More stores, please, we’re Marks & Spencer: RTIH presents the retail technology week in numbers
Do you like numbers? Do you like retail systems news? Then this is the article for you. Including Wakefern Food Corp., Trigo, ThriveCart, Zippin, Just Eat, Sainsbury’s, and Doddle.
1…Wakefern Food Corp. has opened The Pantry, a checkout-free convenience store for the workers at its Edison, New Jersey campus that features Trigo technology.
This uses computer vision with a series of cameras and shelf sensors to identify products picked up by people.
Wakefern is the first US company to test Trigo's technology, which has been deployed by several retailers in Europe and the UK, including REWE and Tesco.
$35 million…ThriveCart, a specialist in shopping cart, sales funnels and educational course creation technology used by small and medium businesses, has secured a $35 million investment from LTV SaaS Growth Fund.
The venture had not previously raised any other outside funding.
It has also named e-commerce industry veteran Kevin McKeand as CEO.
Josh Bartlett, ThriveCart founder, will continue to drive product innovation.
E-commerce businesses that sell digital products rely on the firm to create content, cart pages, funnels and affiliate campaigns.
$4,000…Zippin has launched Zippin Walk-Up which allows food and beverage counters to turn into checkout-free locations without changing the equipment already in place.
The company says that minimal construction is required, and existing stands can be converted in just days.
An all inclusive monthly subscription starts at under $4,000 with no upfront CapEx.
73% of consumers think more parcels are going missing since the cost-of-living crisis, with the UK potentially seeing a porch poacher phenomenon, according to new research from Sorted.
Its survey, involving 1,000 UK consumers, found that 63% have experienced a delayed order in the past six months, while over two fifths experienced a delay of more than two weeks.
In addition, 55% have had their orders lost or damaged. Of those who experienced issues, 73% had to chase the retailer on the whereabouts of their parcel, rather than receiving proactive tracking updates from the retail brand itself.
€120 million…Beontag, a manufacturer of self-adhesives and smart tags, has closed a debt raise of €120 million.
This was secured via Tags Lux Sarl., a wholly owned subsidiary, and through a syndicate of banks led by Deutsche Bank, in support of its international growth.
$4.8 million…Sneaker and clothing marketplace The Edit LDN has announced a $4.8 million seed funding as it scales into the US and MENA region following its launch two years ago.
The round was led by Regah Ventures (early investors to Uber, Coinbase and Instacart) with participation from sports celebrities including New York Giants Captain Xavier McKinney, NBA superstar PJ Tucker and Premier League football player Jesse Lingard.
120,000…Supermarket shoppers prefer self-service checkouts over their staffed counterparts, although there’s still a lot of love for human interaction when buying groceries.
That’s according to a Twitter poll posted by UK-based financial journalist, broadcaster, founder of the MoneySavingExpert website, and national treasure (IOHO), Martin Lewis.
In his poll, Lewis says: “You've 12 items in your supermarket shopping basket. There are two equal length queues - one to a bank of five self service checkouts - one to a bank of five staffed checkouts. All else being equal, which queue would you USUALLY choose to join?”
At the time of writing, almost 120,000 votes had been cast with 18.5% of females preferring the staffed option and 27.9% opting for self-service.
19.8% of males, meanwhile, went for staffed and 33.8% for self-service.
This being a Twitter poll, we get nothing on respondents’ age groups, where they live etc, but it’s nonetheless an interesting snapshot of shoppers’ views on the supermarket checkout process.
Let us know your thoughts and checkout preferences in the comments section at the end of this article.
$11 million…Logistics specialist Locad has announced an $11 million Series A funding round to expand its platform that allows consumer brands in Asia-Pacific to automatically store, pack, ship and track their orders in a distributed, end-to-end supply chain as-a-service.
The round was led by Reefknot Investments, a fund anchored by Temasek and Kuehne & Nagel.
2…Just Eat has launched a new partnership with Sainsbury’s, marking the food delivery platform’s second tie-up with one of the UK’s ‘Big Four’ grocery retailers (Asda being the first to get onboard).
The partnership will launch with more than 175 stores by the end of February in locations including London, Edinburgh and Bristol, with plans to roll-out to more cities across 2023.
Customers across the UK will be able to purchase items from Sainsbury’s via Just Eat, from fresh milk and vegetables to household essentials. The latter will then take care of the delivery, through its network of couriers across the UK.
With over 2,000 grocery sites on its platform, Just Eat says that the tie up is a significant step in its plan to further expand its grocery offer.
The partnership will widen the range of products available, starting with more than 3,000 items ready for consumers to buy online.
61.5% of online shoppers had delivery issues across the month of December as strikes and capacity challenges plagued the UK’s parcel firms, according to new research commissioned by Doddle.
2,000+ people were surveyed for this.
The most common problem was deliveries arriving late, which affected 41% of UK online shoppers in December.
Also, more than 10% of shoppers had one or more of their parcels lost by the delivery provider, 13% missed a delivery and 9% had something delivered to the wrong address or left in an unexpected location.
$555 billion…New research commissioned by checkout-free technology firm, Zippin, reveals that the real cost of waiting in line at the store goes far beyond time wasted, with 92% of retailers admitting that wait times at busy periods have had a negative impact on their companies’ revenues.
Based on its findings, Zippin calculates that retailers are facing a $555 billion headwind as a result of shoppers leaving checkout lines.
90% of consumers believe technology will significantly improve the overall shopping experience, according to research released by Shekel Scales at NRF 2023.
While nearly 60% of the 573 respondents cited technology that speeds and simplifies the self-checkout process, more than 30% expressed a desire for offerings that help them get in and out of the store as fast and as easily as possible.
Conducted over SurveyMonkey, the Shekel survey measures consumer perceptions and attitudes on autonomous and frictionless shopping technology, such as self-checkout, smart carts, and vending machines.
Nearly 80% respondents were between the ages of 18-60 years old with 45% male and 55% female respondents.
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