Looking back: RTIH pulls together the retail technology news you might have missed last week
Failed to keep up with the breaking retail technology news last week? Then have no fear as RTIH has you covered. Here are the major stories that you need to know about. Includes Amazon Fresh, B&M, Lidl, Boots, Smyths, Waterstones, Shopify, Faire, Walmart, and Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield.
Duffle adds Dufry as strategic partner to digitise airport experience alongside Gebr. Heinemann
Duffle, a startup that provides travellers with a digital platform to access duty free shops, brand boutiques and food & beverage (F&B) outlets in airports, has gained Dufry as a new strategic partner.
The latter invested in its recent financing round and joins Gebr. Heinemann who backed Duffle via its investment vehicle GHARAGE Ventures.
Whatever the traveller needs, be it a perfume or a croissant, will be delivered by Duffle “runners” to their gate or airport lounge within minutes.
Following trials at Copenhagen airport, the service will soon go live at Berlin airport with delivery and later on collect options for multi-merchant shopping.
The aim is to expand to airport services and, if successful, to additional airports. In addition, Duffle aims to digitise not only the sales experience, but also services and marketing.
Just Walk Out technology powered Amazon Fresh London stores get entry, exit and self-checkout updates
Amazon has in recent weeks been busy tinkering with its Amazon Fresh checkout free convenience stores in Kensington, White City, and Southwark, London.
The ultimate aim here is alleviating some of the friction associated with the e-commerce giant’s Just Walk Out technology.
In a LinkedIn post, Thomas Monaghan, EU Head of Construction & Design at Amazon, said: “Busy couple of weeks in the team with lots of launches. Adam Quig (Senior Project Manager at Amazon Fresh Stores) and
Steve Kirk (Senior Construction Manager - Amazon - Worldwide Grocery Real Estate) launched entry exit updates in Kensington and White City last week, with Southwark relaunching this week.”
He added: “Harriet Fitzgerald-Allsopp (Construction Coordinator at Amazon) helped to launch our first self-scans in Monument with some new signage to aide customers by Julia Wyatt (Senior Store Designer, Architect, Retail Designer) and Matthew Lyons (Senior Design Concept & Innovation Manager).”
“Thanks to everyone in the supply chain who helped deliver these challenging, quick turn around projects.”
Time is running out to enter the 2023 RTIH Innovation Awards: deadline for submissions Friday, 27th October
There are just over four weeks left to submit your entries for the 2023 RTIH Innovation Awards, which takes place on Wednesday, 29th November at the Barbican Arts Centre in central London.
The event, sponsored by PMC, CADS, 3D Cloud by Marxent, and Goodays, celebrates global tech innovation in a fast moving omnichannel world.
Spread over 19 different categories, submissions are judged on the extent of innovation and transformation demonstrated, as well as the sustainability of the results. Previous year’s winners have included B&Q, Pets at Home, Walmart, Sook, AiFi, Compass Group, Obsess, and Ribble Cycles.
Deadline for 2023 submissions is Friday, 27th October.
The awards culminate in a fantastic ceremony, complete with a drinks reception and Christmas themed three-course meal at the Barbican Arts Centre on Wednesday 29th November.
A key event highlight is an exclusive pre-awards roundtable discussion, enabling retailers, tech suppliers and advisors to come together and talk about current retail challenges and opportunities.
Key dates
Friday, 27th October: Award entry deadline
Tuesday, 31st October: 2023 shortlist revealed
6th-10th November: Judging days
Wednesday, 29th November: The 2023 RTIH Innovation Awards ceremony
Categories, along with entry forms, can be found here.
Fresh food retail technology firm Invafresh announces appointment of Will Hansmann as Chief Technology Officer
Invafresh, a US-based company which operates in the fresh food retail industry, has announced the addition of Will Hansmann to its executive team as Chief Technology Officer.
He joins from project44, a specialist in supply chain visibility.
As Chief Technology Officer at project44, he led engineering in partnership with product management and go to market teams to build the company’s supply chain visibility platform. During his five-year tenure, he scaled the engineering organisation across the US, Europe, China, and India.
Prior to that, Hansmann held CTO and other senior technology leadership roles at Citadel, Uptake Technologies, Channel IQ and Aurora Investment Management.
Zappar and Envision tie up helps blind and partially sighted people more easily access product packaging information
Zappar has announced the integration of accessible QR codes (AQR) into the Envision app.
