Top 10: last week’s most essential retail technology articles
These are the RTIH articles that caught your fancy last week, including Amazon, Uber Eats, Co-op, Boots, Deliveroo, Nike, AiFi, and SPAR.
Amazon halts Just Walk Out tech powered checkout-free stores push
Amazon has put the brakes on the expansion of its UK checkout-free convenience stores, due to sales falling short of expectations and fit out costs being multiple times higher than with a standard location.
According to a report by The Sunday Times, the US giant is understood to have walked away from talks on dozens of sites for Amazon Fresh stores, and has stopped its search for more locations.
There will still be a handful of openings this year at sites where Amazon had already committed to a lease.
Amazon’s physical stores strategy is in flux. Here’s why
The above mentioned Amazon Fresh checkout-free stores UK slowdown is part of a larger movement, observes Celia Van Wickel, Senior Director, Digital Commerce at Kantar.
Reality bites as cost of Amazon Just Walk Out technology hits home
Experiments like Just Walk Out tech powered Amazon Fresh stores will never work on a large scale for “normal” retailers.
That’s the view of Sigurður Ari Sigurjónsson, Director of Business Development at LS Retail.
Uber Eats and Co-op agree rapid online delivery tie up
Co-op and Uber Eats have teamed-up as part of the convenience retailer’s plans to expand its on-demand online home delivery service.
Through the partnership, shoppers will be able to order via the Uber Eats app from around 1,000 Co-op food stores by the end of the year, with groceries delivered in as little as 30 minutes.
With the phased roll-out underway from this week, customers can use the Uber Eats app to choose from over 6,000 products stocked in local Co-op stores.
With products picked fresh in local stores, the service is available for a full grocery shop as well as on-demand top-up and forgotten items, meal ideas and treats for evenings in at home.
Last week’s biggest retail technology plays at a glance
RTIH rounds up the stand out retail tech deals, deployments and pilots from the past seven days. Featuring Cainz Corporation, AiFi, Pinterest, Waitrose, Frasers Group, Gopuff, and JD.com.
AiFi launches first autonomous store in Japan with Cainz Corporation
Japan’s Cainz Corporation, a home improvement chain with 230 stores, has announced a new autonomous location, called Cainz Mobile Store, on the first floor of its HQ in Honjo City, Saitama.
The computer vision technology implemented into the store, powered by US-based AiFi, will allow customers to shop for Cainz brand household products and snack items without having to go through a cash register or self-checkout.
This will open in the near future and may expand to other locations in the future.
SPAR taps VisionR shopper analytics technology
Dublin based startup VisionR has announced an agreement with SPAR to leverage in-store, shopper driven insights across its retail network in 48 countries.
With a plug-in solution, VisionR’s Scout technology uses computer vision and machine learning to turn real-world shopper experiences into reliable online data that retailers can access through VisionR’s app.
Scout breaks shoppers down anonymously into footfall, shopping groups, shopper profile, shop duration, product engagement, penetration, and spend.
Using this information, retailers can then make informed decisions about marketing, sales, and operations.
Amazon Fresh makes key appointments in physical stores push
Peters joins from Woolworths Supermarkets where she served as Managing Director.
Her CV also includes a stint as Chief Operating Officer at Tesco Stores.
Bowrey, meanwhile, worked for Tesco for over 30 years across various functions and internationally.
Most recently, he was Retail Director at Boots.
Boots expands Deliveroo tie up following 14 store trial
Boots has expanded its partnership with Deliveroo to 125 stores across the UK.
Customers will now have access, via the Deliveroo app, to an expanded range of 750 products delivered to their door in minutes, following a 14 store trial.
Boots is now available via Deliveroo for the first time to customers in cities including Manchester, Glasgow, Belfast, Bristol, Sheffield, Coventry, Plymouth, Exeter, Middlesbrough, York, Aberdeen and Inverness.
More stores are also offering the service in existing regions, including London, Birmingham, Liverpool, Leeds and Edinburgh.
Nike enlists BUCK for 50th anniversary augmented reality experience
In celebration of Nike’s 50th anniversary, BUCK has partnered with the company’s Global Brand Experience team to bring its past, present, and future to life through a WebAR experience.
Powered by Zappar’s ZapWorks platform, this provides a portal into the Department of Nike Archives for visitors to Nike stores.
