Last week’s biggest retail technology plays at a glance
RTIH rounds up the stand out retail systems deals, deployments and pilots from the past seven days. Featuring JD.com, Shein, Starship Technologies, Dunelm and PetSmart.
Nexi Group has been chosen as a payment solutions provider by Danish retailer, Jysk, in five additional countries (Austria, Germany, Switzerland, France and Italy).
This is the first European wide collaborative agreement across the Nexi and Nets footprint, the two having merged in July. It will extend the partnership with Jysk to cover 14 European countries in total.
Rainbow Shops has deployed data platform provider SoundCommerce’s technology.
US retailer Jerome’s Furniture has announced the launch of WebAR on Jeromes.com, extending its augmented reality furniture shopping experience to all smartphone shoppers.
It first implemented AR in 2016 and already offers Marxent powered AR apps for both iPhone and Android.
Powered by the Marxent 3D Cloud, the new WebAR experience allows users shopping on smartphones to launch 3D AR products directly from jeromes.com. Over 1,000 Jerome’s product SKUs are WebAR enabled.
US retailer Hy-Vee has partnered with Simbe Robotics to roll-out its autonomous inventory management and retail intelligence solution, Tally, to five stores across Iowa, Nebraska and Missouri.
VoCoVo has partnered with Dunelm to help the retailer prevent in-store theft and loss.
This has been achieved through the roll-out of a new feature to colleagues’ VoCoVo headsets
US-based autonomous delivery company Starship Technologies is launching in Tallinn, Estonia.
“We’re expanding our clean, low cost and convenient delivery service in cooperation with national grocer Selver and new dark store Bloom,” the venture tweeted this week.
One iota has been appointed to work on a digital transformation initiative with the sports division of Al Mana, a Qatari conglomerate with 55 companies in eight countries.
Shoppertainment platform venture, Firework, has announced a new partnership with Albertsons Companies.
The food and drug giant is the first US grocer to utilise the Firework platform, bringing online shoppers shoppable, short-form and livestream video experiences.
Accenture has helped Vivienne Westwood design and deploy a new product lifecycle management (PLM) platform.
This is based on PTC’s FlexPLM solution, which integrates data sources relevant to the design and development of products, enabling Vivienne Westwood to understand where a product is at each stage of its lifecycle.
Zetes has supplied a new estate of handheld terminals to the Swiss Coop Group across more than 2,200 sales outlets.
This comprises 10,000 Zebra PS20 personal shoppers for customers and 13,500 Datalogic Memor20 mobile computers for store employees. The aim was to replace an ageing device pool, previously supplied by Zetes.
Footwear brand, Dubarry of Ireland, has consolidated its global online payment infrastructure to Adyen’s single platform.
It says that integrating Adyen acquiring has improved its authorisation rates by up to 15%, and its shoppers can now enjoy a seamless and localised checkout experience.
Asda has partnered with startup Wayve to test out autonomous vans as part of the grocery giant’s last mile operation.
The trial will begin in early 2022 and Asda will be the first to commercially test the solution, using Wayve’s deep learning expertise to help navigate complex delivery routes in London.
The vans will operate under the supervision of a Wayve safety driver throughout the 12-month trial.
Fast fashion e-commerce venture Shein has enlisted Saweetie, The Chainsmokers, Darren Criss, Thuy, Willie Gomez, Riley Clemmons, and Blu DeTiger for a music and fashion based virtual event.
According to a press release, Shein X Rock The Runway 2021 is “an exciting hybrid special event that is part music concert, mixed with innovative choreographed dances in a non-traditional fashion show.”
Jisp has launched an augmented reality vouchering system, Scan & Save, for brands, independent retailers and their customers.
The solution will initially be deployed in 12 Nisa stores across the UK and will allow customers to exclusively save up to 60% on more than 65 products from the likes of Mondelez, PepsiCo, Kelloggs, Molson Coors and Nomad Foods.
Aldi UK is trialling new checkout free technology in one of its London stores.
The discount retailer says that the tech will allow customers to scan a smartphone app to enter the store, pick up their shopping, and walk out without the need to pay at a till.
They will then receive an email receipt and be charged automatically using their chosen payment method.
A press release did not mention where in London the trial is taking place, or which tech firm Aldi is working with on the project.
It did reveal, however, that staff are currently involved in the test, and further testing will be carried out with the public.
Chinese e-commerce giant JD.com has launched a new JD MALL brand, an upgraded version of its E-Space omnichannel retail experience store.
This will make its debut in Xi’an on 30th September.
With an area of 42,000 square metres across five floors, the aim is to offer an immersive experience through 200,000 items from over 150 domestic and international brands.
Consumers are able to place orders through the official WeChat Mini Program by scanning QR codes on each of the items, and JD will handle the last mile delivery side of things.
US retailer PetSmart has announced a buy now, pay later partnership with Afterpay, covering both in-store and online.
Customers can make purchases and pay for them in four interest-free instalments, due every two weeks.
Afterpay is available for all PetSmart products, as well as services like grooming, training, and day camps.
