That was the retail technology year that was. 2022 was good for AiFi, Jisp, and RELEX Solutions

As 2022 draws to a close, RTIH brings you its key retail tech related takeaways from a hugely eventful year.

This time around, we focus on three firms who have excelled over the past 12 months (AiFi, RELEX Solutions, and Jisp) in the areas of autonomous stores, automation in the supply chain, and augmented reality powered money saving and rewards apps.

AiFi

Autonomous shopping solutions firm, AiFi, was named as the winner in the Payments Innovation category at the 2022 RTIH Innovation Awards.

The winning project was a Compass Group United Kingdom & Ireland (UK&I) store implementing AiFi's autonomous computer vision technology.

As the first completely frictionless store in the United Kingdom and across the entire food services sector in Europe, it allows shoppers to purchase items without having to wait in line or stop to scan or pay.

"Our partnership with Compass Group to provide a frictionless shopping experience has changed the game for food services in the UK," says Steve Carlin, CEO at AiFi.

"We're honoured to be recognised by an industry leader in retail technology for our AI powered solution."

AiFi has launched more than 100 stores around the world. It has deployed over half of its stores with Poland's largest convenience store chain, Żabka, and works with other partners such as Compass Group, Aldi, Carrefour, Choice Market, Sodexo, and Live Nation.

2022 was also a good for…

Jisp

Jisp also emerged victorious at the 2022 RTIH Innovation Awards, picking up the RTIH Editor’s Choice gong.

The money saving and rewards app works across in-store, in-app and socially to connect shoppers to brands at local convenience stores in the UK. 

It recently reported that, since launching in September 2021, its Scan & Save offering had 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.

Retailers reward shoppers through Jisp, FOC, and this drives stronger engagement and sales to stores.

Once a shopper redeems 25 products, they receive a £2.50 voucher to spend only in a store - regardless of the value of redeemed products.

When they reach 25, it resets and they can get another £2.50 to spend again and again. This is pitched as a Clubcard for independent convenience with a twist. It's store specific. 

RELEX Solutions

In February, RELEX Solutions announced a €500 million funding round led by funds managed by Blackstone Growth (BXG), Blackstone’s growth equity investing business. 

This put its valuation at €5 billion.

Key contract wins included JYSK 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.

Also, Kwik Trip is partnering with RELEX Solutions to implement automated planograms, floor planning, and supply chain optimisation solutions.

RELEX will service the retailer’s stores throughout the Midwest United States.

Previously, Kwik Trip handled planograms and inventory forecasting and replenishment through legacy systems and spreadsheets. It needed a highly accurate, automated system to manage its more than 3,500 SKUs across 20 planning categories, at each of its 850 convenience store locations. 

It says that it selected RELEX for its automated, AI driven solutions, which will reduce manual efforts in both stores and head office locations.