The dark side of Vinted exposed: RTIH rolls out the 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 Primark, Walmart, Sensei, Avery Dennison, The Kroger Co., Simbe, Grubhub, Co-op, Exotec, and Auchan Luxembourg.
1. New ways of working: Primark Birmingham High Street store goes live with Click and Collect service
Primark has launched a Click and Collect service at the retailer’s flagship Birmingham High Street store.
In a LInkedIn post, Amy Anson, Department Manager Level 2 at said store, commented: “It’s been an exciting few weeks, training all our colleagues in the ways of working, setting up our new Click and Collect area and seeing how our ever growing company expands further, to offer customers another way of shopping in our amazing stores. We can’t wait to get started!”
Primark’s Click and Collect service is expanding to all of the retailer’s 184 stores in Great Britain by the end of 2025, following an 18-month trial.
Formerly the site of a shopping centre, since it opened in 2019 Birmingham High Street has held the Guinness World Record for the world’s largest retail fashion store at 160,000 sq. ft.
2. Channel 4 Dispatches focuses on dark side of Vinted including fake products and misogynistic websites
Despite going against Vinted’s terms and conditions, the documentary flags a significant number of fake products being sold on the platform.
Flynn also found that there were users who were selling prohibited products, such as open and used beauty items. Recalled products were also in circulation, such as baby sleeping bags and self-feeding baby pillows, as well as some prescription drugs.
Some users have also experienced harassment, hateful language and inappropriate and unwanted messages and images, including a man who suffered threats of violence over a cancelled order.
Elsewhere, Flynn discovered a website where people stole images of women demonstrating and selling items on Vinted and sexualised them alongside derogatory comments..
One of these women, 28-year-old Lydia, appears on the TV programme and comments: “It’s very disturbing. I had no idea this was happening, and it has made me feel extremely unsafe.”
The site, which went by the absolutely foul name of Vinted Sluts and had the tagline ‘When you sell your clothes, but you want the attention’, has now been closed down.
3. Intel first onboard as Future Stores blends retail and digital innovation on London’s Oxford Street
A new retail store opens its doors on Oxford Street this week, ahead of its official launch on 30th October, with those behind it promising a new era that blends the latest technology powered by Intel, bricks and mortar as well as state of the art graphics.
Future Stores is laying claim to a £20 million investment in a personalised experience that, according to a press release, is “as fluid as a social media feed, featuring a rotating lineup of brand ‘showcases’ or ‘activations’ that will change every two to six weeks”.
Intel is the first brand to take on the space, and will host an interactive, immersive and technology fuelled activation. Consumers can get hands on with the firm’s newly launched AI PCs and play games live in-store from 30th October.
Upon entering the two floor space, that spans an entire Oxford Street block, shoppers are met with 400m² of high definition Micro LED displays, monumental billboards, and cameras. Here, consumers connect with brands through live demos, tutorials, and showcases led by influencers and creators.
This experience is also complemented by insight and data, that shows, dwell time, customer journey as well as traffic both inside and outside the store. Other measurements such as gender and sentiment will be quick to follow in the new year.
4. Walmart launches nationwide same-day pharmacy delivery service with speedy option coming soon
Walmart is integrating prescription medications and general merchandise into one single order for delivery across the US.
The new offering is now live in six states: Arkansas, Missouri, New York, Nevada, South Carolina and Wisconsin. By the end of January 2025, Walmart's Pharmacy Delivery is expected to be available in 49 states, reaching tens of millions of customers. It is available for both new prescriptions along with medication refills.
"Our extensive footprint across the nation combined with our deep expertise in pharmacy uniquely positions us to make a profound impact in the communities we serve," says Kevin Host, Senior Vice President of Pharmacy at Walmart U.S.
“We understand that health care is not a one size fits all solution. It’s hyper-local. Each community has unique needs. This new offering allows us to continue serving customers while also giving more time back to our pharmacies for high touch health services.”
5. Autonomous retail technology firm Sensei raises €15 million and preps European expansion and new store
Sensei, a Portuguese startup focused on the autonomous retail technology space, has secured €15 million in a Series A funding round.
Taking the total raised to €21 million, this will enable the company to expand across Europe, particularly in central and northern regions, while also opening what is pitched as the world’s largest autonomous store next year.
