Drones, RFID and generative AI: RTIH’s most read retail technology articles from last week
Check out the articles on this here website that caught your fancy this past week, including Astound Commerce, Victoria's Secret & Co., Google Cloud, Pricer, Auctane, Patchworks, HelloFresh, and Amazon’s Just Walk Out technology.
Salesforce specialist Bill Donlan joins Astound Commerce as Global CEO
Astound Commerce has named Bill Donlan as its new Global CEO.
The ex-head of the Salesforce Practice at Capgemini and KPMG will take charge immediately at Astound, which provides digital experiences for global B2B and B2C brands in retail and other areas.
It is itself a Global Salesforce C360 platform specialist, so can tap into his prior knowledge of the ecosystem.
Victoria's Secret & Co. gets personal as it taps Google Cloud AI and generative AI technologies
Victoria's Secret & Co. (VS&Co) and Google Cloud have announced a multi-year partnership.
The former will leverage Google Cloud's AI and generative AI technologies to create more personalised and inclusive online shopping experiences for its customers.
Through this partnership, VS&Co will also leverage Google Cloud's AI technologies to improve customer and associate experiences and drive operational efficiencies within the business.
UK outdoor retailer fully deploys electronic shelf labels from Pricer to improve CX and efficiency
Outdoor and Cycle Concepts (O&CC), the largest outdoor, running and snowsports retailer in the UK, comprising of high street brands Cotswold Outdoor, Runners Need and Snow+Rock, is expanding the £1.5 million roll-out of electronic shelf labels from Sweden’s Pricer to all its 78 stores by May.
PacSun kicks off deployment of Nedap iD Cloud Store RFID solution across its stores
Nedap has partnered with PacSun to implement RFID across the company’s fleet of stores.
Deployment of iD Cloud Store to all of PacSun’s stores is estimated to be completed in Q1 2024.
It says that it is tapping the solution to increase inventory accuracy, inform replenishment decisions, and improve both omnichannel and in-store experiences.
Shirley Gao, Chief Digital and Information Officer at PacSun, says: “Meeting our Gen Z customers in how they want to shop is crucial. PacSun shoppers are social media savvy and shop our exclusive merch drops with urgency.”
“We pay attention to our customers' desired preferences and listen to them every second of every day - including their expectations of a seamless shopping experience. To achieve this, PacSun is a digital disruptor and we actively invest in technologies that will help take our brand experience to the next level.”
“Partnering with Nedap is helping us unlock competitive advantages as we tap into data rich fulfilment and operational cheat codes to get the right product to the right stores for the right customers.”
Walmart hits CES 2024 to lay claim to largest drone delivery expansion by any US retailer
Walmart is now offering drone delivery for up to 75% of the Dallas-Fort Worth (DFW) population, giving it the largest such footprint of any US retailer.
It made the announcement at CES 2024, which is currently taking place in Las Vegas.
“This expansion will bring the ultimate convenience of drone delivery to communities across the DFW area. Customers will have access to a broad assortment of items from Walmart available for delivery to their home in just minutes,” says Prathibha Rajashekhar, Senior Vice President, Innovation & Automation, Walmart U.S.
“Drone delivery is not just a concept of the future, it’s happening now and will soon be a reality for millions of additional Texans.”
The expansion includes stores across more than 30 towns and municipalities in the DFW metroplex, marking the first time a US retailer has offered drone delivery to this many households in a single market.
The deliveries will be powered by Wing and Zipline. Both are approved by the FAA to fly their drones without a dedicated observer being able to see the drone at all times, known as Beyond Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS).
Customers can receive orders within 30 minutes or less and some deliveries can happen as fast as 10 minutes.
Expected boom in exempt Facebook Marketplace as UK HMRC side hustle tax hits other platforms
Facebook Marketplace could become the go-to digital platform when it comes to second-hand purchases ahead of Vinted and Depop, according to research from consumer research platform GWI, after new UK tax rules came in at the turn of the year that mean sellers making more than £1,700 a year – roughly £140 a month – will now be taxed.
