Drone delivery and checkout-free stores: RTIH’s biggest retail technology articles on LinkedIn

We’re big fans of LinkedIn and are busy building an amazing community of retail tech enthusiasts on the social media platform. These are the articles that are currently on their radars, including Walmart, DroneUp, MAPCO, Grabango, Currys, Co-op, and Just Eat.

Walmart drone delivery service hits Arizona, Texas and Florida markets with DroneUp

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.

“Drone delivery makes it possible for our customers to shop those last minute or forgotten items with ease, in a package that’s frankly really cool. Being on the forefront of that innovation at Walmart is something we’re proud of,” says Vik Gopalakrishnan, Vice President, Innovation & Automation, Walmart U.S.

“It may seem like a futuristic option, but it’s giving our customers what they’ve always wanted, and that’s time back to focus on what is most important to them.”

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 this month 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!

Filco Supermarkets teams with Henderson Technology to deploy EDGEPoS platform

Nine Filco Supermarkets branded convenience stores in the UK have had new EDGEPoS systems installed under a partnership with Henderson Technology.

This involved installation of the EDGEPoS platform at each of Filco’s stores and EDGEPoS Head Office at Llantwjit Major to allow full control of all nine stores from one central location.

The 36-lane project, including head office and central warehousing, took seven weeks to complete between October and November.

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.

Convenience retailer Co-op boosts rapid grocery delivery offering with Just Eat tie up

Just Eat has teamed up with Co-op to launch an on-demand online delivery partnership across the UK.

Initially rolling-out to 50 stores early next year, the service is expected to expand to over 1,000 Co-op stores by spring 2023.

Through the tie-up, shoppers will be able to order items from the retailer for delivery in as little as under 30 minutes via the Just Eat app and website. 

Ady Collins, Chief Operating Officer, Patchworks: E-commerce was just warming up in 2022

The pace of tech advancements and customer expectations will continue to drive e-commerce evolution in 2023. The challenge for businesses is to connect systems, data and insight across an increasingly complex and diverse tech stack.

Smart Retail Tech Expo is fast approaching. Register for your free ticket today

RTIH is pleased to once again partner with Smart Retail Tech Expo.

The exhibition/conference will be returning to London ExCel in 2023, running from 28th February to 1st March.

Register for your free ticket today for your chance to check out 200 exhibitors and 100 industry leaders speaking about topics such as meeting rising consumer expectations, the future of online shopping, driving customer satisfaction, and retail AI.

The keynote speaker lineup features the likes of the Head of Global Retail Experience at Charlotte Tilbury, Amazon Pay, Google, and Snapchat.

MAPCO hooks up with Grabango for ‘game changing’ checkout-free store launch

MAPCO has opened its first Grabango powered checkout-free store, situated in Brentwood, Tennessee.

"We're pleased to bring the time saving benefits of Grabango's checkout-free solution to another partner, especially one as committed to their shoppers' experience as MAPCO," says Will Glaser, CEO at Grabango.

"We know that Grabango will delight shoppers and deliver value to the business as this capability is shared with more MAPCO shoppers every day." 

Shoppers use the Grabango app for Apple or Android instead of checking out. They select the items they want and are billed through the app. Payment is contactless and automatic; there's no need for barcode scanning. 

TalkShopLive and JLo Beauty team with Vogue and Jennifer Lopez for video shopping experience

Live commerce platform TalkShopLive and JLo Beauty have launched their first ever shoppable video in partnership with Vogue’s Beauty Secrets video series.

This is hosted by Vogue’s December cover star Jennifer Lopez who shares her beauty regimen featuring JLo Beauty, and also exclusively debuts two new JLo Body products which are available for purchase within the TalkShopLive video player.

“No one creates more compelling content than Conde Nast and TalkShopLive is thrilled to be part of Vogue’s first ever shoppable Beauty Secrets episode with Jennifer Lopez,” says TalkShopLive Co-Founder and CEO Bryan Moore.

“We’re committed to connecting the retail landscape through engaging content via our embeddable player and point of sale which serves as the ultimate live commerce solution for brands, publishers, creators and consumers."

Startup Stories interview: Jack Green and Brandon Neman, founders of bodo

RTIH gets the lowdown on bodo, which was founded by former CloudKitchens and Deliveroo executives and offers e-commerce brands a plug-in that facilitates one hour and same-day delivery directly from their website or store.

Check out our LinkedIn page here.