Currently on Unilever Persil packs across the UK, this technology helps blind and partially sighted communities more easily access product information from packaging both in a store and at home.
Zappar’s solution, Zapvision, incorporates a unique D3 ‘dot-dot-dash’ pattern (patent pending) around a traditional QR code.
This pattern increases the scanning distance of a standard QR printed at 15mm on pack by 7x to announce the product category, and 4x for detailed information related to the product.
B&M, Lidl, Boots, Smyths and Waterstones top 2023 Retail Trust Index as Card Factory and WH Smith flop
The Ethical Commerce Alliance (ECA) has released the second edition of its Retail Trust Index (RTI), examining retailers' online data practices.
80% of consumers are now aware that online retailers track and use their online browsing history, an increase of 20% since 2022. The research also shows that 74% are actively changing their online shopping habits to avoid online tracking, with 24% turning to competitor brands.
Re-affirming concerns, 38% of consumers stated that retail brands aren’t doing enough to protect their online data and privacy.
In addition, 61% say online retail brands don’t effectively communicate their tracking practices and use of cookies - an industry wide misstep when clear data privacy policies are the most important factor in building online trust for almost half of consumers (48%).
The second year of the RTI saw the ECA collaborate with its founding partner Empathy.co to expand its analysis and research by developing a definitive trust score from 0-100, ranking the top 50 retailers in the UK based on their data practices.
Last year’s RTI looked at online tracking practices but this year the analysis went further to look at four key components: Privacy (50%), Security (20%), Shopper perception (20%) and Accessibility (10%). Each component was weighted depending on the impact it had on consumers' data.
The five highest ranked retailers in the UK based on RTI trust scores:
B&M - 84.76
Lidl - 83.58
Boots - 83.42
Smyths - 81.81
Waterstones - 81.54
UK households set to have £3 billion less to spend this Christmas season as cost-of-living hits hard
UK households are set to be £3 billion worse off this Christmas compared with last (Q4 2023 vs. Q4 2022), according to new research from e-commerce delivery specialists ShipEngine and ShipStation.
This is due to high levels of inflation continuing to erode spending power for many households as the cost-of-living climate drags on. The research was commissioned by their operating company, Auctane, in partnership with retail consultancy, Retail Economics.
New partnership establishes Faire as e-commerce giant Shopify’s recommended wholesale marketplace
Faire, a B2B retail marketplace, has announced a global partnership with Shopify.
This establishes Faire as the recommended wholesale marketplace for Shopify.
As part of the deal, Shopify will become a Faire shareholder.
“We have long admired Shopify’s like-minded approach to building tools that empower retail entrepreneurs to run their businesses as efficiently as possible,” says Max Rhodes, Co-founder and CEO at Faire.
“By decreasing barriers to B2B selling and building deeper connections between our customer communities, we can unlock opportunities for small business growth on a much larger scale.”
Immersive destination: Walmart Discovered community inspired virtual experience goes live on Roblox
Walmart has announced its latest venture on Roblox, Walmart Discovered.
This is pitched as a first of its kind activation that creates a new way for users to “find their thing” by discovering the best games, indie experiences and virtual items as voted on by the community.
Through a nomination system, Walmart Discovered will spotlight 300+ community creators, from digital fashion designers to experience developers, offering a way for users to discover top trending items and for creators to be discovered within the experience.
Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield announces shortlist and judging panel for 2023 Grand Prix international retail competition
Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield (URW) has announced the shortlist for the Westfield Grand Prix, an international competition providing the next generation of eco-conscious businesses access to the Westfield shopping centre network.
Fruu Cosmetics, seventy + mochi, Glaize, Known Source, Maeving Electric Motorcycles, The Seam, Trace Collective and Yard + Parish are among those shortlisted.
Two winners will be announced on 2nd October. The grand prize, valued at up to £400,000, will be awarded to the overall winner, who will have the opportunity to operate a pop-up shop or kiosk for up to one year.
The People's Choice Winner, determined by public votes on the Westfield Grand Prix website, will be prominently featured as a highlight attraction at the 2024 Westfield Good Festival – an annual event the celebrates circularity and sustainable consumption by combining guest experiences, thought leadership conversations and other activations with retailers, brand partners, NGOs and local community groups.
