Awards fever: Last week’s most clicked RTIH retail technology articles
These are the RTIH articles that caught your fancy last week, including Macy’s, Very, Pandora, JD Sports, Currys, and our 2022 Innovation Awards winners.
2022 RTIH Innovation Awards winners and highly commended entries announced
Now into their fourth year, the awards celebrate global tech innovation in a fast moving omnichannel world.
We received a record number of submissions this year across 14 categories (you can find a full rundown of the 2022 shortlists here).
Our winners and highly commended companies were announced during a sold out event that took place in central London last week and was attended by retailers, tech suppliers, members of our judging panel, and sponsors.
So, without further ado, here is the 2022 RTIH Innovation Awards hall of fame.
Congratulations to our latest entrants!
Pandora partners with Accenture and deploys SAP tech as it embarks on digital journey
Jewellery brand, Pandora, is adopting SAP S/4HANA, SAP Customer Activity Repository and SAP Business Technology Platform as it aims to deliver “an omnichannel experience for customers across 100 markets that meets expectations for seamless and personalised services both online and in-store”.
Pepperfry, Kingfisher, and Co-op: last week’s biggest retail technology plays at a glance
RTIH rounds up the stand out retail systems deals, deployments and pilots from the past seven days. Featuring Co-op, Kingfisher, Pepperfry, Secret Sales, Albert Czech Republic, and Løvenskiold Handel.
JD Sports turns London Oxford Street storefront into giant arcade machine
To promote its festive campaign, King of the Game, JD has teamed up with Snap to create an augmented reality experience transforming its Oxford Street, London storefront into a free, interactive AR claw grabber that replicates the one seen in the retailer’s commercial.
To play, shoppers can scan the Snapcode on the corner of the JD Oxford Street store window, to see the claw machine arcade game appear on the storefront in AR.
Alternatively, they can point their Snap Camera at the storefront and use the Scan function to unlock the AR experience, thanks to Snap’s Landmarker technology.
Snapchatters will be able to try their hand at the grabber machine, loaded with footwear and signature JD teddys which appear in its King of the Game Christmas film.
Pamela Puncher takes on Head of Delivery role at electrical retailer Currys
Currys has appointed Pamela Puncher as Head of Delivery.
She joins from Dyson where, over almost four years, she held such roles as Director of Programmes and Project Management, and Owner Experience Programme Manager - Global IT.
Macy’s rolls out FIT:MATCH bra fitting technology in select US stores
FIT:MATCH has announced the launch of its bra fitting experience in the following Macy’s stores this holiday season: Boca Raton (FL), Century City (CA), Dadeland (FL), Herald Square (NY), Kings Plaza (NY), Queens Center (NY), Roosevelt Field (NY), South Portland (ME), South Shore Plaza (MA) and Willowbrook (TX).
Digital retailer Very launches virtual try-on experiences for beauty customers
Very, a pureplay operated by The Very Group, has tapped augmented reality technology to allow customers to discover and choose makeup products that best match their needs.
Using ModiFace technology, those shopping on Very’s app can virtually try on 24 lip products by L'Oréal Paris, Maybelline and NYX.
The retailer plans to expand the use of augmented reality across more make-up, hair colour and nail products, as it looks to create a more immersive beauty shopping experience.
On Very’s mobile website, beauty customers can use Benefit brow try-on technology to experiment with different eyebrow styles, shades and shapes, and receive recommendations on the products required to create those looks.
Asos teams with HIVED for sustainable rapid deliveries across Greater London
HIVED, a startup that was founded in 2021, has announced a partnership with Asos to fulfil the fast fashion pureplay’s same-day delivery orders in Greater London.
In an online post, the company said: “We operate an entirely electric fleet of vans, cars and bikes and offer same-day, next-day and two-day shipping options to all of Greater London.”
“With a 99.99% on-time delivery rate and a 99% first-time success rate, we are excited to offer consumers the best possible delivery experience.”
‘Change is a constant’: Retail Technology Show is back and responding to retailers’ demands
Registrations for Retail Technology Show 2023 are now open.
The show will take place at London’s Olympia on 26th-27th April.
New for 2023, a newly expanded show floor will see the Retail Technology Show showcase even more cutting-edge tech.
It will add an additional 2,000m2 of exhibition space by expanding into Olympia’s National Hall in addition to the Grand Hall that hosted last year’s show. 300+ innovators – from tech’s biggest players, fast growth disruptors and startups - will showcase their solutions.
Evri and Zara flop as shoppers flag online delivery as kind of a big deal
Chatermill research, based on customer reviews, reveals delivery to be one of the biggest issues for retail customers, with speed and timeliness being key contributors to the negative sentiment received by some of the most popular fashion retail brands.
Chattermill analysed feedback from over 152,000 public Trustpilot reviews, registered from 1st January to 4th September, from customers buying at Asos, H&M, New Look, Next and Zara.
Based on ratings given by customers, New Look and Asos have the best customer experience, while Zara has the worst.
Delivery complaints frequently centre on the fact that despite stating on their websites a limited number of days for delivering purchases — usually around two to four days — packages tend to be delayed, with items frequently arriving out of the suggested timeframe.
An explanation for this could be linked to the courier service used by the fashion brands analysed. Based on the feedback collected from customers, Evri (formerly Hermes) is the most problematic courier brand, followed by DHL and Yodel in number of negative reviews.
As is reflected in the data, this negativity carries over to the companies that use them.
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