December: retail technology deals and deployments at a glance
RTIH rounds up the stand out retail systems deals, deployments and pilots from December, including Walmart, Matalan, Monoprix, Amazon, 7-Eleven, Asda, and ICA Gruppen.
Matalan has announced completion of phase one of its digital transformation programme.
In collaboration with THG Ingenuity, it is due to migrate its technology platform in 2022 to support and accelerate online growth.
Discount grocery retailer, Netto, part of the Edeka Group, has opened its first ever Trigo powered frictionless checkout store in Munich, Germany.
The 250 square metre store underwent a retrofit to become a Pick&Go hybrid autonomous offering.
French retailer Monoprix has partnered with Critizr on a new VIP customer relationship programme.
As part of an overhaul of the Monoprix M' account programme, the brand has launched an Esprit Marché service, which is accessible only to top customers, and run directly by store managers through the Critizr Connection platform.
This allows customers to message and talk directly on a one-to-one basis with their local branch, giving store managers the capability to share offers, exclusives and one off promotions.
Amazon has opened Amazon Fresh locations in Euston, Wandsworth and Chingford, London, bringing the total number in the UK to 15.
These are powered by the e-commerce giant’s Just Walk Out technology, which was pioneered at Amazon Go in the States. and offer a selection of its private food brand, by Amazon.
Other stores can be found in the likes of Camden, Ealing, Wembley Park, White City, Canary Wharf and Dalston. Opening hours are from 7:00 am to 11:00 pm, seven days a week.
Customers use the Amazon app to enter and put their phone away and shop for what they need. At the end of their visit, they can head for the exit, with no need to stand in a queue or check out.
Hudson, which has more than 1,000 stores in airports, commuter hubs, landmarks and tourist destinations across North America, has become the first retailer in the travel industry to offer Amazon’s palm recognition service, Amazon One.
This is now available at Hudson Nonstop – powered by Just Walk Out technology – at Dallas Love Field Airport.
7-Eleven has teamed with Nuro to pilot a commercial delivery service using autonomous vehicles in Mountain View, California.
Customers can access this through the convenience store giant’s 7NOW delivery app.
The pilot will initially use Nuro’s self-driving Priuses before moving on to its R2 delivery vehicles.
Asda is testing out new technology which aims to make it easier for blind and partially sighted customers to navigate their way around its Stevenage store.
To coincide with the UN International Day of Persons with Disabilities, from 3rd December Asda’s flagship technology store was the first supermarket in the UK to be integrated into the GoodMaps smartphone app, specifically built for use amongst the blind and partially sighted.
ICA Gruppen has gone live with an automated warehouse in Brunna, outside Stockholm, powered by Ocado Group technology.
ICA says that it is the first retailer in Sweden to open a facility that features an automated solution for online groceries.
The warehouse has a total area of 32,000 square metres. An e-commerce operation in Jordbro will be gradually transferred to the new facility.
In November, we reported that Sainsbury’s was set to open a cashierless store in London during late November, using Amazon’s Just Walk Out technology.
This, we noted at the time, would make it the first customer outside the US for the tech that powers Amazon Go and Fresh stores.
Said SmartShop Pick & Go store opened to the public in December, after being tested out by Sainsbury’s staff members.
Chico's FAS has become the first fashion client for Walmart's white label delivery service, Walmart GoLocal.
This has launched in select US markets, including Chicago, Illinois, and Fort Myers, Florida, and will expand to other parts of the country in 2022.
E-commerce orders from the company’s three brands - Chico's, White House Black Market and Soma - can be delivered to customers in as quickly as two hours.
Retail Business Services, part of Ahold Delhaize USA, has announced a new location powered by its frictionless store technology.
The Giant Company has added the solution at its new e-commerce fulfilment centre in Philadelphia as an option for its more than 125 team members to shop food items.
