Including Zippin, Shopify, and Darwinium: 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 a checkout-free stores first in Ireland, Black Friday/Cyber Monday weekend predictions, and the 2023 RTIH Innovation Awards.
1…A new Dublin Town To Go store, powered by Zippin technology, has opened in T1 Arrivals at Dublin Airport.
People scan their payment card to enter and a combination of cameras and weight sensored shelving then detects what they’re buying and charges their card when they walk out.
The store, the first of its kind to open to the general public in Ireland, sells a range of goods to meet the needs of both departing and arriving passengers and also those waiting to welcome people in Arrivals, including coffee, pastries, sandwiches, salads, sweets, cereal, milk and toiletries.
$8.9 million…Creative Force, an end-to-end creative operations workflow platform for e-commerce retailers and brands, has raised $8.9 million in Series A funding from Export and Investment Fund of Denmark (EIFO) and Hearst Ventures, the venture capital division of Hearst.
This brings its total funding to $17.9 million.
Creative Force will use the cash to scale its Danish headquarters and new US office in Boston and integrate generative artificial intelligence (AI) into its platform.
1…Bayer Consumer Health UK, in partnership with Zappar, has introduced a new Accessible QR code (AQR) on its Canescool Soothing Gel Cream product packaging to help those who are blind or partially sighted.
Canescool is the world’s first women’s intimate health brand to adopt AQR codes on its product packaging.
Mike Knowland, Cluster Lead Northern Europe including the UK & Ireland, comments: “This digitally inclusive transformation is a major step change for us as well as the whole healthcare category.”
“The enhanced QR code improves access to important product information for consumers during their shopping journey.”
“It is the start of our ambition to add Accessible QR codes onto more of our product packaging across the consumer health portfolio, so that we continue to meet our company vision of ‘health for all’ and empower more people to find it easier to self-care – a vital societal sustainability pillar of ours.”
$18 million…Digital security and fraud prevention platform, Darwinium, has raised $18 million in Series A financing led by U.S. Venture Partners (USVP), with participation from seed investors: Blackbird, Airtree Ventures and Accomplice.
This brings total investment to $26 million and enables Darwinium to scale its edge-based solution across global geographies, where it is gaining traction across multiple vertical industries including FinTech, e-commerce, financial services and gaming/gambling.
2,000 and 1,000…Shoppers around the world expect to maintain or increase both their online and bricks and mortar spending this Black Friday Cyber Monday (BFCM) weekend. However, they are looking for particular deals and are planning to use AI to discover new brands as well as products – and are willing to switch brands to get them.
This is according to a Shopify survey of more than 2,000 consumers and 1,000 SMBs in the UK, which is part of a research study surveying 12,000 consumers and almost 5,000 businesses in six countries.
Deann Evans, Managing Director, EMEA at Shopify, comments: “Despite many studies predicting a challenging period for retailers as consumers look to tighten their purse strings, our data indicates that this could be a key revenue moment for those that embrace BFCM.”
“In fact, shoppers have recently cut back so they are ready to spend during BFCM to get more for their money. Brands need to embrace this opportunity by offering competitive deals and higher quality products as if they don’t, consumers may move away to another.”
2…Time is running out to enter the 2023 RTIH Innovation Awards: deadline for submissions Friday, 3rd November
There are just over two 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, FreedomPay, CADS, 3D Cloud by Marxent, Goodays, and Vista Technology Support, 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, 3rd November.
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, 3rd November: Award entry deadline
Tuesday, 7th November: 2023 shortlist revealed
7th-10th November: Judging days
Wednesday, 29th November: Winners announced at the 2023 RTIH Innovation Awards ceremony
Categories, along with entry forms, can be found here.
$3.7 million…QuoteMachine has closed $3.7 million in seed funding led by Manresa Ventures with additional investments from Clocktower Technology Ventures and Precursor Ventures.
The startup, whose retail software platform enables SMBs to scale their big ticket sales and tailored sales experiences involving human interactions, has raised $4.6 million to date.
It intends to use the capital to launch new payment solutions, offer new inventory management capabilities to better empower salespeople and grow its go to market teams.
10…With just 10 weeks to go until Christmas Day, IMRG has analysed the prospects for gifting retailers to have a positive trading period online. The gifts category has faced considerable challenges since an initial surge during the lockdowns in 2020 and, while there is some variance by tier, the overall signs are not positive.
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