The latest from AiFi, Mercaux, and Bringg: RTIH’s biggest retail technology articles on LinkedIn right now
We’re big fans of LinkedIn and are busy building an amazing community of retail tech enthusiasts on the social media platform. These are the articles that are currently on their radars, including an autonomous stores milestone and a first of its kind interactive digital mannequin.
AiFi: Żabka Polska 100 stores milestone means that autonomous retail is here to stay
Autonomous retail firm, AiFi, has hit an active stores milestone.
In a LinkedIn post, the company said: “The launch of our store with Żabka Polska in Poland marks our 100th active store worldwide, a testament that autonomous retail isn’t just a trend; it’s here to stay”
“In cooperation with AiFi, we have created an innovative concept of Żabka Nano, which on a global scale, makes a revolutionary change in the perception of consumer experience,” says Tomasz Blicharski, Managing Director at Żabka Future.
“The idea of an autonomous store makes shopping the most convenient experience ever, since it only requires taking a product from the shelf and paying for it at the checkout without scanning.”
British fashion retailer River Island teams with Mercaux for self-checkout via RFID in-store
Mercaux is delivering RFID self-checkout into stores of River Island, the British high street retailer, alongside key strategic partners.
Shoppers will be encouraged to use self-service devices to speed up the last step in their path to purchase.
After dropping the items into the “RFID Bucket”, said items appear instantly in a digital basket on Mercaux’s self-service kiosk where the customer completes the transaction.
This is made possible, in part, with Mercaux’s composable platform, allowing retailers to surface the checkout process on any device in-store (store associate or customer), eliminating the need for customers to join a line to be served by a store associate at the traditional cash register.
Mercaux’s technology was deployed and integrated with River Island’s existing omnichannel commerce platform with the support of system integrator, Cabiri.
Paul Cooper, Director of Technology Operations - River Island, comments: “Although still early days, the results from the project have been astounding and could quickly become a game changing development for River Island when the decision is made to roll-out to the wider estate.”
“Whilst we set a target of 50% of all in-store transactions being processed through self-checkout, we are already seeing this figure closer to 70%.”
Cooper adds: “I can’t thank the whole team at Mercaux enough for their speed of delivery, a smooth onboarding process and diligence with monitoring the business critical KPIs to ensure this project’s success.”
Coles taps Bringg delivery management platform as it focuses on cost efficiency throughout supply chain
Australian retailer, Coles Group, has partnered with Bringg with the aim of improving its home delivery offering.
With Bringg’s platform, Coles says it will will be able to more efficiently allocate deliveries to its network of carriers and track those deliveries in real-time, which will increase cost efficiency throughout the supply chain.
Outform unveils digital mannequin at Euroshop 2023
Outform has launched what is pitched as a first of its kind interactive digital mannequin at retail trade fair EuroShop.
This serves as a visual merchandising platform that lets the shopper control which products they see and how they’re represented in-store through their smartphones.
Shoppers who scan a QR code on the digital mannequin display can take control of what content is displayed.
They can choose which products they see from different perspectives, and which model wears them.
From there, they have the option to purchase the product directly through their mobile device on a microsite.
Ikea teams with Meta and Warpin Reality to launch AR experience in Swedish stores
Meta and Ikea have partnered with Stockholm-based immersive tech company Warpin Reality to put on an interactive augmented reality experience for families visiting Ikea stores across Sweden.
Called The Little Adventure (“Lilla Äventyret” in Swedish), the AR game can be opened as a filter on Instagram and aims to increase interest and knowledge about life in the ocean, with children able to (virtually) swim with various sea creatures and learn about them.
It also encourages players to engage with themes like littering and pollution prevention, with all three companies involved committed to increasing plastic recycling (for instance, Ikea’s Blåvingad collection from last year).
Ikea Retail Sweden has become the first retailer globally to explore the Meta SPARK AR solution on such a large scale, with the campaign opening across 21 stores during February.
UK-based FinTech startup ZIPZERO bags over £1 million in seed funding
ZIPZERO has raised over £1 million in seed funding.
The startup has developed an app that allows users to receive cash rewards by sharing receipts from their everyday purchases, which are then used to pay household utility bills.
It raised the cash from a angel investors, one of which includes serial FinTech investor and founder of Global Processing Services, Craig Dewar.
ZIPZERO, which lays claim to more than 100,000 users in the UK, will use the funding for the likes of growing its platform, and securing new partnerships with retailers and brands.
It says that more than 30,000 new users signed up to use the app in January alone, with consumers searching for ways to combat record high energy bills and double digit inflation.
Partner retailers include Asda, Boots, Ebay and Sainsbury’s.
Russell Johnson departs Meta to take on Chief Data Scientist role at Marks and Spencer
M&S has appointed Russell Johnson as Chief Data Scientist.
He joins the retailer from Facebook (Meta) and will build out its data science capabilities as part of a digital transformation of the business.
In a LinkedIn post, Jeremy Pee, Chief Digital and Technology Officer at M&S, said: “Excited to have you onboard Russell Johnson. Big things ahead!”
Retail technology startup stories interview: Danny Howe and Lee Hart, Co-founders of Stored
RTIH gets the lowdown on Stored, which is the brainchild of Co-founders Danny Howe, former Managing Director at payments firm WorldFirst and Lee Hart, former UK General Manager at FinTech big hitter Fiserv.
Emperia retail technology powers new SAXX immersive experience in the metaverse
Men’s underwear and apparel brand SAXX has launched what is pitched as the first ever dedicated virtual store by an underwear company.
This is an immersive experience in the metaverse, powered by Emperia, that allows shoppers to browse three-dimensional items in a 360-degree showroom.
The store exclusively features underwear, tops and swimwear from SAXX’s DropTempTM collection, which uses proprietary evaporative fabric to cool the body.
Upon entering, shoppers are transported to an oxymoronic environment where it’s snowing in the desert, highlighting the cooling qualities of DropTempTM. A short pathway lined with shoppable product displays leads to an open air showroom.
More items can be found around the showroom’s swimming pool, including underwear, short and long sleeve tops, polos and hoodies with UPF 50 that can be worn in the water.
Shoppers are encouraged to “dive in” to the pool, which unlocks another retail area consisting of a variety of prints from SAXX’s swimwear line.
Checkout-free stores: retail’s next normal or overhyped and of limited value to high streets?
Checkout-free is retail's next to next normal, says Krishna Motukuri, CEO and Co-founder at Zippin.
In a tweet, posted on Saturday, he observes: “This is unfolding rapidly across stadiums and airports in the US and spreading to the rest of the world. Self-checkout and scan and go have too much friction to survive in the long run.”
Click here to see our take on the checkout-free stores space.
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