The beautiful game: RTIH presents 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. Including H&M, A.S. Watson Group, FC Bayern, Kraft Heinz Company, Costa Coffee, Woolworths, Amazon, and Casey’s General Stores.
Radisson Hotel Group
Canadian FinTech company, Nuvei, is to provide online payments services to Radisson Hotel Group.
The hospitality operator is also utilising Nuvei’s connection to over 600 local and alternative payment methods, accessible through a single integration.
H&M
Following the launch of the H&M Loooptopia experience on Roblox in January, the retailer has announced a new limited time experience in the metaverse, showcasing an exclusive Stranger Things summer collection, launching in stores and online on 18th May.
"Our launch in the metaverse earlier this year is continuing to allow us to explore exciting ways to engage with our current and new customers, like our new Stranger Things x H&M Pop-Up Event in H&M Loooptopia on Roblox," says Linda Li, Head of Customer Activation & Marketing, H&M Americas.
"Bringing one of the most popular shows on Netflix into our digital H&M Loooptopia world through the "Surfer Boy Pizza Delivery Game" perfectly aligns with our ambition to provide fun and stylish content for all."
The game launches on 25th May and is inspired by the 'Surfer Boy Pizza' restaurant in Season 4 of Stranger Things. In the main hub of Looop City, users will be able to play a fast-paced Pizza Delivery game with bespoke Stranger Things clothing as rewards, featuring Argyle the Surfer Boy employee. After completing all the deliveries within the experience, they will unlock a special trailer of what will come later this year within the H&M Loooptopia experience.
The game includes multiple deliveries in each level and will continue to increase in difficulty. The first round of deliveries will be a small number, but with each new level, these increase along with less time to complete the mission.
Later levels are located in other biomes to encourage players to explore these exciting spaces. When players complete all the delivery rounds, they will unlock a special trailer of what will come later this fall within the experience.
A.S. Watson Group
Daisy Corporate Services has announced a multi-year managed services contract with health and beauty retailer A.S. Watson Group.
This will see it provide SD-WAN, cloud unified communications, and fibre connectivity to more than 1,500 stores in the UK.
A.S. Watson’s brands in the UK include Superdrug, Savers, and The Perfume Shop.
NTUC FairPrice Co-Operative
Eagle Eye, a SaaS technology company enabling personalised, real-time marketing through coupons, loyalty, apps, subscriptions and gift services, reports that Untie Nots, which it acquired in January, has secured a multi-year contract with NTUC FairPrice Co-Operative, a subsidiary of the FairPrice Group (FPG), Singapore’s largest retailer.
This is the first contract win for the firm in Singapore and involves FPG’s Linkpoints loyalty programme.
The Untie Nots Challenges platform will enable the retailer to offer its customers personalised, gamified promotions at scale and to expand its digital customer base.
FC Bayern
SAP Emarsys has hooked FC Bayern Munich as a customer.
The partnership will enable the German football giant to centralise and analyse customer data, providing a better understanding of each fan as a unique individual and delivering personalised content across every touchpoint – from online and physical stores to club memberships, stadiums, apps, and magazines.
Wow Bao
Wow Bao, a fast casual Asian brand, has announced the expansion of its Web3 strategy, launching digital CollectaBaos to sit alongside its points-based Bao Bucks loyalty programme.
“We have always been a pioneer in enhancing the dining experience with technology, forging a path for today’s innovations to become mainstream, " says Geoff Alexander, President and CEO at Wow Bao.
“By creating a digital collectible club, Wow Bao is levelling up the everyday loyalty programme, and welcoming all diners to the future.”
Kraft Heinz Company
The Kraft Heinz Company has unveiled HEINZ REMIX, pitched as the first customisable and IoT enabled digital sauce dispenser that allows consumers to personalise their own flavour creations.
With over 200 potential sauce combinations, this is the latest offering from the firm’s foodservice or Away From Home (AFH) division.
The free standing machine is touchscreen operated, enabling consumers to first select from a range of “bases” – currently Heinz Ketchup, Ranch, 57 Sauce, and BBQ Sauce – then personalise further with one or more “enhancers” – currently Jalapeño, Smoky Chipotle, Buffalo, and Mango – at their preferred intensity level (low, medium, high).
“As a company, we’re transforming through innovation by making bigger, more intentional bets to fuel our growth and create new experiences for consumers,” says Alan Kleinerman, Vice President of Disruption, Kraft Heinz.
“HEINZ REMIX is a great example of this consumer first approach to innovation. We’re changing the game for foodservice operators and sauce lovers - dipping will never be the same.”
“It’s more than a sauce dispenser; it’s an insights engine and business model enabler that will help us understand and respond to consumer trends and flavour preferences in real-time. Who knows – maybe our next new sauce combination will come from a superfan using HEINZ REMIX.”
