Run it back: RTIH presents 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 JD Logistics, Akeneo, Airwallex, Woo, RELEX Solutions, Salesforce, Walmart, Gather AI, Lolli, and Polytag.
Turkish rapid delivery specialist Getir announces completion of acquisition of US online grocer FreshDirect
Getir, which operates in the ultrafast grocery delivery space, has acquired FreshDirect, a US-based online grocery company, from Ahold Delhaize.
Financial terms were not disclosed.
Getir says that the deal will improve FreshDirect's technological infrastructure, and FreshDirect customers will receive their orders much faster, whilst Getir will accelerate the growth of its fast delivery business in the US.
FreshDirect's business model is based on the scheduled delivery of orders to homes or offices at certain times of the day.
With a fleet of 400 trucks and a 640,000-square-foot production and distribution centre in the Bronx, it serves the greater New York tri-state area.
Bitcoin and cashback rewards startup Lolli closes $8 million Series B to accelerate crypto adoption
Lolli, a Bitcoin and cashback rewards company, has announced the close of an $8 million Series B round led by BITKRAFT Ventures, with participation from Sfermion, Ulta Beauty’s Prisma Ventures, Hypersphere Ventures, Rahul Pagidipati, Newman Capital, 2 Punks Capital, MZ Web3 Fund, Digital Currency Group, Company Ventures, The Spartan Group, and Wagmi Ventures.
The raise includes a return commitment from earlier investors including Seven Seven Six, Founders Fund’s Pathfinder Ventures, Bain Capital Ventures, Serena Ventures, Michelle Phan, Logan Paul, Pir Granoff, MrBeast’s Night Media, and Animal Capital.
CEO and Founder at Lolli, Alex Adelman, says: “We are thrilled to announce this fundraise as we enter this next phase of growth at Lolli.”
“As Bitcoin’s price continues to surge and our users’ rewards go up in value, we look forward to using this ongoing period of growth and excitement in the ecosystem to bring Bitcoin to even more people through gamified earning experiences.”
“We remain committed to building an industry leading product and the best way for people to learn about and own crypto with Lolli.”
JD Logistics expands express delivery service to countries across North America and Europe
JD Logistics, the logistics arm of Chinese e-commerce giant JD.com, has announced the launch of its international express delivery service.
Currently available in Shenzhen and Guangzhou, the expansion will initially cover 23 countries across North America and Europe, facilitating one-way deliveries from China.
Looking ahead, JD Logistics plans to extend the reach of the service, expanding its availability throughout China.
Leveraging the company’s network, customers in China can book doorstep pick-ups through the JD Express mini programme on WeChat and expect one-hour pick-up by JD’s in-house couriers,.
Real-time parcel tracking is also available.
Akeneo appoints CPO and CFO as it accelerates product roadmap and sets ambitious goals
Product experience specialist and provider of product information management solutions, Akeneo, has announced two additions to its C-suite team.
Throughout 2023, the company has expanded its offerings and sharpened its operations to enhance product experiences for brands, manufacturers, retailers, and distributors on a global scale.
Akeneo introduced a series of product updates, completed a strategic acquisition (Unifai), honed its leadership team, and grew by over 100% in the US.
It also crossed the 850 worldwide customers threshold, led by major North American companies, including Arc’Teryx, DSW, Nautica, Belvins, TaylorMade, and Chico’s.
FedEx Europe boosts returns capabilities by teaming with 2023 RTIH Innovation Awards winner ZigZag
FedEx Europe, a subsidiary of FedEx Corp., is collaborating with ZigZag, a global platform for reverse logistics solutions.
As a result, its e-commerce customers will benefit from an online returns portal that is branded with its logo and easy to integrate with its web shop.
Via the portal, retailers are able to retrieve insights that help them understand the reasons for returns in order to prevent them in the future.
For return shipments requiring customs clearance, documentation is created and uploaded digitally, ensuring retailers get the refunds and exemptions they are entitled to.
Return shipments will either be picked up at home, or consumers can drop off their packages at one of approximately 90,000 FedEx and ZigZag drop off points in the US,, Canada, and key markets across Europe.
Polytag makes Head of Client Experience and Delivery and Lead Developer Engineer appointments
Recycling technology specialist, Polytag, has announced a strengthening of its team following a string of partnerships with UK retailers, Ocado Retail, Aldi and Co-op, alongside drinks brands such as the UK’s One Water, and Welsh kombucha venture Blighty Booch.
Virlina Choquette, Head of Client Experience and Delivery at Polytag, comes with over ten years of experience in strategic delivery roles and leading partnerships with FMCG giants such as Nestlé and Coca-Cola, to support the execution of key projects.
Phil Bisby joins as Lead Developer Engineer, with eight years’ experience in manufacturing and engineering projects He will be responsible for testing and developing its data capture technology, as well as investigating opportunities with AI image recognition within Material Recovery Facilities (MRF).
