Check out RTIH’s most popular retail technology articles on LinkedIn
Here at RTIH, we’re big fans of LinkedIn and are busy building an amazing community of retail tech enthusiasts on the social media platform. These are the articles that are currently on their radars, including Currys, Made.com, Pinterest, Walmart, Raydiant, and Perch.
Currys boosts in-store and online customer experience
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.
Empathy.co flags use of cookies and trackers by top UK retailers
Empathy.co has launched the Retail Trust Index (RTI), with the aim of examining online tracking practices across the retail industry, and the impact of intrusive data practices on consumer trust.
This shows that consumers when shopping online with the UK’s leading retailers will be on average tracked by ten separate trackers, and over 50% were used to share information to third parties for advertising.
Fashion brands were shown to utilise the most online trackers whilst supermarkets used the least.
Made.com notches up a social commerce first with Pinterest campaign
Furniture and homewares retailer Made.com has launched its first Idea Ads with Paid Partnership campaign on Pinterest, making it the first brand to do so in the UK.
To support its Never Ordinary campaign, the company’s collaboration with two creators on the platform (Kerry Lockwood and Little Big Bell) aims to inspire Pinners to style unique spaces in their houses with bright and colourful touches.
Pinterest recently launched Idea Ads with Paid Partnership to enable businesses to collaborate with a creator to produce “immersive, interactive branded content that consists of images and videos to tell a story and inspire the creator’s audience to action”.
It also provides companies the ability to scale collaborative content beyond the creator’s audiences by promoting it to their target audiences and measuring performance on Pinterest’s ad platform.
PMC Retail interview: how to deliver successful engineering projects
RTIH interviews PMC Retail’s Head of Service Design and Mobilisation, Vishal Shah, to find out what ensures a successful outcome for systems engineering projects.
We asked how the PMC operating model impacts service delivery and about the significance of microservices, API and cloud design (MAC) technology for meeting the client’s specified outcomes.
Walmart makes a big move in the Roblox metaverse
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”.
Raydiant buys Perch to “unite best of physical and digital shopping”
Raydiant, a bricks and mortar experience specialist, has acquired Perch, a digital shopper marketing platform for in-store product engagement and sales.
Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
"As a current Perch customer, we couldn't be more excited about Raydiant's acquisition," says Kenny Endermuhle, Category Experience Design Manager at Nestlé Purina.
"It accelerates meaningful AI and data capabilities, and enables us to provide our retail partners next generation omnichannel shopper experiences that will help drive the category forward."
Retail Assist bags funding from MEIF Maven Debt Finance
Retail Assist, a UK-based provider of IT and software solutions to the retail and hospitality industries, has secured a funding package from MEIF Maven Debt Finance.
The value of said package has not been disclosed.
Established in 1999, Retail Assist offers a range of managed services, including service desk support, desktop support, full IT outsourcing, cyber security services, retail systems support, project management services, technical services, and operations support.
Clients include Pizza Hut, Morrisons, Ted Baker, Vue Cinemas and Harvey Nichols.
Five retail technology funding rounds you need to know about
RTIH rounds up the retail systems ventures whose funding rounds have been making headlines of late, including Not So Dark, Checkmate, Searchspring, and Grover.
Fashion shoppers put price above sustainability amid cost of living crisis
New research from Nosto suggests that 57% of consumers want fashion shopping to be more sustainable. But with living costs rising, 61% will prioritise price. 55% agree that sustainable fashion is often too expensive.
Nick Eshkenazi appointed Chief Digital Officer at Prezzee
Digital gifting company Prezzee has announced the appointment of Nick Eshkenazi as its Chief Digital Officer.
Prezzee was founded in Australia in 2014 and has since expanded into North America, New Zealand and the UK.
In his new role, Eshkenazi, who has worked at the likes of Woolworths and Costco, leads the brand’s digital, data, engineering and technology strategy, and the execution of its future product roadmap and technology vision.
