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, Walmart, Not So Dark, and the 2022 RTIH Innovation Awards.
1. Amazon preps Prime Early Access Sale shopping event
Amazon has announced Prime Early Access Sale, a new two-day global shopping event exclusive to Prime members.
This begins on 11th October at 12 a.m. PDT and runs through to 12th October in 15 countries: Austria, Canada, China, France, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Turkey, the UK, and the US.
2. Walmart makes a big move in the Roblox metaverse
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”.
3. Asda taps Dassault Systèmes tech for supply chain initiative
Asda has selected Dassault Systèmes’ planning and optimisation solutions for its in-house transport operations.
The grocery giant will deploy Perfect Logistics, which leverages DELMIA Quintiq applications to optimise the flow of goods between its suppliers, distribution centres and stores.
The aim here is also to support driving efficiency and sustainability and strengthening its ability to offer high quality and convenient services to more than 18 million customers per week.
4. 2022 RTIH Innovation Awards: don't delay, enter today!
Time is running out to enter the 2022 RTIH Innovation Awards.
The awards, sponsored by PMC, 3D Cloud by Marxent, CADS, FreedomPay, and Critzr, celebrate global tech innovation in a fast moving omnichannel world.
Deadline for submissions is 4th November, with winners being announced at an exclusive event in central London during December.
It’s free to enter and you can do so across multiple categories.
5. Not So Dark bags $80 million in Series B funding round
French FoodTech startup Not So Dark has raised $80 million in Series B funding, led by Kharis Capital and Verlinvest, in partnership with Conviviality Ventures.
The round brings the firm’s total funding to date to $105 million.
Not So Dark launched in 2020 with delivery only menus sold on Uber Eats and Deliveroo. It has since been deployed across France with tech centric operations running out of its own dark kitchens.
Founders Clément Benoit (former Founder and CEO of Stuart) and Alexandre Haggai now aim to pivot the business around traditional restaurants instead of dedicated dark kitchens.
6. Currys boosts in-store and online customer experience
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.