The UK HMRC tax authority crackdown on second-hand ‘side hustles’ comes as government tries to stretch its remit into the online world as much as it already penetrates bricks and mortar retail.
Disrupt Retail Innovation Lab fourth edition opens with focus on data, in-store ops and media
The Disrupt Retail Innovation Lab has issued its latest call for technology inviting startups to enter their ideas to get support from four retailers for pilots and proofs of concepts (PoCs) in the areas of data and customer insights, in-store operations, and retail media.
Applications open on 8th January and close on 4th February.
Amazon Just Walk Out tech hits hospitals, with badge pay for doctors, nurses, health care staff
Amazon has announced a new addition to its Just Walk Out offering, the tech service that enables a checkout-free shopping experience for customers.
The new capability, called “badge pay,” will bring JWO to health care settings, so doctors, nurses, and other health care staff can grab food and beverages at all hours by scanning their employee badge.
St. Joseph’s/Candler at its Candler Hospital Campus in Savannah, Georgia, is the first US hospital with a Just Walk Out technology store and the first location to offer the badge pay capability.
“For the last several years, we have been offering Just Walk Out technology as a service to third-party retailers, and today, you can find enabled stores at more than 120 third-party locations,” says Jon Jenkins, Vice President, Just Walk Out technology, AWS Applications.
“These third-party locations include airports, stadiums, university campuses, grocery and convenience stores, theme parks, cafes, and more in the US, UK, Australia, and Canada. Just Walk Out technology is also available in dozens of Amazon owned stores.”
He adds: “As businesses embrace the benefits of this technology, our team continues to innovate to enable retailers to offer an expanded array of products, bring checkout-free stores to new locations and new shoppers, and increase throughput and sales.”
Auctane hires Matt Schurk as Chief Sales Officer and Sara Feulner as Chief Human Resources Officer
Auctane, a delivery experience company that operates brands such as ShipStation, Metapack, and ShipEngine, has named Matt Schurk as Chief Sales Officer and Sara Feulner as Chief Human Resources Officer.
Schurk has previously worked at organisations such as Top Hat and Bazaarvoice.
Feulner’s CV includes stints at the likes of ARM and Bumble.
Shopify and Manhattan Associates build unified commerce solution with Nautica onboard as first customer
Manhattan Associates and Shopify have announced a new partnership that aims to help retailers build unified omnichannel shopping experiences.
This will see Shopify’s commerce platform combined with Manhattan’s omnichannel order management solution.
Gresham House Ventures makes £1.75mn follow-on investment in retail technology firm Patchworks
Gresham House Ventures has made a follow-on investment of £1.75 million into Patchworks.
Taking the form of a convertible loan note, this is Gresham House Ventures’ fourth investment in Patchworks.
Forming part of a £2 million round, it brings the former’s total funding to £10.5 million since its first injection of capital in July 2021.
Patchworks offers software that connects key e-commerce systems including shopfront, ERP, CRM and warehouse management, enabling businesses to streamline the integration of their technology stack.
Information Commissioner’s Office fines food delivery firm HelloFresh £140,000 for spam texts and emails
The UK’s Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has fined food delivery company HelloFresh £140,000 for a campaign of 79 million spam emails and one million spam texts over a seven-month period.
The marketing messages were sent based on an opt-in statement which did not make any reference to the sending of marketing via text.
Whilst there was a reference via email, this was included in an age confirmation statement which was likely to unfairly incentivise customers to agree, the ICO claims.
Customers were also not given sufficient information that their data would continue to be used for marketing purposes for up to 24 months after cancelling their subscriptions, it adds.
An investigation by the ICO began in March 2022 following complaints made directly to the regulator, as well as to the 7726 spam message reporting service. As part of this, it was also discovered that the company continued to contact some individuals even after they had requested this to stop.
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