Carrefour, Walmart, and Crocs lead the way as RTIH presents June’s coolest retail technology plays
RTIH Editor, Scott Thompson, brings you his stand out ‘future of retail’ systems deployments from June, including autonomous stores, smart carts, green initiatives, resale programmes, and augmented reality experiences.
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."
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.
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.
True and BRC
True, a retail and consumer specialist investment and innovation firm, has announced a partnership with trade association British Retail Consortium (BRC).
The aim is to give BRC members access to cutting-edge technology and to foster innovation through True's expertise and network.
True has developed a new offering, Amplify, to help retailers find technology that works for them.
This is powered by its experience from investing in and growing technology startup businesses, its sector research, and technology successes with its corporate partners in the retail industry.
The partnership kicks off with a series of roundtable events for BRC members on accessing better technologies.
Faherty
Faherty, a clothing and lifestyle brand, and Archive have partnered to launch Second Wave.
The new resale programme allows customers to buy and sell preloved Faherty clothing through a peer-to-peer marketplace site and will also list repaired and renewed brand owned inventory.
“We have always been committed to greater circularity and we are thrilled to partner with Archive to launch Second Wave,” says Kerry Docherty, Co-Founder and Chief Impact Officer, Faherty.
“The programme will give our customers multiple ways to shop for, enjoy and extend the lives of preloved Faherty items. Because long lasting quality is at the core of what we do, we believe our product only gets better with age.”
“Resale is a natural next step in our growth as a brand that has always taken its responsibility to our customers and the planet seriously.”
Walmart
Live commerce platform TalkShopLive has launched Shoppable Simulcast in the US.
This allows sellers to simulcast their shoppable livestreams to their Facebook business page as a Facebook Live, while keeping the shopping element intact.
Walmart, which has worked with TalkShopLive on over 150 live shopping experiences, was the first to activate the Shoppable Simulcast product with a live show on 20th June featuring The Pioneer Woman, Ree Drummond.
Drummond, who has held several shopping events with TalkShopLive, launched her new furniture line.
The livestream appeared on TalkShopLive, Walmart’s Facebook page, Walmart.com/live and The Pioneer Woman’s Facebook page.
M&S
Marks and Spencer’s Online Suit Fit service is now live at its Hedge End store in Hampshire.
This is powered by Emplifi technology.
In a LinkedIn post, Amy Traves, In-Store Experiences Manager at M&S, said: “I have spent the last week with the fantastic suit fitting team at our Hedge End store to extend our online services to include Suit Fit.”
“We are excited to now connect our online customers via two-way video with the same expert advice and help from our colleagues as you would find in our stores.”
Customers can connect via the retailer’s suit and formalwear product pages or here.
This lines up alongside an online bra fit service and online furniture consultations offering.
EE
EE has opened a new flagship store, The EE Studio, located in Westfield London, White City.
Focused on connectivity and technology solutions, the 4,230-square-foot location will also serve as a hub for the local community to work, learn and play.
The launch forms part of EE’s new strategy, which, the company says, “seeks to reinvent the role of retail in the telco industry, putting innovation, personal experience, and community front and centre”.
ZERO10
ZERO10 unveiled a prototype AR store and showed it off at Viva Technology, a startup and tech event that took place on 14th-17th June, in Paris, France.
The introduction of the firm’s AR Mirror offering as a standalone store follows ZERO10’s recent collaborations with fashion big hitters Tommy Hilfiger and Coach, which deployed the AR Mirror and Storefront respectively.
Unlike those cases, where AR Mirror served as an additional element to existing bricks and mortar stores, the AR Store prototype presents the solution as the standalone focus, pitched as an autonomous retail agent.
3D Cloud by Marxent
3D Cloud by Marxent, a specialist in 3D kitchen design and furniture planning, has announced an early access programme for its 3D Cloud Room Scanner offering.
Retailers can now sign up to be among the first to deploy the capabilities of the company's LiDAR room scan to design solution for capturing room measurements that can then be directly dropped into 3D Cloud Room Planner for designing with real, buyable products.
Cleveron
Estonian firm Cleveron has unveiled the Cleveron 354, a battery powered outdoor parcel locker.
CEO Arti Kütt says: “Our projections show that within a decade, 80% of last mile deliveries in Europe will be conducted via parcel lockers, which will emerge as the preferred method among end customers.”
“This approach is not only more cost-effective but also significantly more sustainable. Battery powered parcel lockers will play a pivotal role in driving this revolution, as these can be installed basically on every street corner.”
“Cleveron 354 is designed to directly address this challenge, offering an intelligent solution for a more sustainable world.”
“Implementing a locker network significantly reduces the need for home deliveries which costs rise yearly.
Consumers have shown a willingness to retrieve their parcels within a comfortable five-minute walking radius, making Cleveron 354 the best solution for network build outs.”
Warner Bros. Pictures
Perfect Corp. has launched an interactive augmented reality (AR) experience for the Warner Bros. Pictures’ film The Flash.
Movie filters and effects are available free to users in the AR try-on app, YouCam Makeup, and photo-editing app, YouCam Perfect.
The Flash virtual experience features an exclusive animated effect and stickers that invite users to activate their inner superhero and step into a time travel adventure powered by Perfect Corp.’s AI technology.
This was available in the run up to the launch of the movie, in cinemas on 16th June.
Store No8 and Outlier Ventures
Store No8, Walmart’s incubation arm, and Outlier Ventures, a Web3 investor, have announced the launch of the Store No8 dCommerce Base Camp accelerator programme.
The 12-week initiative will begin in mid-August.
The aim is to help a select cohort of startups focused on building in Web3 to deliver solutions that improve the global retail and commerce experience.
The chosen teams will focus on building across areas that include decentralised infrastructure, data and growth solutions, immersive experiences and the metaverse, and the intersection of AI and blockchain technology.
The programme will provide funding to each of the selected founders, as well as access to subject matter expertise and mentorship across Outlier Ventures and Store Nº8’s team and network.
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