Starring Obsess, AiFi, and Trigo: RTIH runs you through the week's coolest retail technology plays
RTIH Editor, Scott Thompson, brings you his top ‘future of retail’ systems launches and deployments from the past week, including an autonomous stores first in Germany, the largest electric pizza delivery fleet in the US, and a great example of how physical and online can support one another.
Virgin Media
Virgin Media O2 has announced the launch of Virgin Media Gamepad.
Virgin Media O2 customers and members of the public will be able to enjoy gameplay powered by the company’s gigabit broadband, with technology including 16 of the latest consoles and exclusive areas for live streaming and local multiplayer gaming with friends.
Opening to the public today from 12pm, this consists of three areas: The Playground, The Cave and The Stage.
The Playground has 16 gaming pods and features with Xbox Series X consoles, all equipped with Xbox Game Pass Ultimate that allow players to immerse themselves in hundreds of games for free across numerous AAA franchises.
The Cave offers an exclusive VIP gaming lounge for Virgin Media broadband and O2 customers to play as a squad with up to three friends and can be booked via the Priority app from Sunday, 2nd July.
The Stage is a streaming studio equipped with technology and will house the best gaming talent who, in partnership with Outside Xbox, will livestream from the space once a month, with access to watch live on their YouTube channel.
Domino’s
Domino’s Pizza is laying claim to the largest electric pizza delivery fleet in the US.
It has announced that more than 1,100 custom branded 2023 Chevy Bolt electric vehicles will be on the ground and in use at select franchise and corporate stores by the end of the year.
“Back in November 2022, Domino’s announced that we’d have 800 EVs on the road by the end of 2023 and we’re excited to say that we’ve officially reached that number,” says Joe Jordan, Domino’s President of U.S. and global services.
“All 800 vehicles are on the road, delivering at various stores across the country. We are even more thrilled to announce that number is growing.”
“Our stores and franchisees have continued to express their enthusiasm and interest around EVs, and they’ve ordered an additional 300-plus cars to be on the road by the end of the year.”
Auchan Retail Poland
Auchan Retail Poland has launched the first fully autonomous store within its Auchan Go concept.
Located in Warsaw, the cashier free location is open 24/7 and features an AI powered solution from Trigo.
Poland becomes the first market where the Auchan Go store is fully operational for shoppers, following tests of the frictionless concept in France.
Carrefour
A2Z Smart Technologies Corp.'s Cust2Mate subsidiary has announced completion of a pilot phase at Carrefour.
Since March, its smart carts have undergone testing at Carrefour's flagship hypermarket store in Ste Genevieve Des Bois, near Paris.
As part of the roll-out phase, Carrefour and Cust2Mate are looking to initially deploy smart carts in two of the former’s hypermarket stores in Q4 of this year.
Guillaume Cocovi, Director Strategy Transformation of the Carrefour Group, says: "We are seeing very, very positive feedback from customers at this store. Before launching this project, like any large company, we issued a call for proposals.”
“We looked at what was happening in the market, and Cust2Mate was the company that offered us the product that best matched our expectations and put the most effort into supporting us in the deployment. We felt it right away.”
“The relationship with the founders was very smooth, and the project started at full speed since the carts were already there. In just three months, the test could begin."
Scandit
Scandit has announced the launch of MatrixScan Find, an out-of-the-box solution designed to help frontline workers and consumers find items they are looking for faster, using augmented reality overlays on smart devices.
Part of the Scandit Smart Data Capture platform, this will support workers in retail, last mile delivery and logistics as well as offering consumers a product discovery experience.
Crocs
Obsess has announced the launch of a new virtual Jibbitz shopping experience in partnership with Crocs.
Available via mobile and desktop web, this is pitched as a virtual storytelling arena centred around self-expression, personalisation, gamification and education to promote the brand’s flagship Jibbitz charms.
The experience includes the brand’s first ever 3D Jibbitz Customizer, a feature engineered by Obsess to provide consumers with a mix and match tool to create their own unique pair of Crocs with Jibbitz charms, which can then be purchased directly from the virtual experience.
Deutsche Bahn
AiFi has announced the opening of its newest autonomous store within Berlin's Ostbahnhof Deutsche Bahn railway station.
The 24/7 ServiceStore is run by DB Station&Service, operated by SSP Deutschland.
