Marketplace puberty and rapid delivery milestones: RTIH’s biggest retail technology news stories of the week
It’s Friday, the weekend is almost upon us, so let’s kick back and reflect on another eventful week for the retail systems space. Here's your briefing on the most important stories from the past five days, including Tesco Whoosh, OnBuy, Nuvei, PayPal, Klarna, Tommy Hilfiger, Emperia, Walmart, and Roblox.
1. Tesco hits 1,000 Express stores milestone for its Whoosh rapid grocery delivery service
Tesco reports that its rapid delivery service, Whoosh, is now available from 1,000 Express stores across the UK.
This first launched in May 2021 and is now available from half of Tesco’s estate of Express convenience stores across the UK, serving 55% of UK households.
The Hammersmith Olympia Express in London became the 1,000th location to offer rapid grocery delivery to the door.
Whoosh offers customers the chance to order food or snacks from a curated list of 2,500 to 4,500 essential products in as little as 30 minutes, with delivery set at £2.99 for orders that cost £15 or more.
Tesco claims that the immediacy of the service and convenience of home delivery is popular with customers looking for things like a quick and easy meal deal or last minute purchases.
It has been looking at ways to improve the customer experience, with new features on the app such as 15 minute delivery window estimates and live tracking of the rider on a map.
2. Focus on Nuvei, PayPal and Klarna as e-commerce firm OnBuy gears up to launch new payment services
UK-based online marketplace, OnBuy, last week went live with new payment services, Nuvei, PayPal, and Klarna.
In a LinkedIn post, Cas Paton, Founder and CEO at OnBuy, said: “So this week is a big week for OnBuy and me personally... what 12 months it's been to get here. This week we'll launch our new payment services and go live with Nuvei, PayPal and Klarna, which is going to be awesome. I can feel it!”
He added: “Since Christmas 2021 we announced we were going to do this. After planning, this project of moving OnBuy to 'Merchant of Record' (MoR) has been an all-consuming, hellish project, which has seen us park most other work, stagnate the business, and essentially completely rebuild the platform and the way we do payments, not only with customers, but with sellers as well.”
“It's the first time we've ever been this close to customers, sellers and really jumping into 'Mature Marketplace' territory. This move was inevitable, unavoidable, but a bit like going through marketplace puberty - annoying and can’t wait for it to be over. There isn't a single person at OnBuy that hasn't been affected by this in at least a big way.”
3. Tommy Hilfiger launches cross metaverse hub, powered by Emperia retail technology
Tommy Hilfiger has unveiled a new metaverse hub, powered by Emperia, launching simultaneously on Decentraland, Roblox, Spatial, DressX and Ready Player Me, as part of the brand’s Decentraland Metaverse Fashion Week 2023 presence.
Featuring DressX powered digital fashion, Web3 artist collaboration with Vinnie Hagar, AR features, photo booth, gamification, emotes and a community focused competition to create AI fashion, the hub is set in a monolith structure made of the ‘TH’ monogram, which will appear across all platforms.
The aim is to create a unified digital brand story, while allowing for seamless movement between the retailer’s own website and the various metaverses.
4. RADAR secures $50m in funding and gears up to deploy inventory tracking technology in American Eagle stores
American Eagle Outfitters is set to launch RADAR’s AI powered inventory tracking technology in approximately 500 American Eagle stores across the US over the next year.
RADAR uses a combination of RFID and computer vision to track and locate in-store inventory in real-time, enabling employees to know what product is in-store, and where, so they can more easily and efficiently serve customers, replenish items on the sales floor, and fulfil in-store and curbside pickup orders.
In addition to the American Eagle deal, RADAR also announced that it has secured more than $50 million in funding to date from investors that include Y Combinator, Align Ventures, Sound Ventures and Founders Fund, and the family offices behind brands such as Michael Kors.
5. Ingka Investments buys logistics park for use as first Ikea customer distribution centre in Ireland
Ingka Investments, the investment arm of Ingka Group, the largest Ikea retailer, has acquired Greenogue Logistics Park in Dublin.
Ikea Retail UK & Ireland has also announced that it is to open its first Irish customer distribution centre (CDC) at the site.
Fit-out of the building will begin in the coming weeks, with first deliveries expected to leave the warehouse in early 2024. When fully up and running, the CDC will create 120 jobs across warehousing, logistics, and administration.
To date, Ikea products have been delivered to Irish consumers via distribution centres in the UK.
The retailer says that the new facility will enable quicker customer fulfilment and better availability of its products in the country, with delivery lead times reduced by more than half.
Locating a distribution centre closer to the end consumer will also result in a reduction in CO2 emissions, a core pillar of the sustainability strategies of both Ingka Group and Ikea.
Correspondingly, the buildings are BER A2 rating with LEED Silver accreditation, including rainwater harvesting and roof-based solar panels.
6. Walmart Universe of Play leaves Roblox metaverse just six months after its high profile launch
Walmart has binned a branded space in Roblox called Universe of Play just six months after a splashy entrance on to the immersive experiences scene.
This follows claims by nonprofit consumer advocacy group Truth in Advertising and other watchdogs that the metaverse game not only blurred the distinction between advertising content and organic content, but also lacked required disclosures and manipulated kids into viewing and interacting with stealth ads.
Walmart said the Universe of Play move was “as planned.”
The US retail giant touted the offering as “the ultimate virtual toy destination,” with products and characters from kid friendly franchises Paw Patrol, Jurassic World, L.O.L. Surprise! and more.
During the launch last year, William White, Chief Marketing Officer at Walmart U.S., said: “”We’re showing up in a big way – creating community, content, entertainment and games through the launch of Walmart Land and Walmart’s Universe of Play.”
“Roblox is one of the fastest growing and largest platforms in the metaverse, and we know our customers are spending loads of time there. So, we’re focusing on creating new and innovative experiences that excite them, something we’re already doing in the communities where they live, and now, the virtual worlds where they play.”
File under ‘interesting failures’, then.
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