Where arrogance and sophistication collide: the week's six biggest retail technology news stories
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 H-E-B, AutoStore, Sainsbury’s, Just Eat, Wakefern Food Corp., and Trigo.
1. H-E-B taps AutoStore tech for ‘world’s most sophisticated and advanced grocery store’
Supply chain consultant and former Amazon executive, Brittain Ladd, has provided a first look at an AutoStore micro fulfilment centre (MFC) installed in a H-E-B store in Plano, Texas, USA.
In a LinkedIn post, Ladd said: “I can state with no hesitation that the installed MFC is the most incredible AutoStore MFC I've ever seen.”
“H-E-B can legitimately claim to operate the most sophisticated and advanced grocery store in the world. Carrefour, Tesco, Majid Al Futtaim, Hy-Vee., and Amazon, need to pay close attention to what HEB is doing; especially Hy-Vee and Amazon.”
2. Retail technology gone wrong? Jelle Prins slams 'arrogant, simplistic' Aldi Utrecht till-free store
Last year, Aldi Nord opened a Trigo powered Aldi Shop & Go store in the Dutch city of Utrecht.
This is a 3,982 square feet 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.
The store featured in one of our weekly coolest retail technology plays round ups.
And Jan Oostvogels, CEO at Aldi Holding in the Netherlands, said in a press release: "We are very proud to be able to test this innovation project in Utrecht together with our customers.”
“It fits our strategy as a discounter to make shopping as easy as possible for our customers. After all, our experience shows that our customers appreciate quick and easy processes at the checkouts. Our test shop in Utrecht fits this perfectly."
But not everybody is a fan.
Jelle Prins, who has designed apps for the likes of Uber and Booking.com, popped along to see what all the fuss was about and ended up venting spleen on Twitter.
3. Wakefern Food Corp. becomes first to try Trigo autonomous shopping technology in USA
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.
“Our associates can shop The Pantry at work for groceries they need at home while simultaneously providing helpful feedback for us on the technology,” says Charles McWeeney, VP of Technology, Innovation and Strategy at Wakefern.
“The chance to evolve in the self-service space at retail is important and we hope to learn more about frictionless checkout and how we can potentially provide this cutting-edge and convenient technology to Wakefern member owned businesses.”
4. Żabka Group showcases AiFi and Microsoft powered Żabka Nano autonomous store at NRF 2023
Żabka Group this week joined Microsoft at NRF 2023 in New York.
Żabka Nano, an autonomous store concept that has been developed under the umbrella of Żabka Future for over a year and a half, was featured at the Microsoft booth.
“Participation in this prestigious event is not only an opportunity for us to establish new partnerships but also an opportunity to present Żabka as one of the world’s most innovative companies in the retail industry.,” says Tomasz Blicharski, EVP, Managing Director of Żabka Future.
“Warsaw, thanks to our concept, has become the world capital of autonomous stores, so I am glad that we have the opportunity to present this project to a global audience.”
“We want to show how our new technologies, created in cooperation with our partners, make life easier and free up our customers' time.”
5. Diving in: Danielle Vermeer departs Amazon for fashion technology startup Teleport
Danielle Vermeer has left her “dream job” leading resale fashion CX at Amazon for life at a fashion tech startup.
She is now Co-founder and CEO at Teleport, a social commerce app to share and shop outfit videos in a Gen Z driven community (think TikTok and Depop combined).
In a Twitter post, she said: “I believe the future of fashion is where content, community and (re)commerce collide.”
“Younger consumers want a “third space” online to express their authentic style and to shop cute clothes from trusted peers. I’m obsessed with making this vision a reality.”
6. Just Eat teams with Big Four supermarket Sainsbury's for grocery deliveries in the UK
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.
Just Eat Takeaway.com also works with Getir, Asda, Ahold, Carrefour, Booker, Spar, Shell, 7-Eleven, Marqt, PLUS, Pascual Group, Galp, Kibus, Taste of America, Delicatessen Argentina and The Beer Store.
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