Aldi UK gets into the pizza delivery business: 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 Ikea USA, Asda, SAP Emarsys, M-Cube, Temenos, Badger Technologies, and DoorDash.
3…Aldi UK will start its first ever pizza delivery service across three cities on Tuesday, 3rd October.
Serving up its new Ultimate Takeaway range, customers can pre-order pizzas for £3.99 each, with no delivery cost incurred.
Launching across key student locations across the UK, Manchester, Edinburgh and Cardiff, to coincide with Fresher’s Week, those within selected postcodes can pre-book their delivery timeslot via a dedicated website – aldipizzadelivery.co.uk – from this week.
91%…A study of 250 UK-based retail leaders, conducted by M-Cube, shows that 91% have experienced revenue increases after investing in digital signage solutions.
98% of those surveyed believe that retail media will shape the future of retail. Moreover, 89% are turning to retail media strategies to enhance profit margins.
60% predict that up to a quarter of their revenue will stem from such solutions. In fact, 48% noted an uptick in revenue and profits due to this investment.
52% pinpointed increased brand awareness and product discovery as the primary benefits of retail media on the customer shopping experience. When quizzed about the essential components for executing these strategies, 83% emphasised the pivotal role of real-time consumer behaviour data.
1…Ikea USA has introduced its first ever buy now, pay later (BNPL) programme in partnership with Afterpay.
The latter’s Pay in 4 service is now available nationwide in-store and online.
“We value our customers and strive to ensure accessibility and affordability. We aim to provide the best shopping experience with great quality products, for the many,” says Christine Briganti, Financial Services Deployment Project Leader at Ikea US.
“By partnering with Afterpay, we will lower the barriers for our customers to design their dream spaces.”
Three in five Americans expect all payments to be digital in the near future, rising to two thirds among Millennials (67%), according to research from banking platform provider, Temenos.
A survey of 2,000 US adults found that 24% never or rarely use cash (less than monthly), preferring methods such as mobile banking and payment apps.
71% use mobile or online banking for payments with 36% sending account to account transfers via wire or ACH at least monthly.
53% use a payment app like PayPal or Venmo at least monthly while 41% opt for a mobile wallet such as Google Pay or Apple Pay. 26% use QR codes for payments, while 16% do so via some form of cryptocurrency.
2…Asda has announced the appointments of Rob Barnes and Adrian Berry to its technology team to oversee the oversee the development of its new strategy and separation from Walmart.
Barnes is currently Chief Technology Officer at Marks and Spencer and will join Asda early next year as Delivery Director.
He will be responsible for the design, build and delivery of all colleague and customer facing technology and will also act as Deputy Chief Information Officer.
Prior to joining M&S, he was MD of Accenture’s Retail Tech Advisory business, where he managed technology delivery for a range of clients including Dyson, Clarks, Tesco, Sainsbury’s and Best Buy.
Berry also joins in the new year as Chief Technology Officer and will have responsibility for all core technology teams including service delivery, infrastructure, application engineering, platform teams and enterprise technology services.
He most recently served as CIO at Aston Barclay Vehicle Remarketing, and prior to that as UK CIO and Group CTO at Lowell Credit Management.
£9.43 billion…New data from the Adobe Digital Economy Index, powered by Adobe Analytics, shows that a total of £9.43 billion was spent online in the UK in August (down just 1.3% year-on-year, and down 3.5% compared with July), with shoppers stocking up on school uniforms and barbecues before the start of the new school year and to prepare for scorching early September weather.
53%…Planet, a software, payment, and technology solutions firm, has announced the findings from its poll of over 7,707 consumers across 19 nations.
For 53% of UK shoppers, a retailer accepting their preferred payment method makes for a great online shopping experience. In fact, it’s more important than a simple exchange and return (47%) process and having the visibility of shop stocks on the website (32%).
Payments are also the main factor for Brits shopping in-store too with over half saying that it’s very important that their payment method of choice is accepted.
