Starring Deliveroo, Upp., and Polytag: Check out last week’s most read RTIH retail technology articles
These are the RTIH articles that caught your fancy last week, including Deliveroo’s Snack To The Future report, a checkout-free stores first in Germany, and the story of Gorillas and how it exposes the brutal truth of the rapid grocery delivery industry.
Deliveroo Snack To The Future report predicts 3D printed meal plans and VR dinner parties
Deliveroo has marked its 10th birthday with a report looking into the future of food trends and delivery.
Snack To The Future brings together futurists and experts from the worlds of food, science, technology and innovation, including Georgie Barrat (technology journalist and TV presenter on The Gadget Show), and Kaave Pour (Co-Founder of Space10, Ikea’s R&D lab) to create a view of how the UK will be eating by 2040.
“The future of online sales”: Bonfire Ventures backs retail technology firm Upp. in seed funding round
Upp., a London-based firm that uses artificial intelligence and machine learning to help retailers market and sell their products online, has raised $10 million in a seed funding round led by Bonfire Ventures.
Upp.AI, the company’s platform, analyses data to optimise ad spend, improve product discovery, and increase e-commerce sales.
Polytag and Biffa team up to help Ocado Retail, Co-op and Aldi gain packaging lifecycle data
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.
Too fast, too furious: The story of Gorillas exposes brutal truth of rapid grocery delivery industry
A new movie covers the rise and fall of rapid delivery firm Gorillas, which last year was acquired by fellow quick commerce player Getir.
And it exposes the brutal truth of an industry that promised much but ultimately failed to deliver the goods.
Deutsche Bahn opens checkout-free store at railway station in Berlin, powered by AiFi technology
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."
Auchan Retail Poland opens first Auchan Go autonomous store powered by Trigo technology
Auchan Retail Poland opens first Auchan Go autonomous store powered by Trigo technology
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.
Leaning into innovation: Obsess teams up with Crocs on new Jibbitz virtual store and first ever 3D Customiser
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.
A2Z’s Cust2Mate subsidiary wraps Carrefour smart carts pilot and preps move to roll-out phase
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."
Amazon closes another Just Walk Out technology powered Amazon Go store amidst rise of remote working
Amazon has shuttered a five year old Amazon Go convenience store in downtown Seattle, three months after it announced that eight of its automated checkout locations (two each in Seattle and New York City and four in San Francisco) were closing across the US.
“We’ve closed our 5th and Marion Seattle Amazon Go location, and are working closely with employees to find new opportunities within Amazon, including at other nearby stores,” an Amazon spokesperson said.
“We continue operating more than 20 Amazon Go stores across the US, and look forward to opening more in the future.”
The spokesperson didn’t give reasons for the closure, but it should be noted that urban stores reliant on office workers have struggled amidst the rise of remote working in a post-Covid world.
The focus of late has been on larger suburban locations that feature a made to order kitchen.
Anyone for digital tennis? Wimbledon launches on Fortnite ahead of 2023 Grand Slam tournament
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.
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