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 Walmart Canada, Kroger, The Hut Group, EE, and Hobbycraft.
The Kroger Co. and NVIDIA have announced a strategic collaboration involving artificial intelligence powered applications and services.
The pair will build an AI lab and demonstration centre.
The aim is to expand Kroger’s freshness initiatives, improve shipping logistics and create a better shopping experience in stores through digital twin simulations — virtual models designed to accurately reflect store layouts and other operations.
Robotic technology from GreyOrange will be used at Walmart Canada’s new $118 million sortable fulfilment centre in Rocky View County, Alberta, located just outside of Calgary.
The facility will be capable of: shipping 20 million items annually from the facility to Walmart customers; storing 500,000 items to fulfil direct to home and in-store pickup orders; and designed to optimise packaging, minimise waste and reduce transportation costs.
It is slated to open in September and is part of Walmart Canada’s $3.5 billion investment to make the online and in-store shopping experience simpler, faster and more convenient for its customers.
EE is inviting football fans to experience its 5G Superstore at Wembley Stadium, pitched as a world first 5G powered augmented reality shopping experience guided by an avatar of England and Liverpool FC player Trent Alexander-Arnold.
Opening for the England international friendlies against Switzerland and Ivory Coast on Saturday, 26th March and Tuesday, 29th March respectively, fans were able to browse and purchase official England match day merchandise via AR tech.
ASX listed alternative credit provider humm has announced a multi-market partnership with online retailer The Hut Group.
This will enable end consumers to pay in 5 or 12 instalments, offering up to £3,000 interest free over a maximum of 12 months.
The agreement will be rolled out across the UK, Ireland, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.
Accolade Wines' Australian brand Banrock Station has unveiled an augmented reality (AR) experience whereby users scan a label on a wine bottle with their camera and take a trip around the world to check out some of the company’s 130+ environmental projects.
Chilean company DBS is offering its customers a digital beauty experience powered by Perfect Corp.'s artificial intelligence and augmented reality solutions.
They will now gain access to a virtual skin assessment, and tailored skincare product regimen recommendation, generated based on various skin concerns.
Shoppers will also be able to leverage Perfect Corp.’s virtual try-on experience for a range of makeup products before committing to a purchase.
Peruvian home improvement chain, Promart Homecenter, has become the first company in Latin America to offer one one one, on-demand live streaming sales consultations from eyezon.
Starship Technologies has expanded its robot delivery service to the University of Idaho.
Students and employees on the Moscow campus can get food from several Idaho Eats locations, including Qdoba, True Burger, Einstein Bros. Bagels and Cravings by Joe, via Starship’s fleet of 15 autonomous food delivery robots.
UK-based arts and crafts superstore retailer Hobbycraft has launched a new commerce platform to refresh its digital customer experience and replace an ageing technology stack.
Delivered by Astound Commerce - in partnership with Salesforce Commerce Cloud, Bloomreach, MuleSoft, Biglight, Ten10 Group and The NAV | 365 People - the project is, according to Matt Louth, IT Director at Hobbycraft, “a triumph for a tightly integrated, highly collaborative team of passionate experts who shared a clear view of the delivery objective from the outset and throughout.”
