Including Patchworks, Packfleet, and Voyado: 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 Ocado Retail, Polytag, Bower, JD Sports, Jesta, Zippin, Amazon Fresh, Oh Polly, Packfleet, Jigsaw, and Voyado.
Ocado Retail
The retailer has teamed up with Polytag and Bower to deliver the initiative.
Customers can scan a QR code printed onto Ocado’s own brand two and four pint milk bottles, which have just reduced in price to £1.45 and £1.20 respectively.
The first 20,000 codes scanned will see consumers receive a 20p reward which will appear in their digital wallet in the Bower app – the same amount that will be redeemed as a deposit in the upcoming Deposit Return Scheme legislation once it is rolled out in 2025. This 20p can then be withdrawn to their bank account.
Although consumers will not redeem a deposit – as it will not be added at the point of purchase – the partnership aims to demonstrate the viability of a DDRS by enabling people to receive a cash incentive for recycling using their smartphones.
JD Sports Canada
JD Sports has gone live in Canada with Jesta’s Retail Management Suite, which includes Omnichannel, Point of Sale, Merchandising ERP, Warehouse Management, Analytics and Loss Prevention cloud technology solutions.
“The Canadian marketplace has responded positively to JD and we want to give customers who shop in-store and online the best possible cross-channel experience by leveraging leading technology that optimises visibility, accuracy and speed,” says Gary Ochi, CEO, JD Sports Canada.
“We were impressed by Jesta’s ability to complete a significant ERP implementation within our tight timeline. We’re confident that we’ll see great returns by leveraging their technology.”
Zippin and Allegiant Stadium
Zippin has announced the opening of six new checkout-free stores at Allegiant Stadium, the home of the Las Vegas Raiders.
Launched in collaboration with Levy, the hospitality partner at Allegiant Stadium, these represent an expansion to the existing four Zippin Lanes that were deployed last season.
The Allegiant Stadium has now become the first location in the world with ten checkout-free stores.
“Our partnership with Zippin quickly provided tremendous value for the Las Vegas Raiders," says Team President, Sandra Douglass Morgan.
"We had such success with our first four Zippin Lanes that we decided to expand our investment after just a few home games.”
“We're committed to being at the forefront of technology that delivers exceptional game day experiences and proud to be a pioneer with checkout-free technology as adoption continues to gain speed throughout the sports industry."
Amazon Fresh
Amazon Fresh is gearing up to open a checkout-free store at Moorgate in the City of London.
This will be situated next to a big Marks & Spencer store and not far from a Tesco GetGo autonomous location in Chiswell Street.
Amazon Fresh stores initially involved a customer scanning a code in the Amazon app at an entry barrier.
The barrier then opened, enabling people to enter, pick items and walk out, receiving a receipt shortly after leaving.
The ‘frictionless’ process has been rejigged, however, with the two most recent stores binning the entry gates, and instead requiring customers to scan the app or a payment card as they exit. The entry barrier has also been ditched at the Angel and Islington, London stores.
Amazon did not respond to our request for comment as to the Moorgate location’s set up.
SupplyHouse.com
SupplyHouse.com, an e-commerce distributor focused on the plumbing, electrical, heating and HVAC industries, is partnering with RELEX Solutions, in a bid to streamline demand forecasting and inventory replenishment tasks.
The RELEX solution will support the company’s four distribution centres in Nevada, New Jersey, Texas, and Ohio, improving product availability and customer experience.
DIGISEQ
DIGISEQ has revealed details of a partnership with prepaid provider Payme Swiss, that let fans attending the 2023 UEFA Champions League final pay through a contactless vegan ‘leather’ key fob made from apple skin waste.
DIGISEQ’s chip enabled device came pre-loaded with €20 to be spent on-site at the Atatürk Olympic Stadium, whilst also enabling guests to check in their coats and bags in the cloakroom and redeem e-vouchers for half-time food and beverages via mobile readers.
By tapping their fob on the back of their mobile phones, users could find out their remaining balance, information about the day, and learn more about a charity campaign to support children affected by the recent earthquake in Turkey.
Oh Polly
Oh Polly has partnered with Packfleet to provide London-based shoppers with carbon free fashion deliveries.
Aided by all electric courier Packfleet’s live map tracking, customers can follow their parcel every step of the journey.
On delivery day, they will have the option to change everything about their shipment – including the time their parcel arrives, the address it arrives at and even whether drivers ring the doorbell.
The deal will see Packfleet handle all of Oh Polly’s orders within the M25, with occasion wear, activewear and swimwear being hand-delivered by the former’s drivers.