This comes in ahead of features such as the ability for staff to check stock availability in real-time (37%) and home delivery where the item is not available in-store (34%).
£540,000 and £750,000…UK-based Bare Kind reports that sales jumped from £200,000 to £540,000 last year and are expected to hit £750,000 this year as more retailers stock its eco-friendly animal themed socks which help to support 25 conservation and rescue charities.
Founder Lucy Jeffrey, 28, who gave up a role with HSBC to start the company five years ago, says the key to sales success was the growth of wholesale and Bare Kind socks are now sold in more than 600 retailers around the world.
She comments: “We are in a mix of stores including gift shops, clothing boutiques and a massive one for us has been podiatrists - because our socks are made from bamboo they are really good for your feet.”
Jeffrey talks about sustainability and her business success on the recently launched Retales podcast from Brightpearl by Sage.
“In addition to giving merchants a new way to reach customers, on-demand alcohol delivery helps partners grow their business. On DoorDash, adding alcohol may increase grocers’ average order value by up to 30%. Order values for US convenience orders were on average over 50% higher when alcohol was added,” says Fuad Hannon, Vice President of New Verticals at DoorDash.
“We’ve worked hard to build a trusted alcohol ordering and delivery experience. The expansion of our partnership with Aldi reinforces our commitment to provide growth opportunities for local merchants, while simultaneously providing a safe, high quality experience for customers.”
300…Badger Technologies is working with Stop & Shop, an Ahold Delhaize USA company, to expand its use of Marty the Robot at more than 300 stores throughout the US Northeast.
The robot now conducts product checks to help ensure greater on-shelf availability for customers by alerting store associates when items need re-stocking. Marty also detects misplaced items while continuing the usual task of spotting potential floor hazards and spills.
Badger Technologies’ autonomous robots were rolled out at Stop & Shop stores starting in January 2019.
5 and 7…Pixevia has partnered with IKI, a member of REWE Group, to launch a fifth autonomous store in Vilnius, Lithuania.
The IKI GO store is located next to the Green Bridge public transport stop. It is the seventh location overall powered by Pixevia technology.
Contained in a small format pavilion, it operates without staff for approximately 95% of its opening hours, only requiring occasional restocking.
Shoppers can choose from over 200 items – from hot coffee beverages and chilled ready-to-eat meals to ice creams, snacks, drinks, and essential non-food items.
The store features Pixevia’s proprietary real-time checkout technology, which allows customers to enter by tapping a payment card.
People take what items they want from the shelves while cameras and shelf sensors compile a virtual shopping basket. They then tap the same payment card to exit the store, and receive a real-time receipt which can be printed upon leaving.
90%…Online retailers trapped between keeping loyal customers and dwindling profits amidst rise of policy abusers
A new Riskified report reveals how consumer misuse of refunds, returns, and promotional programmes, alongside resellers, is forcing retailers and other merchants to strike a difficult balance between keeping customers and accepting an inevitable loss in profits.
This found that policy abuse behaviours such as excessive returns, refund scams such as claiming an item was not received or returning empty boxes, abusing promotions like coupon codes or loyalty programme rewards, or reselling limited inventory items, is soaring.
90% of online merchants believe policy abuse is a significant problem for their bottom lines.
2,000…SAP Emarsys has released a series of pictures providing a glimpse into the future of UK retail. Produced via the generative AI platform Midjourney, these bring to life the results of a new study, exploring how UK shoppers will browse and buy with AI in future.
A survey of over 2,000 Brits found that:
21% would be open to letting AI define their fashion choices, deciding what looks best and purchasing clothing items on their behalf
22% want to use AI to shop for groceries, suggesting items that are running low in the kitchen
16% would go as far as to allow AI to select their meals for them, deciding not just what to buy and eat, but when to eat it.
18% would allow AI to guide their reading choices, making automated selections of new books to read
25% would be willing to let AI automatically select the best beauty products for them
26% would trust AI to curate and manage their morning skincare routines
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