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 Instacart, Grocery Outlet, Cruise, Walmart, and Amazon Just Walk Out technology.
Instacart has expanded its US partnership with value retailer Grocery Outlet to offer same-day delivery (in as fast as an hour) from nearly 400 stores in California, Oregon, Washington and Pennsylvania.
This builds on Instacart bringing Grocery Outlet onto its app last year, making online shopping and delivery available to the latter’s customers for the first time.
The initial pilot ran for six months across nearly 70 Grocery Outlet stores in California.
Australian retailer Coles Liquor is implementing the RELEX Solutions Living Retail platform across its 931 stores.
The solution will service Coles Liquor’s Liquorland, First Choice Liquor Market and Vintage Cellars stores as well as five distribution centres throughout Australia, with the aim of driving improved availability for customers through supply chain planning and AI driven replenishment.
US retailer Premier Pet Supply has partnered with logistics technology startup OneRail.
The latter’s solution enables it to increase delivery capabilities; namely, providing its customers with same-day home delivery.
Cruise, the self-driving car unit of General Motors, has expanded its autonomous delivery pilot with Walmart in Arizona. The company will now be doing limited deliveries for customers in Chandler, in addition to Scottsdale.
For the first time, Amazon’s Just Walk Out technology is live in a Major League Baseball stadium.
Two food and beverage stores, powered by the checkout-free technology, have opened in Minute Maid Park, home of the Houston Astros, ahead of their first home game of the season.
Both offer a selection of snacks, soda, candy, and alcoholic beverages. One also offers pre-packaged salads, wine bottles, and souvenirs.
Starship Technologies has launched its robot delivery service for groceries in Finland.
The firm has partnered with grocery store chain Alepa, owned by HOK-Elanto Group.
At first, deliveries will start from six Alepa stores in the city of Espoo during April. Starship aims to sign more partnerships with Finnish retailers going forward. It is also expanding its R&D centre in Helsinki.
Online beauty retailer Fragrance Direct has revamped its website and unveiled a brand refresh.
It has migrated its website from a third-party platform onto a proprietary solution owned and developed by the Maximo Group.
The opportunity arose after the latter acquired the Fragrance Direct business in March 2021.
The American Airlines Center in Dallas, home of the NBA’s Mavericks and NHL’s Stars, has opened two new autonomous food and beverage experiences.
In collaboration with hospitality partner Levy and its innovation studio, DBK Studio, it has launched a Market To-Go shop on the arena’s Terrace Level, with a second location on the Main Concourse of the arena to open later this month.
Powered by autonomous retail tech from Standard AI and mobile payment tech from SpotOn, these are pitched as being “among the first food and beverage destinations at a North American sports venue that fully integrate AI and mobile payments for an autonomous experience”.
Nextech AR has inked a deal with Bothwell Cheese which uses its tech to place a QR code triggered and floor anchored hologram on the latter’s cheese labels.
The experience can be found on five Bothwell Cheese products distributed at retailers and independent stores across Canada such as Whole Foods Market, Save-On-Foods, Sobeys, Federated Co-op, Longos, and Loblaws.
