Ringing the checkout-free changes: RTIH presents last week’s biggest retail technology plays at a glance
RTIH rounds up the stand out retail systems deals, launches, deployments and pilots from the past seven days. Including Amazon, AllSaints, A.L.C., INTERSPORT, Foot Locker, La-Z-Boy, Paul Smith, and I and love and you.
Amazon
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.”
La-Z-Boy
Furniture retailer La-Z-Boy reports that 3D product configuration and WebAR OnDemand technology is now available on its website. Powered by 3D Cloud by Marxent, the initiative is part of La-Z-Boy's Century Vision strategic plan.
The company is investing in a range of new shopping and brand experiences for both digital platforms and bricks and mortar environments.
It says that the upgraded product configurators and the addition of appless AR provide an immersive brand experience that bridges online product research with the in-store experience.
With over 29 million possible configurations available to consumers, WebAR OnDemand aims to bring a new level of convenience to shoppers who want to research, configure, and plan furniture purchases online before visiting a physical retail location.
The approach uses 3D Cloud WebAR OnDemand to automate 3D content creation and deploy WebAR at scale.
Zappar and Envision
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.
I and love and you
Pet food brand I and love and you reports a 44% increase in dog food repeat purchases and a 35% increase in cat food repeat purchases by deploying Nosto technology to tailor online shopping experiences to distinct customer segments.
The same approach has also led to a 17% lift in e-commerce purchases from first time customers.
The company has been using Nosto’s platform to segment e-commerce visitors to its website in real-time, starting with three key groups: returning, loyal and first-time customers.
Paul Smith
British designer brand, Paul Smith, has partnered with Storyblok on a project involving its website and the customer experience.
Paul Smith - with the help of e-commerce specialist agency Limesharp - implemented Storyblok’s headless CMS technology within its eight-month deadline, and achieved an increased page speed of approximately 50%, along with higher conversion and revenue rates.
To celebrate the business’ 50th anniversary, the Paul Smith team set out to transform the way they approach and communicate with their customers, re-establish their brand, and rebuild their website to emulate the customer experience of their flagship store in Los Angeles.
They developed the new back-end internally, while Limesharp built the front-end.
Walmart
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.
ALDI Nord
shopreme is working with ALDI Nord on a project across several stores in the Netherlands that involves scan and go, self-checkout kiosks and exit terminals.
The initiative marks the first instance of ALDI Nord testing self-checkout solutions in its stores.
It includes integrating the shopreme SDK into the ALDI customer app. Customers can now use the app to scan products and make payments using such methods as iDEAL, debit cards, credit cards, Google Pay and Apple Pay.
This process culminates with issuing a digital receipt within the app, enabling customers to leave the store by scanning an exit code at the shopreme vector terminal which opens the checkout gate.
An alternative options sees customers scan their products at the shopreme matrix self-checkout kiosk. This dispenses an exit code receipt that opens the vector exit terminal to leave the store after payment.
AllSaints
AllSaints is set to roll-out NewStore’s mobile Point of Sale (mPOS) in more than 200 stores globally.
The British fashion retailer previously selected NewStore to replace its homegrown direct-to-consumer mobile app.
"Our goal has always been to create customer journeys that are effortless and contemporary. To do this, we needed a modular yet comprehensive omnichannel platform that could empower us to innovate and adapt," says James Reid, Chief Innovation Officer, AllSaints.
"We originally selected NewStore to build our consumer app, but that was just the beginning. By expanding our partnership, we are elevating the overall customer experience and future-proofing our technology strategy at the same time."
A.L.C.
A.L.C., a Los Angeles-based women's ready-to-wear fashion brand, founded in 2009 by Andrea Lieberman, has worked with Archive and SuperCircle to launch the ALConscious resale and recycling programme.
Consumers will be able to buy and sell preloved A.L.C. items on the peer-to-peer marketplace or opt to send in any preowned clothing item for recycling through SuperCircle’s platform, and receive A.L.C. store credit, even if the item is made by another fashion brand.
The launch marks the first time Archive and SuperCircle have partnered to power a branded resale and recycling programme.
INTERSPORT
Sporting goods retailer, INTERSPORT, reports a 50% reduction in product data processing time, partnering with Unifai, an Akeneo company.
Leveraging the firm’s solution which uses AI and ML powered data onboarding to automatically standardise, enrich and categorise product catalogues, has enabled it to significantly increase speed time to market, while optimising purchasing spend and improving performance monitoring.
El Florido
El Florido supermarket chain has chosen the Infor WMS (warehouse management system) offering. This will be implemented by Infor partner Cerca Technology, a specialist in technology for supply chains in Latin America.
Amazon
Amazon’s Just Walk Out technology has landed in Canada. It will first become available at two Canadian arenas - Scotiabank Saddledome, home of the NHL’s Calgary Flames on 29th September, and Scotiabank Arena, home of the NHL’s Toronto Maple Leafs and the NBA’s Toronto Raptors on 10th October.
More locations will roll out the technology in the coming months. Canada joins the US, UK, and Australia as nations offering checkout-free shopping experiences for consumers.
It will be available at Market 213 in Scotiabank Saddledome and at Grains and Greens (100 Level) and Molson Market (300 Level) locations in Scotiabank Arena.
To enter the store, fans use their credit or debit card at the entry gate. Just Walk Out technology associates the shopper with their payment instrument, and detects the items taken from or returned to store shelves.
When guests have completed their visit, they leave and the payment instrument will be charged for the items they took with them. Shortly after exiting, customers will be able to access their receipt online.
Foot Locker
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.”
Enrique Tomás
Ham specialist, Enrique Tomás, has implemented nsign.tv’s digital signage platform in its new model of vending machines that recently launched at Barcelona Airport.
The first phase of the project includes a total of 30 stores, distributed at strategic points throughout the airport, which automatically offer, 24 hours a day, a wide variety of the brand's products.
Yodel
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
Rovertown
Rovertown has launched Integration Store, the latest evolution of its mobile app platform for convenience stores.
As the Rovertown platform is fully agnostic, retailers can now browse and select from dozens of native features and third-party integrations powered by leading technology vendors.
“We will look back and see this as a major turning point for convenience store mobile apps,” says Mike Philip, CEO and Co-founder at Rovertown.”
“Platforms represent the future of technology. From our inception, we've held the belief that retailers shouldn't be confined to inflexible, pre-built apps with limited functionality, nor should they be burdened by expensive custom solutions.”
“Our vision is a world where retailers freely choose their technology partners and shape digital engagement according to their unique needs.”
Continue reading…