Ambitious rapid grocery delivery plans: RTIH presents the retail technology week in numbers
Do you like numbers? Do you like retail systems news? Then this is the article for you. Including Retail Technology Show, Sook, Landsec, Domino’s Pizza, Goggo Network, and the 2023 RTIH Innovation Awards.
5…After launching in 2019 and delivering hugely successful follow up events in 2020, 2021 and 2022, the RTIH Innovation Awards return in 2023 with a discussion panel and awards ceremony to be held in central London venues during December.
The fifth edition of the awards is now open for entries.
The event celebrates global tech innovation in a fast moving omnichannel world.
We received a record number of submissions in 2022, with winners including Sook, B&Q, 3D Cloud by Marxent, Compass Group, AiFi, Walmart, Ribble Cycles, Obsess, HyperFinity, Red Ant, Pets at Home, and TPP Retail.
Our winners and highly commended companies were announced at a sold out event in central London on Tuesday, 6th December.
For 2023, we are introducing new categories and expanding the awards ceremony in December to accommodate more attendees (further details on that will be revealed in the near future).
Scott Thompson, Editor and Founder of RTIH, says: “Our awards celebrate the dynamic, resilient and innovative retail sector and the companies and technologies that drive it forward.”
“Competition was tougher than ever in 2022, so to emerge victorious was no mean feat.”
“Congratulations to our winners and highly commended companies. I excited to launch the fifth edition of the awards. The 2023 event will be the biggest and best yet.”
Deadline for 2023 submissions is Friday, 3rd November, with winners being revealed at the aforementioned event in central London during December.
1,000…Co-op’s partnership with Just Eat is set to reach almost 1,000 stores by the end of this month.
The convenience retailer is raising the total number of stores on the platform following a trial with Just Eat, with the move forming part of Co-op's ambitions to secure around one-third of the UK online quick convenience market.
Co-op also estimates that more than 80% of the UK population will have access to its groceries online by the end of this year, through its own online shop and with partners.
452,000…Ikea UK has opened a new 452,000 sqft customer distribution centre in Dartford, Kent.
The retailer says that the new multi-million-pound facility will enable faster, more sustainable home deliveries to customers in London and the southeast of England.
Located at the former Littlebrook Power Station site near the Dartford Crossing and M25, the DC is placed on the border of London to deliver almost one million orders annually – with many reaching customers within 24 hours of an order being placed.
Today, almost every second Ikea purchase in London takes place online.
15…Food solutions company SpartanNash has announced plans for the use of Simbe’s autonomous inventory robot, Tally, in 15 grocery stores in Michigan and Indiana, USA.
After a pilot in select D&W Fresh Market stores, SpartanNash is implementing the solution in additional Family Fare and Martin's Super Market locations.
Tally traverses store aisles throughout the day, leveraging 3D computer vision technology to collect highly accurate shelf data. It can capture 15,000 to 30,000 products an hour, ensuring products remain in-stock, in the correct location, and accurately priced.
5…Domino's Pizza is testing out autonomous robots for the delivery of its home orders in Spain.
A collaboration with Goggo Network has resulted in five robots operating in the Madrid town of Alcobendas, which has more than 116,000 inhabitants.
These are equipped with the likes of cameras, radar and ultrasound sensors, which allow them to recognise and locate themselves with complete precision in real-time, even in complex urban environments. They are also completely electric.
Customers can follow the path of the robot by GPS and receives a text message when it is about to arrive, with a code to open a door and grab their food. Once delivered, the robot returns to the store on its own.
1,700…A2Z Smart Technologies Corp. reports that, in addition to an existing order of 1,300 smart carts from Yochananof, the Israeli grocery retailer intends to purchase up to another 1,700.
The Cust2Mate smart cart platform automatically scans purchased products and enables in-cart payment, allowing customers to "pick and go" and bypass cashier checkout lines.
Additionally, retail grocers can direct shoppers to discounted products, in-store promotions, and other offers to move inventory from the shelves into carts.
5…SquareTrade, a provider of extended warranty and insurance plans, has signed a five-year contract extension and expansion with MediaMarkt Iberia, a consumer electronics retailer in Europe.
After five years working together, the agreement will see SquareTrade providing and managing insurance programmes for all MediaMarkt’s product categories (it began with mobile phones back in 2018).
$140 million…E-commerce planning and financing platform, 8fig, has closed a $140 million Series B funding round in combined equity and debt led by Koch Disruptive Technologies (KDT) with participation from existing investors Battery Ventures, Localglobe, Hetz, the Jesselson family, and Silicon Valley Bank, a division of First Citizens Bank.
This brings its total funding to date to $196.5 million.
2…Sook has announced its first two site collaborations with Landsec, the largest commercial property development and investment company in the UK, at Trinity Leeds and Bluewater in Kent.
The former takes vacant retail spaces and gives them a modular, digital fit-out which can be rented by the hour,
Nik Porter, Head of Retail Brand Account Management at Landsec, says: “We are pleased to be partnering with Sook to offer our platform spaces to their market leading network of brands.”
“Our platform spaces offer brands a lower barrier to entry to engage with their customers in prime retail destinations. Sook's collaborative and flexible approach has allowed us to partner with them to meet our specific objectives of driving activation and incubating emerging brands into our portfolio.”
€65 million…Everseen, a provider of AI powered computer vision and automation solutions, has raised a €65 million Series A follow on funding round led by Crosspoint Capital Partners.
The cash will be used to continue investment into the firm’s computer vision AI technology and help it scale.
Crosspoint made its original investment in Everseen in June 2021 based on the company’s “disruptive computer vision AI technology, strong customer relationships and its approach to ethical AI”.
9,963…Retail Technology Show saw nearly 10,000 retail professionals attend the expo, held over two days at London’s Olympia on 26th and 27th April.
9,963 people visited the exhibition/conference, an increase of +45% from 2022 when 6,850 showed up, including representatives from each of the UK’s top 50 retail brands registered to attend.
They were joined by 306 technology vendors, with the exhibition space sold out with four weeks before the event kicked off.
Conference headliners included Queen of Shops Mary Portas, former JD Sports CEO Peter Cowgill and broadcaster Jake Humphrey.
Dragon’s Den star Steven Bartlett’s session was so popular the gallery space was opened to accommodate hundreds of additional visitors wanting to join.
-3.5%…UK online retail sales reported a -3.5% year-on-year (YoY) decline in April compared to a drop of -11.8% in the same month last year. That’s according to IMRG research which tracks 200 retailers.
The market has now experienced two full years of declining growth following the pandemic powered e-commerce boom.
