RTIH runs through this week's coolest retail technology plays
RTIH Editor, Scott Thompson, brings you his top ‘future of retail’ systems launches and deployments from the past week, including checkout-free stores, same-day delivery services, and adventures in the metaverse.
Walmart
Walmart is launching two new immersive experiences on the Roblox metaverse platform: Walmart Land and Walmart’s Universe of Play.
The former will bring fashion, style, beauty and entertainment items to the Roblox community of over 52 million daily users.
The latter, meanwhile, is pitched as “the ultimate virtual toy destination in Roblox, just in time for those oh-so-real holiday wish lists”.
Developed alongside Journey, who supported development, and Publicis Groupe’s Power of One Agency, Walmart’s lead creative and media agency, the experiences offer Roblox users the chance to “engage and interact with all the top items everybody wants from Walmart - in a virtual way”.
Pizza Hut
Star Concessions and Amazon
Star Concessions has announced the opening of Grab & Fly, a checkout-free shopping experience at Dallas Fort Worth International Airport (DFW).
Powered by Amazon’s Just Walk Out technology, this lets people grab what they need and leave the store, without having to wait in checkout lines.
Cold drinks, snacks, travel accessories, electronics and souvenirs are among the products offered.
To enter Grab & Fly, travellers insert their credit card at the entry gate. Once inside, anything they take off the shelf is automatically added to their virtual cart, and anything they put back on the shelf comes out of said cart.
After they have left the store, their credit card will be charged for the items they took. Associates are available in store to assist customers, answer questions, and re-stock shelves as needed.
Stannah
Stannah, a specialist in lift products for public spaces, the workplace and the home, has launched a video powered retail service, Stannah Live.
This will allow its customers to view live product demonstrations from the comfort of their own homes.
Stannah has partnered with Emplifi Live Commerce on this initiative.
Users will be connected to a Stannah expert who will guide the customer through the process whether they have chosen to simply browse its range of products in live video call with the ability to ask questions in the chat feature or chosen to have a ‘face to face’ conversation.
Tesco
Woodie’s and buymie
Woodie’s, a DIY, home and garden retailer, is partnering with same-day delivery platform buymie.
From 10th October, customers in South East Dublin can use buymie’s personal shopping services to order 20,000 DIY and home improvement products from their nearest Woodie’s store and receive items to their doorstep in as little as two hours.
This builds on a UK trial of Asda Express powered by buymie in Leeds and Bristol where the latter has integrated into the retailer's offering of delivery options.
hi and Mastercard
Puma and Secret Sales
Secret Sales, a marketplace for fashion, sportswear and beauty brands, has announced a partnership with Puma.
As a result, the sportswear retailer will be able to distribute excess inventory and made for outlet products on Secret Sales’ marketplace.
According to Puma, this means it can “focus on full price inventory on its own sites and other channels whilst having full control of its brand, offer and pricing on Secret Sales”.
The firm plans to double its active listings on the marketplace to over 1,500 products before the end of September.
Currys
Currys has gone live with a more connected service across all of its channels that, the technology retailer says, will “provide personalised journeys and customer insights on a massive scale”.
Over the last 16 months, Currys has embarked on a mission to transform into a “best in class, digital first omnichannel retailer”.
This has seen it re-platform and upgrade its website, enhance its ShopLive service (a video commerce channel), as well as deliver a new Colleague Hub in all of its UK stores.
The latter enables its frontline staff to gain visibility of the customer from the moment they step into a store. This includes the online customer history, a log of all their interactions, and any items they’ve put in their online shopping cart, all displayed in real-time.
It also acts as a one stop shop for store colleagues with fast access to knowledge articles, and tasks so they can support each customer.
Spoon Guru and Google Cloud
AI nutrition technology company Spoon Guru has formed a partnership with Google Cloud, the aim of which is to create innovative grocery retail solutions, starting with a product search and recommendations engine.
