Web 3 journeys and frictionless shopping firsts: this week's coolest retail technology plays
RTIH Editor, Scott Thompson, brings you his top ‘future of retail’ systems launches and deployments from the past week, including JD Sports, Very, Printemps, Amazon, Forever 21, and Macy’s.
JD Sports
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.
Very
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.
Asos
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.”
Printemps
Printemps is continuing its Web3 journey with the launch of a virtual fashion brand for Christmas.
This builds on the creation of a virtual store in the metaverse and completion of its first NFT drop.
Further details here.
eBay and ACS
eBay has announced a partnership with clothing resale, sanitisation and repair specialist ACS to expand the online marketplace’s second hand offering.
It says that the tie up will help more brands and retailers to create and quickly scale resale offerings, while giving eBay UK’s 20 million plus customers more choice in second hand goods.
The first retail partner to launch on ACS’ eBay Shop is Monsoon, with other high street names set to follow.
ACS cleans, sanitises and repairs second hand items, making them resale ready, as well as arranging the logistics of item listing and delivery. The eBay platform will connect its millions of shoppers worldwide with this stock.
Community Groceries and Amazon
Community Groceries, a grocery store in Kansas City, USA, is set to re-open with a new retail technology centric customer experience on 16th December.
The company has collaborated with Amazon to equip Just Walk Out technology and Amazon One in one of its stores for the first time.
It’s also the first time Amazon has expanded both technologies to a third-party customer’s grocery store in the US.
Laura Mercier
Laura Mercier has partnered with Obsess to launch its debut virtual store, World of Beauty.
"This is an exciting time for our consumers to explore Laura Mercier through a new, digitalised lens, that offers an immersion into the brand and its history,” says Diane Kim, Global Brand President at Laura Mercier.
“The dynamic shopping experience provides consumers with the opportunity to play, discover, test and trial products, while telling the rich story of this iconic brand.”
St. Louis CITY SC
The newest club in US Major League Soccer (MLS), St. Louis CITY SC, recently opened CITYPARK, a 22,500 seat stadium in St. Louis, Missouri. This is the first MLS stadium to offer checkout-free shopping.
Those who attended the recent friendly match between St. Louis CITY2 and Bayer 04 Leverkusen, experienced CITYPARK’s three Zippin powered stores, which are checkout-free and feature local food favourites, grab and go drinks and snacks.
CITYPARK says that it saw shopping times as fast as 10 seconds.
Walmart
Walmart has launched TrendGetter, a technology that uses image recognition to make it easier for customers to find deals on on-trend products for the holidays.
In a nutshell, you take a picture of a pair of designer sunglasses or an expensive bag. And by uploading the pic at TrendGetter, you can find a similar item at Walmart.com.
Casey Schlaybaugh, Vice President of Brand Strategy & Marketing, says: “We’ve all been there. You’re scrolling through your Instagram feed and your favourite influencer is wearing the must have accessory of the season.”
“Or you’re watching the latest viral TikTok video, and you find brag worthy home décor.”
“Maybe gifting inspiration hits for the hardest person to shop for on your list during your favourite TV show.”
“The problem? You can’t find a shoppable link or any product details, or it’s way out of budget.”
He adds: “This holiday season, we know our customers are searching for what they love at can’t miss prices. Now, whenever you find a product you love, you can easily search for a similar item at Walmart’s everyday low prices and purchase as soon as inspiration strikes.”
A.F. Blakemore & Son
A.F. Blakemore & Son is set to launch a SPAR Christmas campaign giving away up to £100,000 worth of prizes.
Merry Textmas is a 25-day text to win competition that will be live in more than 300 Blakemore Retail and independent stores across SPAR’s Meridian & Welsh Guild from 8th December to 1st January.
It will feature both a spot prize promotion and grand prize promotion.
The latter consists of weekly prize draws offering customers the chance to win one of four prizes: cash towards Christmas, fuel for a year, energy for a year or shopping at SPAR for a year.
Shoppers can play daily to win one of more than 30,000 spot prizes redeemable at SPAR stores by sending a text. Every valid entry into the spot prize promotion will also give one free entry into each weekly grand prize promotion draw.
People can win additional entries into the weekly grand prize draw by scanning a QR code on a poster at a SPAR store or downloading a Merry Textmas app.
The app offers an in-store game that uses the customer camera to create an augmented reality Christmas tree, with virtual presents dotted around the store to place underneath.
Forever 21
Forever 21 has launched the F21 Metaverse Collection, the retailer’s first metaverse inspired fashion collection, to mark its first year on Roblox.
This is available in stores and online and features hoodies and T-shirts, designed with elements from the brand’s virtual offerings and includes the real-life version of the Forever Beanie, the number one selling item in Forever 21 Shop City on Roblox.
During the month of December, this will offer a limited edition virtual accessories collection, launching one item each day that will be available for less than 24 hours.
Mariah Carey
Pop star Mariah Carey will be hanging out on Roblox for the month of December through one of the platform’s Livetopia experiences.
Mariah Carey’s Winter Wonderland aims to give people “a unique way to connect with the iconic artist and enjoy her music together with friends and family”.
During December, a holiday themed treasure hunt created in conjunction with Carey’s twins, Moroccan and Monroe, virtual item drops, and decked out Livetopia homes will be available, culminating with virtual performances.
Carey will perform a mix of her old and new hits, including All I Want For Christmas Is You as the grand finale.
The first of four consecutive nights of the virtual performance starts at 7 pm EST on Wednesday, 21st December, with additional showings at 7 pm EST on the 22nd, 23rd, and 24th.
There will also be a virtual store offering the likes of exclusive merchandise, unlockable houses, cars, and Christmas hats. Certain exclusive items include special power-ups for users to use before, during, or after, within Livetopia.
Macy’s
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).
The technology gives shoppers the opportunity to get scanned and then, within seconds, matched to their best fitting bras based on their exact body shape.
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