Top 10: last week’s most essential retail technology articles
These are the RTIH articles that caught your fancy last week, including Gopuff, Amazon Fresh, STOCKED, Zapp, Roku, and Walmart.
Gopuff named as instant delivery partner for London’s The O2 arena
Quick commerce big hitter Gopuff has announced a tie up with The O2 arena in London.
It has been named as the O2’s Principal Partner and Official Grocery, Food and Beverage Delivery Partner.
Through the multi-year deal, brokered by AEG Global Partnerships, Gopuff will deliver food and other essential items within the venue, as well as offering unique VIP experiences, access to tickets, and so on.
Fans visiting the venue can now bypass concession lines through Click and Collect services in the O2 app powered by Gopuff.
A competition for customers across the UK will kick off the partnership, with the opportunity to win seats in the latter’s VIP suite.
Gopuff will also provide its service to the artists who perform at The O2 whilst they’re onsite.
Rapid grocery delivery space evolves as JOKR exits USA
Last week, on-demand food delivery company JOKR said it was shuttering its New York and Boston businesses and leaving the US market altogether, with the focus now being on Latin America.
The announcement did not surprise Brittain Ladd, a former Amazon exec and supply chain consultant.
Amazon Fresh store opens in Sevenoaks, Kent, powered by Just Walk Out tech
The UK’s first Amazon Fresh checkout-free store situated outside of London opened last week in Sevenoaks, Kent.
Located in the former Baby Gap outlet in Bligh's Meadow, this will be open 7am-11pm, Monday-Sunday.
Like its London counterparts, it is powered by Amazon’s Just Walk Out technology.
To shop, customers scan the QR code from their Amazon app, buy what they need, and walk out.
Amazon Fresh stores offer the likes of the e-commerce giant’s private food brand ‘by Amazon’.
They also feature an Amazon Hub counter where customers can pick up or return items purchased on Amazon.co,uk.
Money management apps flourish as consumers face cost of living crisis
An analysis of the performance of money management apps over the past two years by App Radar has revealed that the sector has gained over five million new Android users in the period 1st January to 7th June 2022.
That is a 46% increase when compared to the same period in 2021, which saw the sector reach just over four million app downloads.
The surge in users shows that consumers are looking for new ways to make their money go further during the cost of living crisis.
Reckitt rolls out Stravito enterprise insights platform
Stravito has been selected as the knowledge management solution for Reckitt, a UK-based consumer goods manufacturer producing leading health, hygiene and nutrition brands.
Market research startup Bolt Insight receives funding from 212
London-based Bolt Insight, which helps brands quickly collect market research in 120+ countries, has received £1.275 million investment from VC company 212.
This is its second seed round. The startup previously raised €300,000.
The cash will be used to develop new products for customers, employ new staff in its research and commercial teams, as well as furthering plans for expansion to additional markets.
Bolt Insight, which launched in January 2020, has landed such clients as Vodafone, Capco, Brand Finance, Sodexo, Premier Foods, L’Oreal, Samsung, Diageo and Zeiss.
Checkout-free shopping booms as physical retail undergoes unprecedented change
Checkout-free stores are now live in 20 countries across the world, according to research from RBR.
The number of stores across the world using checkout-free technology increased threefold during 2021 to over 250.
In most cases this is installed within the physical infrastructure of the store, tracking customers as they move around. Other retailers have deployed smart carts for larger basket sizes, which have the technology fitted to the carts themselves.
Amazon has the largest number of checkout-free stores globally, mostly in the USA and the UK, with plans for expansion in these markets and others. These locations use its Just Walk Out solution, although other retailers are also using the firm's technology, including travel convenience store chain Hudson.
Ten retail technology funding rounds you need to know about
RTIH rounds up the retail tech ventures who have been making waves with major investments, including Postscript, Knit, Rohlik, LogRocket, Sales Layer, and Dastgyr.
STOCKED picks rapid delivery venture Zapp as first ever retail partner
Convenience meal solution STOCKED has launched into its first ever retail collaboration with British on-demand delivery firm Zapp.
STOCKED creates meals which are frozen into blocks, slotting straight into the freezer.
Founded by school friends and hometown neighbours, Sam Moss and ex-street food Chef Charlie Gilpin in April last year, the venture has since gone on to win three Great Taste Awards and achieve 99% five star reviews on Trustpilot.
The duo have launched three of their most popular dishes with Zapp, which can be delivered straight to customers' doors within minutes, 24/7.
Roku and Walmart bring commerce to TV ads
Roku has announced a TV shopping partnership with Walmart.
The two companies are working "to make TV streaming the next e-commerce shopping destination" and have inked a deal that will make Walmart the exclusive retailer allowing streaming viewers to purchase products fulfilled by the company and directly on Roku's platform.