Nedap teams with Foot Locker to extend RFID project to new Eastern European stores
Sports fashion and apparel retailer Foot Locker has extended the Nedap iD Cloud RFID solution to its new Eastern European stores.
This means that the project, which kicked off in 2018, now involves over 650 stores across Europe.
By using RFID tagged merchandise from brands such as Nike, adidas, and PUMA, Foot Locker says that it is benefiting from long-term accuracy in its inventory, leading to improved stock availability and reduced stock-outs.
Niek Philipsen, Director Innovation at Foot Locker, comments: “Brands we work with are very strict when it comes to displaying merchandise. In the case of exclusive, limited-edition footwear, timing is crucial.”
“The iD Cloud App tells our store teams exactly which items should be displayed and when. This way, we ensure true brand experience and a great moment of shopping at Foot Locker for our customers.”
London-based circular jewellery online platform Finematter closes out £2.2 million seed round
Finematter, a circular online marketplace focused on the jewellery industry, has announced the second close of its seed round, bringing the total raised to £2.2 million.
This counted contributions from angel investors such as Heini Zachariassen (Vivino), Christine de Wendel (Zalando/Sunday), Jeppe Rindom (Pleo), Dino Patti (Playdead/Jumpship), Peder Micheal Pruzan-Jørgensen (Pandora's Sustainability board), and participation from existing shareholder Heartcore Capital.
Web3 and blockchain technology powered Pudgy Penguins toyline lands in Walmart stores
Pudgy Penguins’ line of Pudgy Toys is now available in 2,000 Walmart stores.
According to a press release, these plushies and collectibles are “now sold alongside legacy consumer brands, a testament to both the growing popularity of the character brand and its unique approach of developing community driven and owned IP that leverages social media and blockchain technology”.
It adds: “This signals a transformative shift in IP development, as the industry moves to leverage a mix of community engagement, social media influence, and innovative blockchain backed experiences.”
“Since its launch, Pudgy Penguins has forged a unique path, blending traditional digital platforms with the new age of blockchain to offer consumers tailored interactive experiences.”
‘Simply unacceptable’: UK retailers tell government to put its words into action as retail crime soars
88 UK retailers, including Tesco, Boots, John Lewis Partnership, and Marks & Spencer, have signed a letter to the Home Secretary, Suella Braverman, demanding action over rising rates of retail crime.
The 2023 BRC Crime Survey showed that incidents of violence and abuse towards retail colleagues had almost doubled on pre-pandemic levels to 867 incidents every day in 2021/22.
It also put the scale of retail theft at £953 million, despite over £700 million in crime prevention spending by retailers. This meant the total cost of retail crime stood at £1.76 billion for the 12-month period to April.
A separate BRC survey of members in 2023, meanwhile, found that levels of shoplifting in ten major cities had risen by an average of 27%. This is not to mention the cascade of recent press stories detailing the wave of theft and violence currently impacting shops across the UK.
eBay UK launches Circular Fashion Innovator’s Fund for second year with British Fashion Council
Following the launch of the Circular Fashion Fund in 2022, eBay UK has announced its £100,000 initiative will return for a second year, in partnership with The British Fashion Council.
Offering up to six £25,000 grants to small businesses, this exists to invest in and bring new technology and services to the circular economy, with a particular focus on innovation around customer experience, circular inventory and services and social commerce.
Environmental charity, Hubbub will also support in an advisory role, drawing on its experience in delivering high profile grant funds.
Applications are open from now until Friday 20th October 2023, and innovative tech startups and small businesses can apply via a form on eBay’s website here.
The judging criteria is focused on four key assessment areas; innovation, circularity, scalability and sustainability. A shortlist of ten businesses will be invited to pitch to a panel of fashion and sustainability industry experts and organisations.
Alongside the financial support, finalists will receive a six-week mentoring programme, industry networking opportunities and a platform to showcase their innovative circular fashion solutions to a wider audience.
Yodel agrees online deliveries partnership with location technology firm what3words
UK parcel carrier Yodel has announced a strategic partnership with location technology company, what3words.
This will see what3words integrate its system into the Yodel customer app, enabling customers to specify their online delivery address, addressing the challenges associated with ambiguous or hard to find locations.
The former has divided the entire world into a grid of 3m x 3m squares and assigned each square a unique combination of three words: a what3words address
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