Critizr changes its name to Goodays: here are last week’s most read RTIH retail technology articles
These are the RTIH articles that caught your fancy last week, including bad moves, name changes, autonomous store firsts, and notable funding rounds.
Food Rocket and Alimentation Couche-Tard grocery delivery tie up “had disaster written all over it”
Rapid grocery delivery startup Food Rocket is no more, with visitors to its website being greeted with the message, "We are closed. Thanks to everyone who was with us."
“In spite of overall profitability, we ran out of capital while struggling to raise additional funding,” it said.
Last year, Food Rocket announced a $25 million Series A investment round.
It said that this would be used to expand its offering in Chicago and other cities throughout the US, as well as reinforce its AI enabled software and enhance the team.
The lead investor was Alimentation Couche-Tard (ACT), which has more than 14,000 Circle K and Couche-Tard locations in 26 countries and territories, including 7,000+ in the US.
Through the partnership, Food Rocket was working with Circle K to explore ways in which the convenience store chain could extend its brand experience and offerings to customers beyond its physical stores through e-commerce and delivery.
Meanwhile, Food Rocket expected to benefit from Circle K’s size and scale, consumer insights, marketing expertise, procurement network and supply chain efficiencies to expand its offerings into categories beyond grocery, improve its purchasing power, reduce costs and grow profitability.
This was an accident waiting to happen, according to Brittain Ladd, a supply chain consultant and former Amazon executive.
Critizr changes name to Goodays, launches Artificial Intelligence Lab and appoints new Chairman
Critizr, a specialist in customer satisfaction and experience management, has announced that it is changing its name to Goodays.
According to a press release, the new identity reflects its mission to “bring the employees of a company together around a common objective: to satisfy customers. It also affirms international expansion ambitions, to grow market share across the company’s five bases in Spain, France, Japan, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom.”
The company, created over ten years ago, has developed a platform that facilitates digital interactions with customers to improve their experience, with recent deployments including the integration of Google Business Messages and WhatsApp.
DB Schenker deploys Geek+ robots at new e-commerce logistics hub in Spain
DB Schenker, a supply chain management and logistics service provider, has opened an automated e-commerce facility servicing its retail customers in Spain, Portugal and France.
Operations in the 50,000 m2 warehouse in Guadalajara have started with 150 employees in newly created jobs, and more than 200 robots.
The site is equipped with a goods-to-person picking system to handle around 120,000 units per day based on autonomous mobile robots (AMR) provided by Geek+.
adidas is the main customer.
Ikea claims an industry first as it says it is now using 100 drones for stock inventory
One hundred autonomous drones are now operational in Ikea stores - the latest in Ikea Zaventem, Belgium – with owner Ingka Group saying it is the first retailer to use such a solution for stock inventory.
Two years ago, Ingka Group and the Supply Chain Development Team at Inter Ikea Group, together with Verity, a provider of indoor drone systems, started developing a fully autonomous drone solution.
As a result, 100 drones are now at work during non-operational hours, with the aim of improving stock accuracy and securing availability of products for online or physical retailing. This means that co-workers no longer need to manually confirm each pallet.
“We are investing in technology across the board so that our stores can better support customer fulfilment and become true centres for omnichannel retailing,” says Tolga Öncu, Head of Retail at Ingka Group.
“Introducing drones and other advanced tools – such as, for example, robots for picking up goods – is a genuine win-win for everybody. It improves our co-workers’ wellbeing, lowers operational costs, and allows us to become more affordable and convenient for our customers.”
REWE picks Cologne as it opens another Trigo powered autonomous store in Germany
REWE has opened its fourth Trigo powered store, situated in Cologne, Germany’s fourth largest city.
Located in the Sülz neighbourhood, this is, at 564 sqm, Trigo’s largest store to date.
Kai-Uwe Reimers, Head of Research and Innovation, REWE digital, comments: “The bar is rising around customer expectations, customers have less time, cost and effort are getting more important.”
“Computer vision will be the core of the future store. It changes the supermarket workflow by introducing frictionless checkout which solves the biggest customer pain point in the store: standing in line.”
“When we were ready to start with frictionless checkout it was clear that Trigo would be the first to talk to.”
“We screened the market again, we talked to other retailers and in the end, we decided for Trigo because we really believe in the team, we really believe in the solution, and we think it’s the most advanced solution at the moment.”
Amazon Just Walk Out technology makes debut at Marymount University’s new checkout-free store
Marymount University has become the first higher education institution in the US to have an on-campus convenience store powered by Amazon’s Just Walk Out tech.
Located in the lobby of Gerard Phelan Hall on Marymount’s main campus in Arlington, Saints 24 opened to the University community for the first time on Friday, 10th March.
Customers use their credit card at the entry gates of Saints 24, grab what they need and the technology automatically detects what is taken from (or returned to) store shelves, creating a virtual shopping cart.
When people have completed their shopping, they can leave the store without stopping to check out, and their credit card will be charged for the items they took.
On-demand logistics firm Stuart announces appointment of Cornelia Raportaru as CEO
Cornelia Raportaru has been appointed Chief Executive Officer at Stuart.
She succeeds Damien Bon, who joined the on-demand delivery platform in 2015 and became CEO in 2017 under the ownership of Geopost.
Raportaru will report to Cédric Favre-Lorraine, Geopost’s Regional CEO for France & Benelux.
She joined Stuart in February 2022 as Executive Vice President of International, in charge of activities in Spain, Portugal, Italy and Poland.
She then took the additional responsibility of the firm’s Global Operations centre of expertise.
Seven retail tech funding rounds you need to know about, including Connectd and Powered by People
RTIH rounds up the retail systems ventures who have recently wrapped notable funding rounds, including Ocula Technologies, Yoti, Patchworks, and APEXX Global.
Starship Technologies and Co-op bring robot grocery deliveries to Greater Manchester
Starship Technologies has partnered with Trafford Council and the Co-op to bring autonomous grocery deliveries to residents across Sale in Greater Manchester.
Also operating in Milton Keynes, Northampton, Bedford, Cambourne, Cambridge and Leeds, orders are made through the Starship app with groceries picked in local Co-op stores and delivered to customers on-demand.
Chris Conway, eCommerce Director, Co-op, says: “Co-op stores are well placed in the heart of local communities to provide quick, easy and convenient home deliveries - whether a full shop or last minute top-ups.”
“We are committed to exploring new and innovative ways to increase access to our products and services, and delighted to be able to roll-out autonomous robots to provide additional online flexibility and choice in Greater Manchester.”
The Trade Desk partners with Ocado on 'new approach to retail media on the open internet'
Advertising technology firm The Trade Desk has announced a partnership with online grocery big hitter Ocado Retail.
The pair claim that, as a result, Ocado is the first grocer in the UK to give direct access to its customer behaviour data, allowing marketers to optimise their audiences and attribute campaigns through The Trade Desk.
Ocado will provide advertisers with access to consented shopper data and insights.
Ocado suppliers and The Trade Desk’s clients will be able to leverage the pureplay’s first-party audiences to reach in-market shoppers and drive key marketing objectives, such as customer acquisition to build brand loyalty over time.
Furthermore, targeted campaigns can be optimised using Ocado data to close the loop between advertising spend and sales.
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