Run it back: check out 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 we have you covered. Here are the major stories that you need to know about. Includes KiK, TradeBeyond, Copec, Grabango, Holland & Barrett, Olio, Teamwork Commerce, Innovasport, 7-Eleven Mexico, and Blue Yonder.
German discounter KiK taps TradeBeyond technology for end-to-end supply chain digitalisation push
KiK, a German discount retailer with more than 4,100 locations across Europe, has adopted TradeBeyond as its multi-enterprise platform to digitalise its supply chain operations.
KiK will use TradeBeyond’s CBX platform to optimise its supply chain end-to-end, starting with its sourcing, tendering, order collaboration, and inspection processes.
TradeBeyond will replace KiK’s existing analogye systems with cloud-based solutions that introduce real-time data sharing, empowering the company to bring new products to market faster and more efficiently.
The platform will assist KiK as it brings its sourcing operations in-house, streamlining its supply chain processes and easing its reliance on outside sourcing partners to realise major efficiency gains and cost savings.
Copec teams with Grabango to bring checkout-free shopping to South American convenience stores
Copec and Grabango have partnered with the objective to upgrade 100 of the former’s convenience stores across South America with checkout-free technology.
“We are excited to bring Grabango’s industry leading checkout-free tech to South America,” says Leonardo Ljubetic, Copec’s Chief Development Officer.
“We have seen impressive shopper uptake in our former U. stores and wanted to expand the innovation to shoppers in Latin America. Grabango’s seamless checkout system will accelerate our ‘First in Service’ programme by simplifying the shopping experience, delighting our loyal customers and drawing new traffic to our Pronto stores.”
Philadelphia Eagles teams with Verizon and AiFi for computer vision powered cashierless concession stores
The Philadelphia Eagles are set to open two cashierless concession stores at Lincoln Financial Field this month.
After a soft launch on Sunday, the On the Fly Express Shops. located at the venue’s main concourse and Pepsi Plaza, will be in operation for all Eagles games moving forward.
This is the result of a collaboration with Verizon (which provides the 5G network underpinning the frictionless experience), and computer vision technology specialist AiFi.
Shoppers enter via an NFC reader at a turnstile and select their desired items, then exit, with payment automatically processed on the way out.
They can also register for a receipt to their email or a mobile app through a QR code.
Computer vision enabled cameras track items as they are picked up, put down, and taken out of the location, which triggers payment.
Confer With announced as Overall Winner at 2023 RTIH retail technology innovation awards event
Confer With, a 1:2:1 video commerce platform built for retail and e-commerce firms seeking to scale personal shopping, emerged victorious last week as the Overall Winner at the 2023 RTIH Innovation Awards.
After a rigorous judging process and amidst strong competition across various categories, Confer With received praise not only for its individual contributions but also for its collaborative efforts with retail partners such as L'Occitane, OWAY and Dunelm.
"Our commitment to transforming the retail landscape through innovative technology has always been at the core of what we do," says Serge Milbank, CEO/Founder at Confer With.
"Winning this award is a testament to the hard work and dedication of our team and the fruitful collaborations with our partners. We are excited to continue pushing the boundaries and shaping the future of retail."
Pitt on the Go store opens at University of Pittsburgh, powered by Amazon Just Walk Out technology
Amazon has announced the expansion of its Just Walk Out technology at the University of Pittsburgh.
The launch of Pitt on the Go at the Petersen Events Center, in collaboration with Chartwells Higher Education Dining Services, marks the second deployment of the solution on the University of Pittsburgh campus.
“The University of Pittsburgh is fortunate to have a robust collaboration in place with Amazon,” says Pitt Athletic Director Heather Lyke.
“The addition of Just Walk Out technology to our fan experience at the Petersen Events Center is yet another way that the two parties continue to work together to drive innovation in collegiate athletics.”
Holland & Barrett partners with Olio to tackle food waste and help feed local communities
Health and wellness retailer Holland & Barrett has partnered with Olio, a food sharing app.
This supports Holland and Barrett to quickly and safely redistribute spare, good to eat food, including surplus from its new range of “food that loves you back” to people living nearby, lending a helping hand to local families who might be struggling and facing bare cupboards.
Olio makes this possible by pairing each Holland and Barrett store with one of its 90,000 food safety trained volunteers, many of whom will live just around the corner from the retailer’s stores.
Those volunteers visit stores at the end of each day and collect any spare food that’s nearing its use by date (but still perfectly edible). They take that food home, snap a picture of it and add it to Olio’s app, so that people nearby can request and collect it.