SPAR
The SPAR Austria group - SPAR (including INTERSPAR and Maximarkt), Hervis and SES Spar European Shopping Center - is upgrading its INTERSPAR Austria online shop with composable commerce technology.
The group’s IT unit, SPAR ICS, selected Vue Storefront and Contentstack for this.
“We recognised the need for a more innovative e-commerce solution” says Andreas Kranabitl, Managing Director, SPAR ICS.
“The partnership with Vue Storefront and Contentstack allows us to leverage the latest web technologies, achieve superior performance, and provide an exceptional shopping experience to customers while maintaining the agility and flexibility to adapt to changing market demands.”
DFS
DFS has partnered with CM.com.
The multi-year deal sees the retailer integrate CM.com’s Sofia conversational AI chatbot technology into its existing platform to help automate customer conversations.
Using product features including dialogues, intent and a Q&A database, Sofia supports customers to get to the right information they need more easily – such as Where’s My Order (WISMO) requests, delivery status updates, and product information.
N Brown Group
Fashion and homeware digital retailer, N Brown Group, has launched a new trading website for Jacamo, its menswear brand.
This follows the implementation of a new site for Simply Be in September, and is pitched as another important step in the Group’s digital transformation journey.
Teatro Arcimboldi Milan
Teatro Arcimboldi Milan has inked a deal with Nexi which will see it become the first cashless theatre in Italy.
Teatro Arcimboldi Milan opened in 2002 as host of the Teatro alla Scala.
From September, tickets for performances will be payable digitally.
This will subsequently be extended to all of TAM’s service partners: the Il Sole 24Ore bookshop, the Finger's restaurant and the Dal Milanese restaurant. Nexi is providing the technological infrastructure and payment devices.
Jigsaw
Jigsaw has announced Voyado as its new solution for customer loyalty and marketing automation.
The tie up is Sweden-based Voyado’s first UK customer win.
Roku and Shopify
Roku is partnering with Shopify to enable people to purchase products from the latter’s merchants through their TVs.
Viewers will be able to interact with a Roku Action Ad for a Shopify merchant by using their TV remote.
They can buy a product with Roku Pay. The merchant will send an email confirmation of the order once the transaction has been processed.
Roku Action Ads are any advertisements on Roku streaming devices that provide a down funnel action, such as sending users a text, scanning a QR code, or making a purchase.
Integrating Shopify purchases into Action Ads is the first commerce integration for independent Shopify merchants on TV streaming.
Men’s apparel brand True Classic, the game-based connected rower Ergatta, and wellness brand Olly have signed on as initial partners.
Sprayway
Outdoor brand Sprayway is using predictive analytics from Patchworks BI.
The company, which celebrates 50 years in business next year, found itself facing a major boom in the e-commerce industry and also more competition to engage those into outdoor activities like walking, hillwalking and hiking.
Added to this, the Covid-19 pandemic had accelerated consumer focus on brands with a strong online presence that delivered consistently great experiences in bricks and mortar stores.
Understanding the need for greater insight, Sprayway used Patchworks BI to make business decisions based on data to improve its marketing strategy, which saw total visitors to its website surge by 58%.
Patchworks’ insights have driven orders up almost a third over a 12 month period.
Ocado Group and AEON
Ocado Group and AEON have announced the official go live of their first customer fulfilment centre (CFC) in Japan.
This began taking orders today from customers across the Kanto region.
In April, AEON NEXT revealed its online grocery delivery brand, Green Beans. The service will offer a 50,000 SKU product range at scale as well as a smart cart function and one-hour delivery slots to customers.
A second CFC will be based in Hachioji, Tokyo. Further CFCs will follow, and the capacity will be served using a configuration of different sized facilities from the Ocado ecosystem.
The launch of the Honda CFC represents the first official launch of an Ocado CFC in Asia.
The Whisky Shop
The Whisky Shop has launched Recite Me accessibility and language tools on its e-commerce store.
Visitors can now utilise a range of solutions to read and understand content in a way that best suits their needs.
Features include screen reading functionality, multiple reading aids, customisable styling options, and an on-demand live translation feature that offers over 100 languages, 65 of which are text-to-speech.
A.F. Blakemore & Son
A.F. Blakemore & Son, the largest SPAR wholesaler in the UK, is working with RELEX Solutions to automate and optimise its supply chain processes.
A.F. Blakemore has 9,000 SKUs in its product range and an annual turnover of £1.2 billion in 2022. The RELEX software will be implemented at its distribution centres, using the solution for forecasting and replenishment of fresh, ambient and frozen categories.
The system uses AI and machine learning-based analytics and replaces A.F. Blakemore’s previous arrangement of multiple overlapping ERP systems and manual spreadsheets.
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