Smart carts and dumb festive shoppers: RTIH presents the retail technology week in numbers
Do you like numbers? Do you like retail systems news? Then this is the article for you. Including Currys, Zapp, JYSK, RELEX Solutions, Jisp, Meta, and NotCo.
5,000…Couger, an AI startup based in Tokyo, is to provide the virtual human agent Rachel to FamilyMart, with deployment slated for approximately 5,000 stores by the end of fiscal 2023.
Rachel operates on Couger's platform, LUDENS, and is capable of two way voice communication that is tailored to individual FamilyMart store manager's attributes and characteristics.
This allows them to have the optimal information they need on the spot, including those essential for store operations, advice on ordering, and suggestions for visual merchandising.
As Rachel operates on a tablet device installed in the store, it can be used in the back office as well as on the store floor.
The roll-out is the result of a joint development project with Couger’s strategic investor partner ITOCHU Corporation and FamilyMart.
30%…Research by rapid delivery firm Zapp has found that six per cent of people in the UK who celebrate Christmas have forgotten to buy a present for their partner.
Nine per cent, meanwhile, would consider breaking up with their partners if this happened to them.
A YouGov study of 2,288 Brits found that 30% of the UK who celebrate Christmas have forgotten to buy Christmas gifts in the past, with one in five confessing to buying their own present because they do not trust their partner to get organised in time.
The study also found that 28% of those surveyed admit to dashing to the nearest shop on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day, with 40% finding the variety of last minute gifts disappointing.
300…A2Z Smart Technologies Corp. has received an increased purchased order of 30% (300 smart carts) from Israeli grocery chain Yochananof.
This now brings the total order to 1,300 smart carts and total aggregate revenues to approximately $12 million.
Delivery of the initial purchase order is underway with 11 Yochananof stores now utilising the Cust2Mate solution.
5,000…Home furnishing retailer, JYSK, is partnering with RELEX Solutions to strengthen demand forecasting for its global distribution centres.
JYSK operates more than 3,200 stores in 48 countries and supplies goods from 10 DCs across Europe. The ambition is to grow to at least 5,000 stores.
It sources goods from a widespread network of suppliers, each of which operates with a great deal of variation in lead times.
As an added challenge, most of its sales are campaign driven and seasonal.
The RELEX solution, powered by AI and machine learning, will support JYSK in managing and improving the outcomes of its increasingly complex short- and long-term demand forecasts.
65%…The 2022 advertising platform of choice for UK online retailers was Meta, according to research by Juni.
This is based on a sample of 130 UK e-commerce companies using the firm’s platform.
65% of UK e-commerce ad spend went on Meta owned networks Facebook and Instagram, 22.9% on Google and 4.3% on TikTok in 2022.
However, Facebook and Instagram’s position has eroded over the year, falling from 70.5% in January to 60.9% in November.
1,000,000…Money saving and rewards specialist Jisp reports that, since launching in September 2021, its Scan & Save offering has seen over 1,000,000 scans, 797,448 money saving coupons issued, and 714,094 shopper redemptions made, achieving a conversion of 89.5% from digital coupon issued to redemption.
Retailers offering the augmented reality centric Scan & Save have from 100 shoppers a day using Jisp and achieving over £5,500 every week incrementally in RSV which is helping them drive footfall, spend, frequency and loyalty.
Meanwhile, customers have saved over £637,566.90 from leading brands.
$70 million…Chilean firm NotCo has secured $70 million in new funding as a Series D1.
This will be used for the company’s new B2B unit, enabling other CPG brands, ingredient suppliers and technology providers to leverage its AI technology Giuseppe for their own plant-based food purposes.
NotCo will continue to operate its branded business, NotCo Food, offering products like NotMilk, NotBurger and NotChicken through retail and food service businesses.
4 million…Walmart’s drone delivery service is now available for select customers in the Arizona, Texas and Florida markets.
In Phoenix, Arizona, the option will be fulfilled from four stores.
In the Dallas area of Texas, it will be fulfilled from 11 stores.
And from seven stores in Tampa and Orlando, Florida.
This follows Walmart’s announcement of plans to expand its DroneUp network to reach four million additional households across six US states.
4 and 8 million…Electrical retailer Currys says it was the fourth busiest website in the UK over Black Friday with eight million customers online.
It is also getting into the Christmas song business, with a tune courtesy of one of its employees.
In a LinkedIn post, Andy Gamble, Chief Information Officer | Chief Transformation Officer at Currys, said: “Raphael Barnett, aka 3Style from our Staples Corner store, penned and performed an incredible track featuring samples from a selection of in-store tech.”
He added: “And because it’s Christmas - for every watch/like the video gets on TikTok we're donating 1p to help combat digital poverty. So show some love… and let me know what you think in the comments.”
Altogether now, we’re real, no robots, advice on point, no roadblocks, tech experts to get setup, come shop live for no holdups.”
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