Starting 2023 with a bang: here are January’s most clicked RTIH retail technology articles
These are the RTIH retail systems articles that caught your fancy during January, including Amazon UK, Aldi, Trigo, H-E-B, AutoStore, Rohlik Group, AiFi, and Yoti.
In defence of Amazon and its physical stores strategy as Kroger and Walmart make big moves
RTIH recently published a 2022 recap article in which we discussed Amazon putting the brakes on the expansion of its UK checkout-free convenience stores.
The e-commerce giant, we argued, faces a make or break year in terms of its Amazon Fresh locations.
In doing so, we joined a growing chorus of critics of Amazon’s excursions in to the physical retail space.
Check out the case for the defence here.
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.
Amazon Fresh UK pulls plug on Just Walk Out technology powered Dalston, London store
Amazon Fresh UK has closed its Dalston, London location, less than 18 months after opening it in a blaze of autonomous retail glory.
Its first UK checkout-free store arrived in March 2021, in Ealing, west London.
It then quickly opened another 18, predominantly in the capital, and said lots more (100 or so) were in the pipeline.
Yet in August of last year, we reported that Amazon had slammed on the brakes, 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 was understood to have walked away from talks on dozens of sites, and stopped its search for more locations.
In a LinkedIn post, Martin Heubel, an Amazon strategy consultant, said: “Not a major surprise amid the current economic climate. It’s expensive to get into retail and even more expensive to remain.”
“With inflation at all time highs, customers are prioritising to save money. Even the most advanced self-checkout technology won’t revert this trend in the short-term. It seems, Amazon has come to realise this, too.”
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.”
Vineta Bajaj departs Ocado Group to take on Chief Financial Officer role at Rohlik Group
European e-commerce grocery delivery service, Rohlik Group, has appointed Vineta Bajaj as Chief Financial Officer.
Bajaj most recently served as Finance Director at Ocado Group.
She trained as a chartered accountant and tax advisor at KPMG Ireland, where she delivered audits for large corporate clients before moving to Kerry Group, an Irish multinational.
She has worked at Ocado Group for the last ten years, during which time it transitioned from a pureplay retailer to a business licensing grocery technology and grocery fulfilment globally.
NASCAR and Phoenix Raceway keep the faith with autonomous stores specialist AiFi
AiFi has been selected by Phoenix Raceway to use its autonomous retail technology after a test launch with both AiFi and Amazon Go systems at the 2022 NASCAR Cup Series Championship in November.
The former’s store will now be back for the next NASCAR race in the spring.
This is its second race car presence after revealing a frictionless express shop at the Miami Grand Prix in May in partnership with Verizon 5G.
Yoti digital age verification technology trialled at UK grocery retailers' stores
The UK Home Office reports that trials of digital age verification at supermarket self-checkouts have now ended.
Yoti, whose technology was tested out by the likes of Morrisons, Tesco, Co-op, and Asda, has shared its initial key takeaways from the initiative.
During the trials, shoppers in participating stores could try two new ways to prove their age.
Facial age estimation technology: those purchasing alcohol looked at a camera on the self-checkout and technology estimated their age.
It didn’t require any personal details or ID documents, and all images were instantly deleted once someone received their estimated age. If the system detected they looked younger than the set age threshold, customers were asked to use an alternative method.
Digital ID app: shoppers could use the free Yoti or Post Office EasyID app to scan a QR code on the checkout screen and share a verified age attribute.
Those who did not wish to use digital age verification had the option to ask a staff member to come and approve them and if required show their ID to a colleague instead.
Chipotle teams with Snapchat and focuses on healthy habits for new augmented reality experience
Chipotle Mexican Grill is kicking off 2023 with a new lineup of Lifestyle Bowls as it looks to cater to contemporary wellness habits.
The brand is also launching a wellness inspired AR Lens on Snapchat to encourage people to maintain healthy habits, plus it will reward those who participate with free guac.
“We created seven new Lifestyle Bowls that embrace Gen Z and Millennials’ modern interpretation of wellbeing,” says Chris Brandt, Chief Marketing Officer, Chipotle.
“We’re making new year’s resolutions fun by gamifying the experience and offering balanced meals made with real ingredients that you feel good eating.”
The AR Lens will launch on Friday, 13th January, also known as Quitter’s Day, the day we’re apparently most likely to forfeit new year’s resolutions.
One hundred thousand people in the US who complete the Snapchat challenges will earn a promo code for a free small side or topping of guac.
Chipotle says that the activation marks the first time a restaurant brand will promote physical activity and wellness through an AR Lens on Snapchat.
RTIH presents ten innovative retail technology startups to watch out for in 2023
Specialising in the likes of video shopping apps and product visualisation and augmented reality solutions, these startups should be on your radars over the next 12 months.
SES-imagotag to buy In the Memory as it builds out data management and analytics capabilities
The SES-imagotag group has entered exclusive discussions with the aim of acquiring In the Memory, a French firm which specialises in data analytics and decision making tools for the retail sector.
This builds on the purchase of MarketHub (Ireland) at the beginning of last year.
These new platforms complement Captana, specialised in real-time analysis of store shelves via the analysis of images and the use of artificial intelligence, as well as several other solutions within SES-imagotag’s VUSION platform.
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