Time to down drone deliveries?: RTIH’s biggest retail technology news stories of the week
It’s Friday, the weekend is almost upon us, so let’s kick back and reflect on another eventful week for the retail systems space. Here's your briefing on the most important stories from the past five days, including Rohlik Group , John Lewis Partnership, Amazon, Netto, and Newegg.
1. Erwin Brunner joins online grocery delivery firm Rohlik Group as Chief Operating Officer
European online grocery retailer, Rohlik Group, has announced the appointment of Erwin Brunner as Chief Operating Officer (COO).
Brunner previously served as Vice President of European Operations at GoPuff and Vice President of Operations EU at Amazon.
During his tenure at Amazon, he played a key role in optimising supply chain processes, implementing innovative logistics solutions, and driving operational efficiencies. At GoPuff he drove European expansion.
In his new job, Brunner will oversee the company's operations, including fulfilment, last mile and supply chain logistics.
2. John Lewis Partnership boosts retail technology transformation push with Google Cloud tie up
John Lewis Partnership has announced a partnership with Google Cloud, worth £100 million over the next five years. This is an expansion of the relationship it has had with Google since 2012.
The collaboration is pitched as a significant step forward in John Lewis Partnership's digital transformation of its John Lewis and Waitrose brands, and its ambitions to provide customers with more tailored and personalised experiences.
Under the expanded agreement, more of the organisation's technology will migrate to Google Cloud, harnessing the cloud provider's latest offerings, including advanced artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML).
The hope is that these tools will enable the John Lewis Partnership workforce, known as Partners, to be more efficient, spend more time focusing on customers, and better use data insights to help curate great products and services.
The partnership will also support a pan-Partnership loyalty programme in 2024.
3. German retailer Netto: thousands of store brand food and beverage products now Digimarc Recycle ready
German retailer Netto Marken-Discount reports that its private labeled food and beverage products are now digitised using Digimarc technology, including incorporating covert Digimarc digital watermarks into the packaging.
“It is exciting to partner with retailers like Netto that are setting the example for the rest of the industry and leading the way for a circular economy,” says Digimarc CEO Riley McCormack.
“More sustainable packaging is becoming a business imperative, and ourdigital watermarks are transforming recycling as a validated way to improve circularity dramatically.”
“We initially cooperated with Digimarc to optimise our checkout by digitising our private label food and beverage products with Digimarc’s technology,” says Christina Stylianou, Netto Corporate Spokesperson.
“Netto is now also well positioned to adopt Digimarc Recycle by leveraging the same Digimarc digital watermarking technology that makes the checkout easier and more efficient. We are ready and excited for Digimarc Recycle to come to Germany in the near future.”
4. Online retailer Newegg is now offering ChatGPT AI powered customer review summaries
Newegg, an online retailer for PC hardware, consumer electronics, gaming peripherals, home appliances, automotive and lifestyle tech, is tapping artificial intelligence (AI) for customer reviews.
Using ChatGPT, it says that it now offers concise summaries of said reviews on product pages to enable shoppers to make more informed decisions quickly and easily.
Previously, shoppers relied on average product ratings to gauge customer sentiment. After analysing all reviews, the AI extracts key terms and phrases to generate concise synopses, called Review Bytes.
These highlight product owners’ opinions of their likes and dislikes of each product, helping shoppers understand key aspects without having to read reviews. By clicking on each Review Byte, customers can access the full reviews from which the information originated.
Additionally, a paragraph summary, called SummaryAI, provides further insights into multiple customers’ opinions with sentences to elaborate on key points.
For example, if a customer is shopping for a graphics card, they can find Review Bytes covering pros like installation ease, fan noise and average temperature benefits and, as a con, coil whine. The SummaryAI complements these insights with more in-depth information.
These features are currently available only on Newegg’s desktop website for products with a minimum number of reviews.
5. Seattle Seahawks and Lumen Field expand use of fan favourites Amazon One and Just Walk Out technology
The Seattle Seahawks and Lumen Field are set expand the venue’s use of Amazon’s Just Walk Out technology and Amazon One with deployments at both retail and concession locations, including at the new Seahawks Pro Shop Outlet for fan merchandise.
The latter will open starting with the Seahawks home preseason game on 10th August and is located in the northwest corner of the stadium’s main concourse near section 140.
Fans will find a variety of team gear offered at reduced prices including hats, shirts, jerseys, and souvenirs.
6. Serve Robotics announces go public move as startup secures $30 million investment
Autonomous sidewalk delivery robot startup, Serve Robotics, which was spun out of Uber’s acquisition of Postmates, has gone public via a reverse merger with Patricia Acquisition Corp, and also raising $30 million in a round led by existing investors Uber, Nvidia, and Wavemaker Partners.
This brings the company’s total funds secured to over $56 million.
Uber Vice President of Delivery and Head of Americas, Sarfraz Maredia, has now joined the board.
The latest financing enables Serve to enter new markets across the United States and advance its AI powered mobility platform.
It will also begin scaling up its robotic fleet to meet what it describes as “massive and rapidly-increasing customer demand for last mile automation”, including fulfilling its commercial agreement to deploy up to 2,000 robots with Uber Eats.
7. Here’s why Amazon must face the facts and accept reality when it comes to costly drone deliveries
Amazon should shut down its drone programme, according to Brittain Ladd, a supply chain consultant and former executive at the US e-commerce giant.
Ladd was speaking as Amazon lost two executives key to its drone delivery operations.
Jim Mullin, Prime Air's chief pilot, left last month, whilst Robert Dreer, who reported to Mullin and was responsible for all of Prime Air's test operations, departed last week for a role at electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft startup Opener.
In a LinkedIn post, Ladd said: “There comes a point in time when individuals and companies must face the facts and accept reality.”
Amazon, he noted, has been touting since 2013 that it would become the leader in delivering packages that weighed five pounds or less via drones. “The brutal truth is that Amazon isn’t close to achieving their goal.”
“Despite receiving millions in funding, Amazon Prime Air is only testing drones in two small markets, and the programme has been plagued by drone crashes and poor drone performance.”
Continue reading…