Is crypto the future of payments? 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. Featuring Co-op, PayPal, BitPay, Starship Technologies, Grubhub, Pinko, Emperia, RELEX Solutions, and EDEKA.
Co-op
UK convenience retailer Co-op has teamed with PayPal.
The latter is now available for shoppers as a payment option for purchases of online home delivery orders and Click and Collect via Co-op’s online shop.
Co-op launched its online shop in 2019 and now offers an online service through more than 2,000 stores in communities across the UK. Groceries are picked fresh in the local store, and orders are available often in a matter of minutes.
The London Lions
UK basketball team, the London Lions, has partnered with BitPay.
This will enable fans to transact with the club using more than 100 different crypto wallets and exchanges including Coinbase, Exodus Wallet and Trust Wallet.
Merrick Theobald, Vice President of Marketing at BitPay, says: “The London Lions realise the potential for crypto to transform the UK professional sports industry, making payments faster, more secure, and less expensive on a global scale.”
“Our goal is to make accepting crypto a seamless process and increase adoption as we believe crypto is the future of payments.”
Fujitsu and TORIDOLL Holdings
Fujitsu has deployed its AI demand forecast service at 823 Marugame Udon noodle shops in Japan, operated by TORIDOLL Holdings.
The latter says it will now be able to accurately forecast customer numbers and sales by day and time for each shop, based on weather data and PoS data.
Fujitsu will help to optimise complex manual processes, including the ordering of products and food quantity planning, with the aim of delivering greater overall efficiency, helping to reduce food loss, and realise efficient energy management through the optimisation of staff allocation and air conditioning in shops.
Fujitsu will present this project at its booth at the Retailtech Japan 2023 event, which will be held Tuesday, 28th February to Friday, 3rd March.
Starship Technologies and Grubhub
Starship Technologies, a provider of autonomous delivery services, and Grubhub, a food ordering and delivery marketplace, are expanding their delivery service to Baylor University and East Carolina University (ECU) in the USA.
Baylor’s 20,000 students can order delivery from more than seven eateries on campus.
Starship’s fleet of 20 robots will deliver to the majority of buildings on campus, typically within minutes, and work in conjunction with student meal plan Dining Dollars through the Grubhub app.
At ECU, another fleet of 20 robots are providing deliveries anywhere on the main campus, including College Hill.
The deliveries to ECU’s 27,000 students are made possible through Grubhub and Starship’s partnership with ECU’s food service provider, and the service can be used in conjunction with students’ meal plan that integrates with their Grubhub account.
OneStock
Order management specialist, OneStock, has announced the launch of its Business Intelligence (BI) Suite.
This is pitched as a powerful data analysis tool that enables merchants to better understand their business and optimise their entire omnichannel operations and execution.
With the BI Suite, OneStock opens the doors of its OMS to the retail, industrial and B2B industries.
Pinko
Italian fashion brand, Pinko, has announced the launch of its first virtual store, developed using the Emperia platform and celebrating the opening of its new Milan boutique.
It says that this aims to “drive brand recognition and tap into new female communities, alongside empowering women around the world to feel independent and able to express their femininity in a bespoke way”.
Users will also have the chance to buy the brand’s NFTs, the Meta Love Bags, by accessing the PINKO metaverse experience.
Laid out in a futuristic pink setting, the virtual store features an array of new, specially designed handbags.
Customers will be able to purchase these products from the brand new Pinko Galleria, exclusive to this experience, directly from the metaverse store while experiencing, interacting with, and learning about them via 3D modelling.
Compass Group
Compass Group has opened a second checkout-free location in a UK stadium.
Situated at Premier League football club Aston Villa, this is a self-service bar powered by AiFi technology.
The first bar can be found at Leicester City F.C.
In a LinkedIn post, dated 4th February, Peter Waugh, Digital & Data Director, UK/I, at Compass Group said: “I hate Q’ing, I don’t want to queue behind someone buying food and drink if I just want a drink, I want to maximise the time with my mates, just make it easy, half time is only 15 mins…”.
He added: “OK, no problem…Compass’ second computer vision bar in UK stadia, this time Aston Villa, launched today.”
“Tap your card, enter, pick your drink or food, and walk out. Plus if you want to order your beers and food for half time time, you can, with self-serve kiosks…no waiting. And if you fancy pouring your own - the Holte stand offers that as well.”
EDEKA
RELEX Solutions’ forecasting and automatic replenishment solution will be implemented in EDEKA stores and distribution centres throughout Germany.
The aim is to increase forecast accuracy and product availability and minimise food waste.
RELEX will initially be implemented in one of EDEKA’s seven regional wholesale companies and is then to be gradually rolled out to the rest.
Asos and Secret Sales
Secret Sales and Asos have announced a new non-full price partnership, where visitors to the former’s platform will be able to shop from an initial selection of up to 1,000 products from the latter’s owned brands.
This will include Asos Design, Collusion, Reclaimed Vintage, Topshop, Topman, and Miss Selfridge.
It launches initially in the UK, with all of the selected discounted items no longer being available on Asos as products will be housed on Secret Sales.
Purchases will be fulfilled by Asos using its existing fulfilment infrastructure and capability, including packaging and shipping.
Sam’s Club
Sam’s Club, a division of Walmart and a membership warehouse club, has announced plans to open over 30 new locations across the US over the next several years.
The first one, which is planned in Florida, is slated to debut in 2024.
In addition, the company will launch five new supply chain fulfilment and distribution centres in 2023, including automation, with the first location planned in Georgia in Q3.
It says that the decision to invest in expanding its physical footprint was motivated by historic comparable sales growth, and a record rise in membership over the last two years.
A.P. Moller – Maersk
A.P. Moller – Maersk has embarked upon a trial with Dexory, and now has its autonomous robots operating in a warehouse facility in Kettering, UK.
The proof of concept has been launched in continuation of Maersk Growth’s, the venture arm of A.P. Moller-Maersk, investment in Dexory in its most recent funding round.
Andrei Danescu, Dexory’s CEO, says “It’s reassuring to see such trust placed in Dexory from globally recognised logistics leaders like Maersk. We’re looking forward to bringing it valuable data insights and expanding into other Maersk facilities.”
