October 2022: top ten coolest retail technology plays
RTIH Editor, Scott Thompson, brings you his stand out ‘future of retail’ systems deployments from October, including Farfetch, Walmart, Marks and Spencer, Clarks, 7-Eleven, A.S. Watson, and Printemps.
FARFETCH AND OUTLIER VENTURES
Luxury fashion e-commerce platform, Farfetch, and Outlier Ventures, a Web3 accelerator and investor, have announced the first cohort of startups for their Dream Assembly Base Camp accelerator programme.
The eight companies were selected from over 200 applications from around the world. They are as follows: altr, Curie, iiNDYVERSE, METAV.RS, Mintouge, Reblium, SKNUPS and WEAR.
MARKS AND SPENCER
M&S has announced an expansion to its Insider programme with the arrival of five new Insiders – one of which is a virtual persona named Mira (aka Marks & Spencer, Influencer, Reality, Augmented).
This has been developed using a combination of photography, CGI and computer vision.
Mira was created in collaboration with Happy Finish.
Amazon
Amazon is continuing its excursion into physical fashion retail.
The company has opened a second Amazon Style store, with the aim of combining the personalisation of e-commerce with the immediacy of bricks and mortar shopping.
This is located at Easton Town Center in Columbus, Ohio.
Amazon debuted the concept earlier this year at The Americana at Brand, in Glendale, California.
Grubhub and Starship Technologies
Grubhub and Starship Technologies are teaming up to provide robot delivery services on college campuses across the United States.
The service is currently available at the University of Kentucky, the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV), Wayne State University, Southern Methodist University and Fairfield University, and will be rolled out at multiple other college campuses later this year.
Walmart
Walmart has announced the launch of a new platform designed around creators.
Walmart Creator is pitched as a one stop portal that makes it easy for the latter to monetise shoppable products from the retailer.
In a press release, Walmart says that those who sign up will have “access to tens of thousands of products and are given the opportunity to earn revenue all while earning commissions on sales they refer with no cap”.
Users of the platform can share product links to any social platform or group of their choice, receive product recommendations based on interests and affinities, and collect performance data to help grow their community and following.
Printemps
Printemps, a retailer focused on beauty, fashion, accessories and menswear with 20 department stores in France, is inviting people to visit its first ever immersive, virtual location in the metaverse.
It will offer anyone purchasing a product from said store the chance to enter a prize draw to win NFTs created in collaboration with the artist Romain Froquet.
30 NFTs, exclusive digital works, will be offered to customers via the Arianee platform.
Possession of one will also allow the holder to receive the original painting by Froquet, exhibited in the atrium of Printemps Haussmann during the campaign.
Snap and Disguise
Snap has partnered with Disguise to let users try Halloween costumes from the latter’s 2022 collection using Snapchat’s AR shopping tool.
Snapchatters can try-on, share with friends, and buy costumes of their favourite characters from the likes of Harry Potter, The Office, Chucky, Minecraft, Power Rangers, Transformers, Cobra Kai and Ghostbusters.
Clarks
After a retailer that is successfully tapping TikTok? Then look no further than Clarks.
In a LinkedIn post, Elle-Louise Wilmot, Rotational Graduate at TikTok and Founder at Truly Twenties, says: “Not enough people are talking about the Clarks TikTok channel. So I’m going to.”
The company can teach a lot of brands how to maximise their potential on the platform, she argues
“They’ve been jumping onto trends with reactive content. Sometimes being the first out of brands to take the opportunity,” Wilmot comments.
“AKA; getting their graphic designer editing corn into the shoes for the viral corn song AND then photoshopping Rodger Cleye into their content.”
She adds: “They are on it and they are quick.”
7-Eleven
Convenience retailer 7-Eleven is teaming up with retail and consumer investment and innovation firm, True, to find innovative ways to simplify store operations in the US and Canada.
The pair are hoping to find innovators and businesses that can free up time for 7-Eleven associates so they can focus on the customer and provide excellent service.
7-Eleven is looking for technology driven solutions, including those powered by AI and AR.
A.S. Watson
Health and beauty retailer, A.S. Watson, has taken the wraps off Skinfie Lab, a tool that creates personalised skincare product recommendations based on customers’ selfies.
This is making its debut at Watsons Hong Kong and will be rolled out to Thailand, Taiwan, the Philippines, Singapore, Malaysia, and Indonesia by early 2023.
It builds on the launch of an AI powered skincare advisor at Superdrug in the UK last year.
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