Shoppers crown online marketplace as king, now representing over 60% of global e-commerce spend
Online marketplaces are increasingly the dominant method that consumers use to purchase products, representing c.60% of all e-commerce spend globally and transacting c.$4.1 trillion in annual gross merchandise value (GMV) in 2022, growing by $1.7 trillion since 2019.
New analysis by OC&C Strategy Consultants on digital spending found that specialist models (including vertical focused, secondhand and hyper-local models) have been a major driver of this growth, capturing business by targeting specific customer needs that generalist marketplaces have been unable to meet.
The findings were based on analysis of the top 250 digital marketplaces around the world by gross merchandise value (GMV) to understand the nature of these marketplaces and their evolution.
Swiss sportswear brand On selects Nedap technology for source to consumer RFID project
Nedap has been selected by sportswear brand, On, to deploy its iD Cloud platform in factories, warehouses, distributors and stores worldwide.
This enables On to track and trace every single item from source to consumer.
Utilising radio waves, RFID technology enables wireless identification and tracking of objects, providing efficient data capture and real-time monitoring, especially beneficial in use cases such as supply chain management.
On was already familiar with the technology and benefits of RFID, and decided to run a pilot programme in cooperation with Nedap to test iD Cloud.
American furniture firm La-Z-Boy taps Fivetran technology to accelerate data driven decision-making
Fivetran reports that its data integration platform is being utilised by La-Z-Boy, a specialist in residential furniture.
La-Z-Boy, which has a number of different brands, including Joybird and Hammary, is leveraging Fivetran to break down data silos and accelerate data driven decision-making across the organisation.
“Data is the common language that connects many teams and stakeholders across our company. Democratising access to data is essential for us as an organisation,” says Selwyn Samuel, Director of Data Analytics & Enterprise Architecture at La-Z-Boy.
“With Fivetran helping to power our modern data stack, we’re able to centralise data faster and improve access across the company – ultimately allowing us to accelerate data-driven decision-making and better serve our customers.”
Airwallex and Woo agree partnership to power cross-border commerce for global merchants
Airwallex, a payments and financial platform, has announced a partnership with Woo, the open source e-commerce platform built on WordPress, to become an official payment extension.
This integration enables Woo merchants to accept cross-border payments within minutes by leveraging global cards, Apple Pay, Google Pay and 60+ local payment methods at checkout, thereby opening up the potential to access shoppers from millions of Woo stores, without the sting of high FX conversion fees.
Rapid delivery firm Daki selects RELEX Solutions to optimise demand forecasting and replenishment
Daki, an on-demand groceries and essentials app, has selected RELEX Solutions to drive accuracy and efficiency in its demand forecasting and replenishment processes.
The RELEX technology will support Daki's operations throughout Brazil.
The company’s planning previously relied on manual processes.
To support efforts across multiple markets, it realised it needed a unified, scalable system that could provide accurate forecasts and optimise efficiency and utilisation of all resources, thereby supporting its proposition of providing an extraordinary shopping experience, offering all the essentials products according to customer demand.
Salesforce and Walmart CEOs set for AI focused keynote conversation at NRF 2024 in New York
Salesforce Chair and CEO Marc Benioff and Walmart U.S. President and CEO John Furner will participate in a fireside chat at NRF 2024: Retail’s Big Show, discussing the future of artificial intelligence (AI) and its impacts on business.
“From improving customer service to maximising operations and more, artificial intelligence capabilities offer wide-ranging opportunities for retailers, their employees and the consumers they serve,” says NRF President and CEO Matthew Shay.
“We look forward to hearing insights from Marc Benioff and John Furner on AI, specifically on what this tectonic shift means for the retail industry.”
Supply chain robotics veteran Andrew Hoffman takes on Chief Technology Officer role at Gather AI
Gather AI, which offers AI powered autonomous inventory management solutions for warehouses using drones, has appointed Andrew Hoffman as Chief Technology Officer (CTO).
Hoffman was a founding engineer at two supply chain robotics companies which were later acquired by Amazon - Kiva Systems (now Amazon Robotics) and CANVAS Technology.
“At Amazon Robotics, I had the tremendous opportunity to see how great business acuity, solid technical execution, and unwavering customer obsession leads to significant advancements in our industry,” he says.
“I'm excited to join the strong Gather AI leadership team as they have the same chemistry that made Amazon Robotics successful.”
Aria bags €15 million as it looks to bring the digital payment experience to all businesses
French FinTech startup Aria has announced a €15 million funding round to expand its deferred payment infrastructure across the platform economy and B2B marketplaces.
This was led by 13books Capital with participation from Adevinta Ventures, Ankaa Ventures, Otium Capital and angel investors including Laurent Ritter (Purple), Mark Ransford and Guillaume Princen (former Stripe exec).
Aria enables any merchant, B2B marketplace or vertical SaaS company that sells goods and services online and offline to offer their sellers a wide array of payment methods and terms, and get paid instantly — all in a single platform.
It is able to connect with B2B marketplaces, transactional SaaS platforms and ERP systems to distribute early payment of supplier invoices and offers deferred payment options for end-clients via its API.
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