Festivals beat holidays this summer season: 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 Serve Robotics, Uber Eats, eBay, Six Flags, Amazon’s Just Walk Out technology, Marks and Spencer, and Lidl.
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’m 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, 27th October, with winners being revealed at the aforementioned event in central London during November.
20%…With Glastonbury 2023 fast approaching, 20% of Brits plan to prioritise festivals over holidays this summer, according to research from eBay Ads.
The findings, based on a survey of 1,000 UK consumers, reveal that 28% expect this festival season to be the biggest following the pandemic, with a further 22% saying this is the most excited they’ve been for Glasto et al since before Covid-19 hit.
100…Whizz, an e-bike subscription platform for last mile delivery drivers, has launched a ‘Ride Safe’ initiative to provide 100 free helmets each month to riders in New York.
Anyone with an active delivery service account can take part.
2,000…Serve Robotics has expanded its partnership with Uber Eats.
The company's commercial agreement allows for Serve to deploy its autonomous sidewalk delivery robots on Uber Eats in multiple markets across the United States, with up to two thousand robots set to be fielded.
Serve and Uber’s partnership began a year ago as a pilot in West Hollywood.
Since then, the former’s robotic deliveries have grown over 30% month over month, with 200+ restaurants in Los Angeles now participating.
1…Six Flags is set to become the first theme park operator to pilot Amazon’s Just Walk Out technology, with the aim of reducing wait times for customers wanting to purchase food and drinks.
It will soft launch the tech at its theme park in New Jersey on 1st June. A similar roll-out is planned later this year for the Six Flags Magic Mountain location in Los Angeles.
Visitors will be able to peruse the store, place items in their virtual cart and then leave when they’re done, with their selections automatically charged to the payment method used to gain entry.
111…Lidl has joined the Scotland Loves Local Gift Card scheme.
The retailer’s 111 Scottish stores are now accepting the regional card, which can be swiped at the till like a debit card, with the balance automatically updated after each purchase.
Over 6,500 businesses, spanning retail, hospitality, accommodation, health and beauty, leisure and attractions and services, are currently part of the programme, including national household names and independent businesses.
17…A2Z Smart Technologies Corp. has announced an order from Morton Williams, a retailer with 17 stores in the New York Metropolitan area.
This follows a pilot of the firm’s Cust2Mate smart carts at Morton Williams' West End Ave store in New York.
The new order initially consists of 100 specially designed 75-litre smart carts, tailored for deployment in urban supermarkets.
It encompasses an upfront payment, a guaranteed monthly payment, and a revenue share agreement on added-value solutions, such as advertising.
8…Marks and Spencer has come under fire from disgruntled elderly customers after closing traditional counters in eight digital cafes, including at two of the retailer’s megastores.
With orders placed via touchscreens, staff are now focused on making food and drinks rather than taking orders, with customers alerted when their order is ready.
Elderly shoppers have described the move, which ushers in cashless payments, as “abhorrent”, The Telegraph reports.
M&S is also testing out self-service belted checkouts alongside manned tills in two food halls.
These can be found at London Colney, near Watford, and White Rose Shopping Centre near Leeds - two of its largest stores which also have the digital cafes installed.
In a LinkedIn post, Ron Delnevo, Chair of the UK Cash Supply Alliance, said: “Really silly, thoughtless stuff from M&S. If you want to find out how to alienate your customers, just read and copy!”
78%…New ShipEngine and ShipStation research reveals that 78% of UK consumers are not likely to shop with a brand again following a below par delivery experience.
A survey of over 3,000 consumers and 600 online merchants across UK, Germany, France, Spain, Italy and Australia found that 71% of Brits rank ‘high shipping costs’ as the biggest barrier to becoming repeat customers.
Looking at customer loyalty drivers, the quality of delivery experience ranks as the third highest driver, with 51% of UK consumers surveyed citing it as a key reason why they regularly buy online from the same brand.
Only affordable prices and product quality rank higher for UK consumers.
Merchants agree on the importance of product quality and delivery quality as customer retention drivers, but disagree on the topic of affordability, ranking it as only their fourth most important retention driver.
$10 million…Whiskey Skies, a women's fashion retailer, reports that it has reached over $10 million in lifetime live selling GMV on the CommentSold platform, utilising multi-casting live selling capabilities to drive sales across social channels, owned website and app.
Founded by Joanne Vitale in 2016, Whiskey Skies was built on a vision to make trendy clothing, home decor, and accessories accessible and affordable for women of all shapes and sizes.
Tapping CommentSold's warehouse management tools and shipping and fulfilment capabilities, it has scaled from an operation in Vitale’s home to a 7,000 sq.ft. warehouse.
11,500 and 57,000…Retailers are increasingly investing in mobile self-scanning technology, with an additional 11,500 stores offering the service in 2022.
According to research by RBR, more than 57,000 locations now enable customers to scan items using either their smartphone, a device provided by the retailer, or both.
In many countries, particularly in Europe, mobile self-scanning using retailer-provided handheld devices is well established.
However, RBR’s research shows that in these markets, and beyond, merchants are increasingly offering the service via smartphone applications; major supermarket chains in Germany, Japan and Sweden rolled out this service to many more outlets during 2022.
Retailers are also piloting solutions with smart carts, which record items placed within them, in increasing numbers.
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