TaylorMade Japan
Perfitly, an AI-based AR/VR fitting room solution that can be integrated into the e-commerce platforms of retailers, has announced a partnership with TaylorMade Japan, a subsidiary of TaylorMade USA, a manufacturer of golf equipment.
The technology enables TaylorMade’s apparel collection to be tried on before buying.
Through Perfitly’s widget shoppers can see and select the size and style of garments that will fit and look best on their body. They can try on multiple garments concurrently to build outfits.
Elizabeth Arden
Clearpay
Buy now pay later firm Clearpay has announced partnerships with household and garden retailer wilko, parenting specialist Online4Baby and UK online marketplace venture OnBuy.
Meanwhile, beauty brands MAC, Jo Malone, Cosmetic Company Stores, Le Labo, Tom Ford, Too Faced and URBN (owners of Urban Outfitters, Anthropologie and Free People) have expanded Clearpay’s pay-in-4 service from online to now include their in-store checkouts.
Costa Coffee
Costa Coffee, the second largest coffeehouse chain in the world, and the largest in the UK, has selected GEP SOFTWARE’s procurement and supply chain platform.
Headquartered in Buckinghamshire, Costa Coffee is present in 45 countries with 2,800 plus coffee shops in the UK and Ireland and 1,100 plus globally.
As part of its digital transformation, it has partnered with GEP SOFTWARE to transform and automate its source-to-contract procurement process for all indirect spend, encompassing sourcing, contract and supplier risk management.
Alipay
Ahead of 2023 International Museum Day on 18th May, Digital to Asia, an Italian digital marketing agency focused on the Chinese market, and Way Experience, an Italian production company that creates AR and VR immersive experiences for the culture and tourism sectors, launched a virtual tour featuring Leonardo da Vinci’s art on Alipay.
Featuring a 360-degree view powered by 3D technologies, this allows Chinese art lovers to see and learn about Leonardo da Vinci’s works from different museums around the world into a single virtual museum.
Italian designers and creatives took inspiration from European Renaissance architecture for the look and feel of the museum.
It also includes a Chinese language guide of Leonardo da Vinci’s life and his most iconic paintings such as the Mona Lisa and The Last Supper, as well as his inventions, like the flying machine, collected from Codex Atlanticus.
Chinese consumers can purchase the tour through a mini programme, named Yunshang Mibao, on the Alipay platform.
Woolworths
South African retailer, Woolworths, is using First Insight technology to gather zero-party customer data and boost product testing for faster and better merchandising decisions in its womenswear division.
“We are excited to be a global partner of Woolworths to help them leverage insights with the goal of serving their customers better,” says Greg Petro, CEO at First Insight.
“Our proven data gives retailers and brands the insight and competitive advantage they need to offer their consumer better assortments at the right price.”
Fortnum & Mason
ATG Danmon has completed a video production facility for the 181 Piccadilly headquarters of British retailer Fortnum & Mason.
The new system includes a Food and Drink Studio plus a dedicated control room. Created as a multipurpose resource on the store’s third floor, the studio incorporates a kitchen with remotely controlled cameras and adjustable lighting.
It is designed to be a creative hub for anyone with an interest in food and drink innovation, and will play host to over 100 Fortnum chefs as a production kitchen to create, taste and master recipes, supplying the Piccadilly store with the likes of Scotch Eggs and Beef Wellingtons.
Waterline
Waterline, a UK-based supplier to the independent kitchen specialist sector, is enhancing the operational efficiency of its fleet delivery and customer service operations using Descarte Systems Group’s cloud-based route planning and optimisation; pre-delivery customer email notifications; and electronic proof-of delivery (ePOD) solutions.
It says that it has achieved a 4% reduction in fleet mileage and decreased customer contact centre enquiries by 50%.
Amazon
Amazon is working on a new search functionality for its online store featuring a ChatGPT like interface.
A pair of job postings spotted by Bloomberg highlight the company’s plans.
In a job listing for a “Sr Technical Program Manager,” it states: “We are working on a new AI first initiative to re-architect and reinvent the way we do search through the use of extremely large scale next-generation deep learning techniques.”
A second listing, this one for a “Sr SDE, Machine Learning (ML), Amazon Search” position claims that the initiative will be “a once in a generation transformation for search”.
“We are reimagining Amazon search with an interactive conversational experience that helps you find answers to product questions, perform product comparisons, receive personalised product suggestions, and so much more, to easily find the perfect product for your needs.”
It’s also worth noting that Amazon recently unveiled its own Bedrock AI foundational models.
Casey’s General Stores
Casey’s General Stores, a convenience store chain in the United States, is partnering with RELEX Solutions to implement a unified space planning and supply chain solution.
RELEX will service Casey’s 2,400+ stores and support the company’s growth plans.
It says that its space planning and supply chain solutions will help reduce the volume of manual work and improve order accuracy on a store by store basis.
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