Autonomous stores and 3D innovations: RTIH presents November’s coolest retail technology plays
RTIH Editor, Scott Thompson, brings you his stand out ‘future of retail’ systems deployments from November, including festive themed virtual stores, robotic exoskeleton suits, and the biggest Shopify ecosystem news you haven’t heard.
Lacoste
Emperia has announced the launch of Lacoste’s first ever virtual store ahead of the holiday season.
Upon entering the experience, customers are taken through a crocodile’s mouth, where they find themselves in a showroom featuring five seasonal products, all shoppable viewed in 360°.
As users continue their journey into the second room, Emperia has developed a gamification feature that enables them to interact with more products in the Christmas range.
A third and final token gated room is nestled at the end of the store, exclusive to VIP customers in UNDW3 (Lacoste’s Web3 community) that are in possession of a Lacoste NFT.
Throughout December, ‘loot’ boxes will be dropped within this room for UNDW3 customers to collect, and five users will be selected at random daily, to win a prize.
Created in partnership, using Arianee’s token gated technology to bring this room to life, customers will be encouraged to keep coming back for new surprises.
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."
Coach
Coach went live this month with a 3D technology powered extension of its Courage to Be Real campaign on the world famous Piccadilly Lights in Piccadilly Circus, London.
Piccadilly Lights, the largest advertising display in Europe, ran this for 24 hours a day, from 7th - 13th November, with an hourly 3D full screen takeover featuring Coach brand ambassador, Lil Nas X.
This saw the rapper move through doors that represent the struggles he has faced in life, from fear, self-doubt, to judgment from others. The sequence concluded with Lil Nas X looking over Piccadilly Circus whilst performing.
Giant Tiger
Canadian discount store chain, Giant Tiger, has launched a new website and an end to end tech stack replacement.
In a LinkedIn post, Simon Rodrigue, SVP & Chief Digital Officer at Giant Tiger, said: “Excited to be working with Shopify on the Shopify Plus platform building out an experience to help Canadians save with a smile.”
He added: “Thanks to all of the teams at Giant Tiger, our lead development partners at Diff and our technology partners at Algolia, Contentful, Segment, ShipHero, Akeneo, Sitation, 6 River Systems, Alumworks, Noibu, Yotpo, Klaviyo, Gorgias, Plobal Apps - it takes a powerful team, dedicated to a cause to make it happen.”
In a Twitter post, Aaron Rubin, Founder and CEO at ShipHero, described the project as “the biggest Shopify ecosystem news you haven’t heard”.
Avon
Perfect Corp. has extended its partnership with beauty brand Avon, to roll-out a virtual try-on online shopping experience in nine initial markets.
This is initially launching in the UK, South Africa, The Philippines, Italy, Poland, Russia, Romania, Czech Republic, and Turkey.
Through Perfect Corp.’s AI and AR technology, Avon’s customers are able to instantly try on products via their mobile camera or webcam on desktop.
In the UK, the experience will be available for over 400 products, across Avon’s collection of lip, eye, and face makeup.
Kinsman
3D Cloud by Marxent has announced a partnership with Kinsman, an Australian manufacturer and retailer of kitchens and wardrobes.
Kinsman's self-service room planner, powered by 3D Cloud by Marxent. is accessible from its website with users able to complete designs by working with its design experts.
Kinsman used its long-term sponsorship of The Block, a renovation reality show in Australia, to soft launch the new tool in the context of real remodelling situations.
DoorDash and Wing
DoorDash and Wing are working together to make drone delivery available via the former’s app in Australia, providing access to food and essentials from local restaurants and retailers in 15 minutes or less.
The service will be tested via a pilot programme in Logan, located within the South East Queensland region.
This is the first time that Wing is integrating its drone delivery service within another marketplace.
Charlotte Tilbury
Obsess has launched Branded Avatars, technology enabling brands to customise the look and feel and character style of shopper avatars to create branded metaverse experiences on their e-commerce sites.
This then lets shoppers personalise all aspects of their branded avatar, including skin tone, facial features, body shape, clothing and makeup.
Charlotte Tilbury is the first brand to partner with Obsess to offer the new functionality, introducing it as part of its Charlotte’s Beauty Realm holiday wonderland.
Muffato
Sensei reports that Muffato has adopted its AI platform for what is pitched as Brazil's first autonomous supermarket.
The Muffato Go store, which opened this month and is situated in Curitiba, Paraná, comes without queues, self-scanning or any form of physical checkout, and is the first deployment of Portugal-based Sensei's technology outside of Europe.
Shoppers download Muffato’s app, which generates a QR code that enables them to enter the store, pick up their items and leave.
A network of sensors provides the input Sensei's AI needs to keep track of the items each customer selects and returns throughout the 250 square metre location.
