Featuring Grabango, Goodays, and AutoStore: 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 the arrival of the latest issue of Retail Technology Innovation Hub (RTIH) magazine.
6,000…The past five years saw Britain lose 6,000 retail outlets, according to the British Retail Consortium (BRC) and Local Data Company.
That’s 6,000 gone in the top 650 town centres in Britain, 2.8% of the total.
The BRC says that crippling business rates and the impact of Covid lockdowns are a key part of retailers’ decisions to close stores and think twice about new openings.
1…Hongkong Post has teamed up with Geek+ to implement its first robotic packet sorting system.
Geek+'s proprietary sorting and mobile robots have enabled Hongkong Post to simplify the overall workflow and achieve a more efficient and accurate sorting process in comparison to the traditional manual way of doing things which is more labour intensive.
The sorting capacity of the robotic system can reach up to 1,000 packets per hour.
50 and 11…Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield (URW) has shared the first results of its implementation of the Goodays customer experience management platform across 50 shopping centres in 11 different countries – including its Westfield London locations.
The Connect offering was deployed by the group in summer 2022 as part of a drive to re-establish a strong, emotional bond with customers after the disconnect caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.
It provides customers at each shopping centre with a system to instantly leave feedback through a wide range of touchpoints – from in-centre QR codes at reception areas to digital and social channels.
Feedback is then routed to each centre team in real-time to take action and make better, data-based decisions on behalf of customers. The solution also enables the group to boost its reputation on public platforms such as Google My Business and Trip Advisor.
5…The fifth issue of Retail Technology Innovation Hub (RTIH) magazine is now available.
This edition focuses on physical stores in a post-Covid world.
Download the magazine here.
Within its pages, you will find a rundown of the top ‘future of bricks and mortar retail’ tech launches and deployments from the first six months of the year, including Walmart, Asda, A.S. Watson Group, Amazon, Aldi, EE, Puma, and Coach.
In addition, we ask: is checkout-free retail's next to next normal?
Or is the constant drive by retailers to innovate via autonomous technology deployments failing to deliver what their customers want and need?
Be sure to check out an article by Ron Delnevo, Chair of the UK Payment Choice Alliance, who argues that cashless autonomous checkout shopping should not be the way of the future.
“Cash is the only method that always works; every retailer has experienced card and digital downtime – cash never goes down,” he states.
Finally, don’t miss regular contributor Mike Cadden’s latest piece for RTIH, in which he discusses how the store should be at the centre of post-Covid hybrid retail strategies.
“Human beings are intrinsically social animals, as the cliché goes, “people buy from other people” and there has certainly been a desire for customers to return to retail as a personal experience, to get back that experiential element of the consumer journey. We’ve already seen that many shoppers are not happy with the drive to convenience at all costs in-store,” he writes.
“They have the option of uber convenience online if they want it. What the return to physical retail is showing is that consumers want something more from their (mainly) hedonic shopping experience, they want a connection, an experience.”
400…GXO’s Clicklink service has been selected by fashion retailer New Look to manage its Click & Collect network serving all 400 mainland UK stores.
“We’re delighted that New Look has chosen to partner with us to enhance its Click & Collect offering through our industry leading Clicklink service,” says Richard Ball, Managing Director, Clicklink, GXO.
“One of Clicklink’s chief benefits is speed. We offer next-day in-store delivery and enable the majority of New Look’s returns to re-enter inventory the following day, enabling faster consumer refunds and maximising customer revenues and margins through improved inventory turn and higher full priced sales.”
“Clicklink will improve the experience for New Look’s online customers. Last year, for example, it was still processing customer orders on 23rd December for next day delivery on 24th December. We're committed to providing this high level of service to New Look all year round.”
£200 million…Norwegian robotics specialist AutoStore is to pay £200 million to British online grocery retailer and tech supplier Ocado Group as part of a deal to settle all outstanding patent litigation claims.
Both companies licence their technology to retailers and had been involved in legal battles to defend their intellectual property.
They are now able to use and market all their own existing products without challenge.
AutoStore will pay £200 million Ocado in instalments over a two-year period. No reason was given for this payment.
The agreement does not allow for collaboration, technology support between the companies, or access to actual products.
It does, however, grant access to both the companies to certain portions of each other's patent portfolios for them to use or manufacture their own products.
2…MAPCO has launched its second checkout-free store.
The Grabango powered location can be found in Nashville, Tennessee.
"We’re thrilled to bring Grabango’s seamless checkout experience to additional Nashville customers, who want quick and efficient visits,” says Frederic Chaveyriat, CEO at MAPCO.
“We are seeing an increasing number of our shoppers opt for this faster, convenient checkout option, furthering our commitment to offering MAPCO customers a better break when they shop in-store."
Grabango uses computer vision to eliminate two of the biggest pain points experienced by shoppers - waiting in line and scanning items.
Its system doesn’t require shelf sensors, changes to store layout, or product mix, and operates in large format stores.
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