Also collected from Holland and Barrett through the scheme are ambient food products, including nuts and fruit, drinks and sports bars and powders.
As well as supporting local communities, saving food from the bin each day through Olio will positively impact the environmental footprint of Holland and Barrett’s stores. For each 1kg of food that ends up in landfill, 4.3128kg of CO2 is released into the atmosphere.
Teamwork Commerce delivers omnichannel and PoS capabilities to sporting goods retailer Innovasport
Teamwork Commerce has announced a collaboration with sporting goods retailer, Innovasport.
Having gone live with its Point of Sale (PoS) solution in over 250 locations across Mexico, Teamwork Commerce has deployed over 2,000 POS terminals within the retailer’s stores.
With Teamwork Commerce’s PoS terminals integrating with the Innovasport online store, it can now offer a range of omnichannel capabilities to its customers, including Buy Online Pickup In-Store (BOPIS) and Ship to Store with same-day delivery.
Monica Vinader taps Constructor artificial intelligence powered product discovery and search platform
Jewellery brand Monica Vinader has selected Constructor, an AI powered product discovery and search platform, to engage online shoppers with bespoke digital experiences.
Parcel locker specialist InPost UK scores a first as it becomes official partner of Newcastle United
InPost has become an official partner of Premier League football team Newcastle United.
InPost UK has 6,000 out of home delivery options across the country.
This number is set to increase as Newcastle United supporters will soon be able to use bespoke parcel lockers at St James’ Park – the first in the country at a Premier League stadium.
Doffing a cap at the the black and white of Newcastle United, the specially designed parcel lockers will be located outside the iconic Gallowgate End, offering customers a city centre location, with InPost also having a number of collection points around Newcastle and wider Tyneside area.
Online retailer Moonpig helps shoppers write their Christmas cards with new Smart Text AI tool
Moonpig says it is the first major online card retailer to launch an AI tool that helps people craft authentic heartfelt and personalised messages all with the click of a button.
It notes that, with the increased use of instant messaging via apps such as Whatsapp, Messenger and Instagram, over the last decade emojis have come to replace words when communicating with friends and family, and as a result left many struggling to write heartfelt messages to loved ones.
The new Smart Text feature is available across Moonpig’s entire range of cards, including Christmas.
It can be found in the editor toolbar as a magic symbol when starting to compose a message. It gives people the chance to type in a short prompt providing details about the recipient, occasion and even inside jokes or specific interests.
They then watch as Smart Text generates a message.
Food for thought: Australian retailer Coles teams with shoppable recipe technology provider Northfork
Northfork has announced a partnership with Australian retailer, Coles. The aim here is to boost the latter’s online platform by introducing shoppable recipes via Northfork's API technology.
The integration will enable Coles customers to explore recipes that align with their individual preferences, dietary requirements, and lifestyles.
They can add all ingredients to their online cart with a single click, while also accessing nutritional information and estimated costs.
Halfords Group partners with FinTech firm Kriya to offer flexible payment terms to B2B customers
Halfords Group, a UK provider of motoring and cycling products and services, has selected Kriya, an embedded finance specialist, to power payments and credit for its trade account customers.
Under the partnership, Kriya will embed its financial tools across Halfords stores, customer teams, and online .
7-Eleven Mexico boosts category management capabilities with Blue Yonder and GOLDCO partnership
7-Eleven Mexico has implemented Blue Yonder’s category management SaaS solution to address a gap in its retail operations and gain the ability to create planograms, which, it says, has resulted in a better consumer shopping experience and minimised out-of-stock products.
The project was implemented by GOLDCO, a Blue Yonder partner.
LEGO Fortnite goes live as part of long-term digital partnership between Epic Games and LEGO Group
LEGO Fortnite is now live. This is the first play experience to come from a long-term partnership between Epic Games and the LEGO Group to develop fun and safe digital spaces for children and families.
New world building, gameplay features, and more LEGO Style Outfits will be arriving in updates starting early 2024. Fortnite is available to play for free on PlayStation4, PlayStation5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch, PC on Epic Games Store and cloud-based gaming streaming services.
LEGO Fortnite is built inside Fortnite and powered by Unreal Engine 5, taking advantage of features such as Chaos physics and destruction to give players the ability to place, connect and break apart bricks just like they would in the real world.
The game utilises World Partition to stream all 95 square kilometres of playable space (that’s 19x the size of the Fortnite Battle Royale Island!), and uses the Procedural Content Generation (PCG) framework to dynamically create detailed environments.
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