The six biggest retail technology news stories of the week
It’s Friday, the weekend is almost upon us, so let’s kick back and reflect on another eventful week for the retail systems space. Here's your briefing on the most important stories from the past five days, including Amazon, Rivian, Aldi Nord, Trigo, Boots UK, Carrefour, and Procter & Gamble.
1. Aldi Nord tests out Trigo powered autonomous store in Utrecht
Aldi Nord has opened an Aldi Shop & Go store in the Dutch city of Utrecht.
This is a 370㎡ (3,982 square feet) AI powered location where shoppers can walk in, select their items, and walk out without having to queue at the checkout lane or scan any items.
In its largest store format to date, Trigo applies its algorithms to shelf sensors and ceiling mounted cameras which analyse anonymised shoppers' movements and product choices.
Payments and receipts are settled digitally.
2. Carrefour and Procter & Gamble team up in the metaverse
Carrefour has partnered with Procter & Gamble for what is pitched as “the first joint retail/FMCG brand experience in the metaverse”.
This involves the latter’s Mr. Clean brand.
In a LinkedIn post, Elodie Perthuisot, Chief E Commerce, Digital Transformation and Data Officer & EXCOM member at Carrefour, said: “Thanks to their Lab, we are both offering Carrefour customers a marketing activation of a new style, between gamification, immersion, Web3, all with a Mr. Clean as you have never seen it before.”
She added: “This is a test to renew the classic advertisements and activations, create a link between the metaverse and e-commerce, and especially receive feedback from our customers to evolve this experience.”
3. Britvic enlists Zappar for The Robinsons Big Fruit Hunt experience
Britvic has launched The Robinsons Big Fruit Hunt, an augmented reality activation designed to get parents and kids outdoors and hunting for virtual fruit hidden across Great Britain.
This is a geo-location-based digital treasure hunt that works through a smartphone browser (no need to download an app) and offers thousands of prizes to the best virtual fruit hunters.
4. Nike blurs physical and digital lines with Nike Style store
Nike has opened its latest store concept, Nike Style, in Seoul, South Korea.
The company describes it as a “remixed expression of sports retail culture that blurs the line between physical and digital.”
Nike Style stores feature “gender agnostic lifestyle product zones” for certain clothing, including fleece, tops, footwear and accessories.
A second location will open in Shanghai during the autumn. The concept will then expand into other countries.
5. Boots INNOVATE launches in partnership with TCS and focuses on emerging tech
Boots UK has launched a new INNOVATE workspace in partnership with TCS at its site in Nottingham.
The aim is to encourage and nurture a startup culture. INNOVATE has been designed to be an agile incubator combining creative space with top talent and evolving technology.
6. Amazon custom electric delivery vehicles from Rivian start US roll-out
Starting this week, customers across the US will begin to see custom electric delivery vehicles from Rivian delivering their Amazon packages, with the EVs hitting the road in the likes of Baltimore, Chicago, Dallas, Kansas City, Nashville, Phoenix, San Diego, Seattle, and St. Louis.
The aim is to have thousands of these vehicles in more than 100 cities by the end of this year, and 100,000 across the US by 2030.
This is the product of Amazon’s partnership with Rivian, which the companies announced in 2019 when the former co-founded, and became the first signatory of The Climate Pledge.