While US-based AiFi has increased its European presence over the past four years, this newest location in Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg, Berlin, is the first one for public customers to launch in Germany.
"Our technology has been helping consumers avoid long queues and reclaim that critical time amid their travels, so that they can move through their days more swiftly and focus their time and attention on things that matter most," says Sander Garnier, New Business and Account Manager, Europe at AiFi.
"We are proud to partner with Deutsche Bahn to bring frictionless technology to shoppers and commuters in Berlin's Ostbahnhof railway station."
Shein
ESS
The Defence, Marine & Aerospace sector of ESS, part of Compass Group UK & Ireland, has opened its first fully frictionless store at the Defence Academy of the United Kingdom.
Market @ Churchill will operate under the company’s new ‘Market @’ brand.
The store utilises AiFi AI powered computer vision technology which allows customers to purchase items without having to wait in line or stop to scan or pay. Facial recognition or biometrics are not needed.
TikTok and Sook
TikTok is gearing up to launch another activation with Sook, a company that takes vacant retail spaces and gives them a modular, digital fit-out which can be rented by the hour.
Promoting TikTok Shop, this will be live in Oxford Street London from 1st to 6th July.
In a LinkedIn post, Sook Founder John Hoyle said: :Pretty excited about TikTok’s latest use of our Sook spaces.”
“Building on the success of live streaming and content creation collaborations in our Hammersmith and Edinburgh spaces this activation promoting TikTok Shop is a brilliant example of how IRL and online retail can support one another.”
“With over 40% of online brands wanting to activate physical spaces in the next three years this is what a huge part of the future of physical retail will look like.”
Wimbledon 2023
The All England Lawn Tennis Club is making its entry to online gaming platform Fortnite, with the launch of Race to Wimbledon.
The announcement is accompanied by various digital initiatives for Wimbledon fans that have been released this week, including new features on its Roblox experience WimbleWorld, a new gamified tennis app Wimbledon Smash, and a collaboration with mobile game Tennis Clash.
Players of Race to Wimbledon – which is presented in partnership with Amercian Express – will run, drive, parkour and fly past London landmarks, including Big Ben and the London Eye, through Wimbledon village and past Andy Murray’s golden letterbox, navigating around obstacles such as giant strawberries and tennis rackets, to make it to Centre Court in the fastest time.
As well as on all the usual devices, this will be available to play on-site throughout The Championships at the American Express Fan Experience in the Southern Village.
As part of the experience, players are challenged to beat the time of American Express ambassador Murray and post their time to social media.
Shopify
Shopify is launching Shopify Collabs in the UK, with the aim of making it simple for creators to monetise their channels across the likes of Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube, while giving brands a new sales and marketing funnel.
It will mean that consumers can hear about products from creators they trust.
Once a brand installs Collabs and makes their store and products discoverable, creators can join that brand’s community.
Shopify Collabs can then be used to manage the relationship, supplying creators with everything they need like unique links or discount codes, and enabling them to share the merchant’s products with their audiences.
The entire process is managed centrally from the Shopify admin, which means inventory, order, and customer information are kept up-to-date, giving a real-time view of the merchant’s entire multi-channel sales.
UK brands like French Connection, Color Wow, and Three Spirit Drinks are making use of Collabs.
Ocado Retail, Co-op, and Aldi
Recycling tech firm, Polytag, and sustainable waste management company, Biffa, have announced a collaboration with Ocado Retail, Co-op, and Aldi.
Through monitoring analytics via the Polytag dashboard, the UK retailers will be able to access real-time data insights, such as where, when and how much packaging has been recycled.
Moreover, Polytag will enable Biffa to start to capture real-time data on packaging composition directly through its processing operations, informing recycling strategy, investment in sorting, recovery equipment, and the onward tracking of materials.
The businesses have joined forces as part of plastics, resource, efficiency and recycling charity RECOUP’s 26-week long ‘Bottle to Bottle’ project, in conjunction with label printer Interket UK, the UK’s largest dairy co-operative Arla Foods and Müller Milk & Ingredients.
This will see Co-op’s water bottles and Aldi and Ocado’s milk marked with UV 2D tags, printed by Interket UK, with a Polytag UV tag reader retrofitted onto the plastic conveyor at Biffa’s Teesside MRF in the northeast of England.
Continue reading…