An Amazon Just Walk Out milestone: 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 Nectar360, Amazon, Tesco, BetterBrand, Sook, Liverpool ONE, PriceSmart, and RELEX Solutions.
320, 420 and 400…Nectar360, which owns and operates Nectar, a UK loyalty coalition programme, as well as managing Sainsbury’s and Argos’ retail media services, has announced plans to expand its connected digital screen network to over 800 screens, in conjunction with out of home media and infrastructure company, Clear Channel, a move that also includes the launch of a new internal screen network.
The Sainsbury's Live network currently reaches millions of shoppers every week through more than 320 full motion digital screens, placed at store entrances.
It will now become the UK’s largest connected digital supermarket screen network, as Clear Channel upgrades the existing offering, expanding the external screen network to include 420 screens and launching up to 400 internal ones across stores nationwide.
100…Last weekend, Amazon opened its 100th third party store powered by Just Walk Out technology.
In a LinkedIn post, Ritu Subash, Principal PM - Physical Stores Tech - Just Walk Out at Amazon, said:
“Milestones like these make the work we do worth it! On to the next 100.”
The tech can be found in airports, stadiums, schools, grocery and convenience stores around the world.
Further details here.
$2 million…Centro, an automated inventory control centre for e-commerce brands, has secured a $2 million in a pre-seed funding led by Ripple Ventures and 2048VC, with participation from Valia Ventures and Comma Capital. Centro’s angels and advisors including individuals from WeMakeWebsites, Canada Goose, and Uber.
The cash will help the startup expand its selection of offerings to include forecasting and procurement automation features to kick off new marketing initiatives throughout North America.
“Prior to founding Centro with Jamyang, I was leading inventory operations at SSENSE, an online luxury multi-brand retailer with a worldwide customer base. When the global pandemic hit, I experienced firsthand how delicate the global supply chain truly was,” says Centro Co-Founder, Andrew Liu.
“While trying to adapt to rapid change across supply and demand, I found there was an inherent lack of inventory tools for modern brands. Jamyang, who was working as a strategist at Shopify at the time, validated this same narrative at other large scale companies so we set out to shake up the inventory ops space.”
£30.8 billion…Tesco Group reports that first half sales rose 8.4% to £30.8 billion, with underlying operating profit up 13.9% to £1.5 billion.
Market share gains were partly driven by shoppers switching from premium retailers, with UK & Ireland volumes of Tesco Finest goods up 4.1%. Overall trading was better than expected, leading to an upgrade of full year expectations.
Sophie Lund-Yates, lead equity analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, says: “It seems Tesco’s performing its own supermarket sweep, knocking competition out the way in the process and loading up on market share. As a full-line retailer it maintains an edge over the likes of Lidl and Aldi where you can’t quite find some more obscure ingredients.”
“The enormous investment Tesco’s put in to being more affordable has also helped retain and attract customers while inflation’s been running so hot. Inflation has fallen across the first half as Tesco has been able to normalise some pricing.”
”Of particular note is the success of Tesco Finest. People are saving by treating themselves at home instead of going out and Tesco has been building out its more premium offering. The wait to catch that extra demand is now paying off.”
“Shoppers are also voting with their feet and walking in Tesco’s direction away from higher-end supermarkets. While cost-of-living pressures are easing in the grocery aisles, they’re by no means gone and with Tesco’s posher items growing in number, it’s able to meet squeezed premium shoppers with open arms.”
Tesco’s progress has been remarkable, and largely possible because of its enormous scale.”
She concludes: “But there are challenges. Aldi and Lidl may not be an existential threat, but they are nabbing shoppers from bigger names. The real test will be Christmas, where consumers will want to put on as much of a feast as possible, but where wallets may not allow it.”
“We could be faced with a race to the bottom on festive pricing, which could spell trouble for margins. The price environment is already a very tricky one, and while the slight upgrade to retail operating profit expectations is welcome, growth in this area isn’t exactly super-charged.”
$9.3 trillion…The global e-commerce market is being democratised by e-commerce as a service companies, like Shopify, and marketplaces, like Amazon and Alibaba, that allow anyone to become a merchant.
Alongside this, improved technology, new delivery services, and wider internet adoption will help the global value of e-commerce transactions hit $9.3 trillion by 2027, growing at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 9.5% from 2022, according to GlobalData.
$10 million…Trinetix has secured $10 million in funding from the investment fund Hypra.
With a foothold in Europe and the United States, the firm has attracted such customers as Coca-Cola, P&G, ExxonMobil, Credit Agricole, Dutchie, and McDonald’s.
The funding will enable Trinetix to open an office in Latin America, which will facilitate new strategic partnerships and potential acquisitions.
“With 12 years of market experience, we have built a diverse list of industry leading clients. We’ve achieved this by providing a quality service led by our team of more than 850 industry experts,” says Sasha Strozhemin, pictured below, Co-Founder and CEO at Trinetix.
“We have committed to strengthening our partners’ bottom lines over growing our own balance sheets, with over 80% of our workforce made up of senior level talent.”
$170 million…BetterBrand has announced its expansion to the UK after going live in the US with its product range.
It will debut three SKUs of its ‘hero’ product, the Better Bagel exclusively at Whole Foods Market store locations in the UK from 2nd October.
This comes off the heels of the company’s Series A, where its CEO and Founder, Aimee C. Yang set the record for the highest Series A valuation posted by a female founder in venture history of $170 million.
1,250…Sook, which takes vacant retail spaces and gives them a modular, digital fit-out which can be rented by the hour, is launching a new space at the Liverpool ONE shopping, residential, and leisure complex.
The 1,250 sq ft space will offer leases ranging from three days to a months and comes fitted out with digital display boards, screens and fixtures.
Sook supplies brands with a range of data analytics and digital planning tools, giving tenants information on how best to use the space and operate with optimum efficiency.
The space will be used for a variety of uses including music, artists, workshops, fitness classes, experiential brand campaigns and traditional retailers.
52…PriceSmart, an operator of membership warehouse clubs in Central America, the Caribbean, and Colombia, has chosen RELEX Solutions to enhance its supply chain and retail planning strategies.
PriceSmart has a complex product assortment, including ambient and fresh products, and a challenging supply chain spanning 12 countries, each with unique requirements.
The RELEX solution will be implemented across its 52 clubs throughout Central America, the Caribbean, and Colombia, aiming to reduce inefficiencies while improving their forecast accuracy, product availability, operational cost savings, and overall efficiency.
PriceSmart is undergoing a strategic transition in its back office systems and processes and will consolidate its forecasting, replenishment, and promotions planning onto the RELEX platform.
This move plays a key role in its broader digital transformation initiative to streamline operations for ambient and fresh goods, fast and slow movers, and make-to-sell and break-to-sell items.
Additionally, RELEX allows PriceSmart to leverage advanced capabilities for boosting membership renewals through targeted promotions designed to encourage increased member engagement.
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.
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