Celebrating retail technology excellence: 2021 RTIH Innovation Awards

RTIH is gearing up to launch its 2021 retail technology innovation awards.

We’ll be releasing further information over the next few months, so make sure you stay tuned.

And if you would like to submit a nomination, complete the form at the end of this article and we’ll get back to you with everything you need.

2020 winners

Asda, Amazon, Co-op, Mercaux and MishiPay were among the winners at the 2020 RTIH Innovation Awards.

Scott Thompson, Editor and Founder of Retail Technology Innovation Hub, said: “The coronavirus outbreak has shown just how resilient and fast moving the retail industry can be.”

“And this was reflected in the 2020 RTIH Innovation Awards shortlists, featuring as they did, agile, innovative tech ventures and retailers who performed strongly in challenging times.”

He added: “We were really impressed with the standard of entries, so to come out on top was no mean feat. Congratulations to all our 2020 winners and those who were highly commended.”

“And many thanks to our fantastic judging panel for their assistance and feedback this year.”

RTIH Innovation Awards: 2020 winners announced. Take a bow @asda @IBMindustries @Glovo_ES @MishiPayApp @coopuk @amazonnews @Mercaux @farmsteadapp @bitreel @OcuconTech @aopressoffice #RTIHInnovationAwards #retailtech https://t.co/kY16P8Addb
— Retail Technology Innovation Hub (@RTIH_RetailTech) December 21, 2020

2020 winners and highly commended companies as follows:

Bricks and Mortar Innovation - Sponsored by C A Design Services

Winner: Asda

Asda beat out the likes of Walmart and Target to pick up the bricks and mortar innovation gong, impressing our judges with its Stevenage innovation store.

Highly commended: JD.com

JD.com ran the UK grocery giant a close second with the opening of its first home appliance flagship store in Bengbu, a fourth-tier city in Anhui province.

Supply Chain Innovation - Sponsored by Brightpearl

Winner: IBM/Kaya&Kato

IBM and Kaya&Kato have developed a blockchain network for the fashion industry, with the support of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Development (BMZ).

Highly commended: Glovo

Glovo has launched a new business unit, Q-Commerce, which focuses on delivering the likes of groceries, toys, books, flowers and beauty products within cities in 30 minutes or less.

Payments Innovation

Winner: MishiPay

MishiPay impressed our judging panel with its well rounded queue busting solution and rapid expansion during 2020.

Highly commended: Sainsbury’s

Sainsbury’s was highly commended for accelerating the roll-out of its SmartShop solution.

Most Innovative UK Retailer - Sponsored by EBI.AI

Winner: Co-op

Co-op took home the gold for its various last mile delivery and sustainability initiatives.

Our judging panel were also impressed by the launch of an augmented reality experience to celebrate the £15 million its members have helped raise for more than 4,500 local causes across the UK.

Most Innovative Retailer (Rest of World)

Winner: Amazon

Amazon took first place for adapting strongly to the challenges posed during the Covid-19 pandemic.

On the tech front, meanwhile, the e-commerce giant had another busy year, with highlights including the introduction of Amazon One, which enables people to use their palm for the likes of paying at a store, presenting a loyalty card, entering stadiums, or badging into work.

Technology Vendor of the Year (UK)

Winner: Mercaux

Mercaux was the winner here due to its new solutions and retailer partnerships, the latter including Holland & Barrett which is using the venture’s technology to support store colleagues delivering a specialist health and wellbeing service to customers.

Technology Vendor of the Year (Rest of World)

Winner: Farmstead

Farmstead emerged victorious for its dark store model and for making its in-house grocery delivery software Grocery OS available to other retailers.

Startup of the Year

Winner: Bitreel

Bitreel builds augmented reality showrooms for retailers to share their in-store experiences online via a mobile browser.

Best Coronavirus Innovation

Winner: Ocucon

Ocucon developed Occupi by Ocucon, an intelligent occupancy management system that allows retailers to remotely monitor and manage the flow of shoppers in and out of their stores – coordinated via signage, CCTV and door entry and closing systems.

This is installed in Aldi’s 1,040 UK and Ireland stores with other major retailers now looking to invest in the technology.

Most Innovative Pureplay

Winner: AO

In 2020, AO partnered with Tesco to launch its first ever physical retail experience. It is working on five store-within-a-store concepts as part of a six-month pilot with the grocery giant.

Also this year, it expanded its logistics operation and went on a recruitment drive as sales rocketed during the coronavirus outbreak.