September 2022: top ten coolest retail technology plays
RTIH Editor, Scott Thompson, brings you his stand out ‘future of retail’ systems deployments from September, including immersive experiences on the Roblox metaverse platform, autonomous food deliveries, and digitally connected clothing technology.
Lowe’s
Lowe’s is tapping NVIDIA Omniverse Enterprise to create interactive store digital twins in Mill Creek, Wash,. and Charlotte, N.C.
“We are always looking for ways to reimagine store operations and remove friction for our customers,” says Seemantini Godbole, Executive Vice President and Chief Digital and Information Officer at Lowe’s.
“With NVIDIA Omniverse, we’re pulling data together in ways that have never been possible, giving our associates superpowers.”
Walmart
Walmart is launching two new immersive experiences on the Roblox metaverse platform: Walmart Land and Walmart’s Universe of Play.
The former will bring fashion, style, beauty and entertainment items to the Roblox community of over 52 million daily users.
The latter, meanwhile, is pitched as “the ultimate virtual toy destination in Roblox, just in time for those oh-so-real holiday wish lists”.
Developed alongside Journey, who supported development, and Publicis Groupe’s Power of One Agency, Walmart’s lead creative and media agency, the experiences offer Roblox users the chance to “engage and interact with all the top items everybody wants from Walmart - in a virtual way”.
Tesco
Currys
Currys has gone live with a more connected service across all of its channels that, the technology retailer says, will “provide personalised journeys and customer insights on a massive scale”.
Over the last 16 months, Currys has embarked on a mission to transform into a “best in class, digital first omnichannel retailer”.
This has seen it re-platform and upgrade its website, enhance its ShopLive service (a video commerce channel), as well as deliver a new Colleague Hub in all of its UK stores.
The latter enables its frontline staff to gain visibility of the customer from the moment they step into a store.
This includes the online customer history, a log of all their interactions, and any items they’ve put in their online shopping cart, all displayed in real-time.
It also acts as a one stop shop for store colleagues with fast access to knowledge articles, and tasks so they can support each customer.
Asda
Asda is expanding its trial of technology which will make it easier for blind and partially sighted customers to navigate their way through a store whilst they do their shopping.
Following an initial trial at Asda’s designated technology innovation store in Stevenage, the retailer is integrating a further 10 stores into the GoodMaps smartphone app.
Starbucks
Starbucks has officially announced Starbucks Odyssey. Launching later this year, this is the coffee chain’s first shot at building with Web3 technology.
It combines the Starbucks Rewards loyalty programme with an NFT platform, allowing its customers to both earn and purchase digital assets that unlock exclusive experiences and rewards.
The company had previously teased the initiative to investors.
Starbucks brought in Adam Brotman, the architect of its Mobile Order & Pay system and the Starbucks app, to serve as a special advisor.
Now the co-founder of Forum3, a Web3 loyalty startup, Brotman’s team worked on Starbucks Odyssey alongside the retailer’s own marketing, loyalty, and technology teams.
Shufersal and Trigo
Trigo reports that it is opening a hybrid autonomous store with Israel’s largest grocery retailer, Shufersal.
In an online post, Michael Gabay, CEO at Trigo, says: “It goes without saying that we are excited to launch a store in Tel Aviv, which is not only the home of the world renowned ‘startup nation,’ but Trigo’s HQ as well.”
He adds: “This Shufersal branch is representative of Tel Aviv, between its proximity to the beach as well as its central location; it is in the hub of the innovation capital of Israel.”
“This was no accident – Shufersal deliberately chose the heart of a city full of open minded and tech savvy people as the home for the country’s first frictionless checkout store.”
Uber and Nuro
Uber and Nuro have announced a ten-year partnership to use the latter’s autonomous, electric vehicles for food deliveries in the United States.
The tie up will kick off this autumn with deliveries in Houston, TX and Mountain View, CA. Uber and Nuro plan to expand the service to the greater Bay Area.
PrettyLittleThing
Fast fashion firm PrettyLittleThing has announced the launch of PrettyLittleThing Marketplace, an app which allows people to sell on clothes they no longer wear, or shop for something new to them.
Phase one of the platform will include functions such as PLT existing account sync, PLT and non PLT listings, wishlists, message centre, image recognition and text filtering, verified users and PayPal integration.
PLT Marketing Director, Nicki Capstick, says: “We know now more than ever that our customers are more conscious of how they shop.”
“Therefore, we wanted to be the first fashion brand to launch a resale site with the ability to integrate the customers’ previous PLT purchases into their wardrobe as well as creating new listings and selling items from other brands.”
“We’re encouraging our customers to recycle and resell unwanted garments whilst making money in return.”
The San Francisco 49ers and Avery Dennison
The San Francisco 49ers and Avery Dennison have announced an exclusive partnership that will provide new fan engagement avenues via digitally connected clothing technology.
As part of this, Avery Dennison has become the official embellishment partner of the 49ers and will introduce digital connectivity into select 49ers Fanatics merchandise in the form of smart embellishments and digital labels.
This deal also marks the first major foray into American football for Embelex, Avery Dennison’s solution for on-garment branding.
Avery Dennison’s smart embellishments and digital labelling technology can be scanned using a smartphone camera, giving access to exclusive content unavailable anywhere else online.
This merchandise will be exclusive to the 49ers Team Store presented by Visa at Levi’s Stadium.
