was the first of its kind to launch to market.
Since the pandemic began, Scantranx has helped lots of SMB to quickly adopt online sales to weather the effect of the Covid-19 pandemic.
The cloud native Sitoo platform, with its retail PoS, makes omnichannel a given and turns unified commerce into reality.
ÏDKIDS Group and its children’s fashion brand Okaïdi saw the shifting retail environment caused by Covid-19 as an opportunity to accelerate digital transformation plans.
What’s next?
We will now ask our judging panel to cast their votes and provide their feedback. The winner will be revealed on 8th December at a roundtable discussion/networking event in central London.
Shoppers at the Edeka Center LÜNING Rietberg in Germany are now able to use Nomitri’s smartphone-based checkout system.
To do so, they attach their phone to a holder on their shopping cart. Items are then scanned via the smartphone’s camera. Nomitri’s computer vision powered app also detects incorrect scans.
At the end, customers present a barcode at a designated checkout and pay and leave.
The rapid delivery space, which has exploded during the Covid-19 pandemic and lockdowns, is exposing retailers to risk around sales of age restricted goods, according to research from Serve Legal.
In the last 12 months, more than 2,600 of its young mystery shoppers have made test purchases using online or app-based rapid delivery services.
Just 45% were asked to show proof of age when their order was delivered, despite it containing alcohol, cigarettes and other age restricted products. Standard home delivery services fared better with 72% of mystery shoppers asked for age identification on delivery.
Consumer goods company Thrasio has completed its largest ever “Turkey 5,” the peak sales period running from Thanksgiving to Cyber Monday.
In total, revenue during that period grew 133% over 2020, accounting for both existing brands and new acquisitions. Much of the growth was organic, with Thrasio brands outperforming 2020’s results.
With no Covid-19 lockdown yet enacted this autumn, UK online retail sales for Black Friday were down -14.3% year-on-year, according to the IMRG Capgemini Online Retail Index.
Last year’s YoY results (+30%) made for a tough comparison, as the nation was told to stay at home and consumers had no choice but to shop online.
UK retailers could see a sharp decline in impulse purchases amidst supply chain issues, according to a survey of 2,000 Brits released by SaaS company Quantum Metric.
When asked how continuing shortages will impact them, consumers said they expect to keep a closer eye on spending due to expected price hikes (37%).
Yango Deli UK, the rapid grocery delivery arm of Russian tech giant Yandex, is offering Christmas trees along with its usual mix of groceries and household staples.
The 5ft Norway spruce trees will be delivered within 15 minutes.
They are supplied by Pines and Needles, which was founded by brothers Josh and Sam Lyle in Scotland and made headlines when they provided a tree for Prince Harry and Meghan Markle in 2016.
