Bitcoin and the metaverse: RTIH brings you this week's coolest retail technology plays

RTIH Editor, Scott Thompson, brings you his top ‘future of retail’ systems launches and deployments from the past week, including burgers and Bitcoin, the digitalisation of discount retail, and electric pizza delivery fleets.

Collect&Go

Collect&Go, Colruyt Group’s online shopping service, is trialling an autonomous vehicle built by Clevon that combines remote teleoperation with autopilot functionality.

The Clevon 1 will cover a four kilometre route, from distribution centre to Collect&Go's pick-up point in Londerzeel. This is the longest route ever covered in Belgium by an unmanned vehicle.

Burger King

Lolli users can now earn Bitcoin rewards at every Burger King in America.

In a LinkedIn post, Lolli CEO and Co-Founder Alex Adelman said: “This is what Bitcoin adoption looks like.”

Currys

UK tech retailer, Currys, says it has invested over £250,000 in a fleet of robotic exoskeleton suits to help colleagues from logistics partner, GXO, work safely and efficiently through the festive period.

The suits, which are being used at Currys’ facility in Newark, will help people carry out their physical day to day tasks, with the aim of putting less pressure on their joints and muscles while lifting heavy loads.

The Newark site will help deliver 8.7 million units of stock to all 309 of its stores this Black Friday period.

The robotic suits are worn like a small backpack and give colleagues at least 10 tonnes of relief over the course of a typical working shift — with up to 30kg of assistance to the lower back per lift.

Made with ultralight carbon fibre, the waterproof exoskeleton incorporates the AI-based Smart Safety Companion ergonomics early warning system to alert of signs of poor posture and incorrect lifting practices in real-time.

Aldi Nord

Aldi Nord has announced a partnership with autonomous stores firm Trigo.

This builds on a tie up in Utrecht with Aldi Nederland where the pair are working on a checkout-free test store, Aldi Shop & Go.

"To successfully lead discount retail into the future, technology and business must go hand in hand," says Sinanudin Omerhodzic, Chief Technology Officer at Aldi Nord.

"Our close partnership with Trigo unites exactly that and brings together two true experts in their field. The cooperation in Utrecht has shown that we share the right values and that together we can develop quick solutions with an eye for essentials, always focusing on customer benefits."

Uber Eats and Zapp

Uber Eats and Zapp have announced a quick commerce partnership.

Customers across central London using Uber Eats will now be able to order from Zapp’s catalogue of around 2,000 products. 

Each order will be picked and packed from the nearest ‘Zappstore’ for delivery within as little as 20 minutes, 24/7.

Zapp says that this makes it one of the only convenience retailers available on Uber Eats night and day.

Ocado Zoom

Nashville Predators, Delaware North, and Amazon

The NHL’s Nashville Predators and food and beverage partner at Bridgestone Arena, Delaware North, are opening two stores powered by Amazon’s Just Walk Out technology and Amazon One.

The first store will open this Friday when the Predators face the Colorado Avalanche, and the second will make its debut in early 2023.

This is the first time Amazon’s physical retail technologies are being deployed in a sports and entertainment venue in Tennessee.

People can insert their credit card or hover their palm at the entry gates to shop.

Once they’re inside, anything they take off the shelf is automatically added to their virtual cart, and anything they put back on the shelf comes out of their virtual cart.

When they have completed their shopping experience, they will be able to leave the store and the credit card they inserted or linked to their Amazon One ID will be charged for the items they took.

Offerings include an assortment of packaged beer, spiked seltzers, soda, bottled water, chips, candies and sundries.

Macy’s

The Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade returns to the Web3 world this holiday season with a new experience that will enable people to select the first ever NFT Parade balloon.

In celebration of its 96th march, the Macy’s Parade can be experienced in the metaverse and will include virtual galleries from five NFT projects and the opportunity for fans to vote for their favourite creators, helping one of their designs come life in high flying form in next year’s event.

Tesco

Tesco has announced the opening of a fourth Trigo powered store in London.

The hybrid autonomous store is located in the Fulham Reach real estate development.

While still in the capital, it has shoppers with different needs than the on the go shopper which is typical of

Tesco’s other Trigo powered locations in Central London High Holborn and Chiswell.

The grocery giant says that it is catering to a new subset of customers who use the location for their weekly shopping trips, with larger basket sizes. 

Bloomingdale’s

For the holidays, Bloomingdale’s will introduce what is pitched as a first of its kind multi-brand virtual shopping experience, developed by Emperia.

This features spaces for CHANEL, Ralph Lauren, and Nespresso, in addition to holiday exclusives that include a luxury beauty/spa room, party room, and gifting experience.

Users can transition between brands through an elevator located in the store.

Domino’s Pizza

Domino’s Pizza reports that more than 100 custom branded 2023 Chevy Bolt electric vehicles are arriving at select franchise and corporate stores throughout the US this month, with an additional 700 rolling out in the coming months, making it the largest electric pizza delivery fleet in the country.

L’Oréal

L’Oréal has deployed grab and go technology from payfree in a pop-up store in Düsseldorf, Germany.

It is also using RFID tags from Avery Dennison.

Customers pass their shopping bag with beauty products through a u shaped scanning unit at the exit.

The payfree Bag Fast Track solution automatically identifies the items in the shopping bag because a RFID tag is attached to eachj one. Customers then pay via contactless using a card or digital wallet.

Victoria’s Secret

Victoria’s Secret & Co. is rolling out new technology to help customers find the right size when shopping on the brand’s app for Victoria’s Secret and Victoria’s Secret Pink bras.

In partnership with NetVirta, the creator of Verifyt, customers will be able to leverage 3D scan technology to receive personalised bra size recommendations.