Involving existing investors like Metro AG and Techstars Ventures, the round was led by BlueCrow Capital, with the participation of Lince Capital, Explorer Investments, and Kamay Ventures (the investment arm of Coca-Cola and Arcor Group).
Vasco Portugal, CEO and Co-founder at Sensei, says: “We are driven by a relentless obsession to deliver the ultimate store experience. Our technology operates invisibly within the store environment, yet it has a massive impact - enhancing the shopping journey for consumers and driving operational efficiency for retailers."
Using computer vision, AI powered sensors, and real-time algorithms, Sensei creates an environment where customers can shop without waiting in queues or manually scanning items. As they do so, their cart is automatically updated, and at checkout, the system displays a ready-to-pay list of items - allowing customers to pay however they prefer, while their identity and privacy are fully protected.
6. Avery Dennison and The Kroger Co. set to embark upon RFID inventory automation technology partnership
Avery Dennison is set to begin working with The Kroger Co. to build a better associate and customer experience through RFID inventory automation technology.
The collaboration makes item level digital identification possible, with the aim of enabling more frequent and more accurate inventory information to maximise freshness, reduce waste and improve the associate experience.
“Kroger’s customers and associates are at the heart of everything we do,” says Jordan Poff, Vice President of Retail Operations at Kroger. “Our work with Avery Dennison will improve inventory visibility, which means products will be on the shelves when our customers want them, while enabling our associates to spend more time with our customers.”
The collaboration will begin in the bakery department, implementing RFID embedded labels on each item.
7. Store intelligence solutions specialist Simbe bags $50 million in Series C round to tackle 'last great data desert'
Simbe has closed a $50 million Series C equity financing round led by Growth Equity at Goldman Sachs Alternatives, with participation from Eclipse and Valo Ventures and other existing investors.
Since raising its Series B in July 2023, Simbe has achieved milestones such as introducing multiple capabilities and securing numerous new and expanded partnerships across various retail sectors.
The new capital, which brings the total amount raised to over $100 million, will be used to meet demand across retail verticals, expand into new product areas, and continue scaling its solutions to retailers and brands around the world.
8. Food ordering and delivery platform Grubhub expands marketing platform with Koddi technology deployment
Koddi, which specialises in retail and commerce media technology for enterprises, has announced a partnership with Grubhub to grow its marketing platform to include additional strategic advertising capabilities.
Koddi’s technologies provide the infrastructure for Grubhub to offer its merchants enhanced pre-checkout advertising capabilities including automated optimisations that continually fine-tune budgets, bids and more to drive higher performance, detailed reporting and self-serve campaign creation.
Grubhub’s merchants can access tools like bid automation, advanced targeting and granular performance reporting. They also gain insights into key performance metrics such as share of voice, time live, and ROAS by audience segment. Additionally, the custom built interface makes it easy to view campaign performance and access deeper insights.
“Grubhub is a valuable marketing channel for merchants to grow their sales and reach our tens of millions of customers. We’re excited to expand the services we provide our partners to include greater advertising capabilities,” says Adam Krueger, Director of Merchant Ads and Engagement at Grubhub.
“With ads, merchants can get in front of customers at critical moments of purchase intent to boost sales and achieve their business goals. Koddi’s tailored advertising solution has already resulted in our partners seeing higher conversions from impressions to sales.”
9. Automating warehouse activities: Exotec robots now processing first orders at Auchan Luxembourg
Auchan Retail Luxembourg has become the first retailer in Luxembourg to use Exotec's Skypod system, with deployment in its Dudelange warehouse.
At Auchan’s site, Exotec has installed 37 robots in the facility to automate order processing, with the aim of making the workload of warehouse employees lighter and more pleasant.
The installation consists of metres high racks in which the Skypod robots autonomously manoeuvre in all directions to extract products from 15,300 bins. They then take these to one of three picking stations, where the order is completed.
Rémy Malchirand, EVP Sales Western Europe, at Exotec says: “By automating warehouse activities, Auchan has significantly increased the quality and reliability of the order picking process, saving employees from a lot of walking and lifting and significantly improving working conditions.”
“This is fully in line with our human first philosophy, in which we constantly make efforts to make work in the warehouse as comfortable and safe as possible.”
10. Multi-carrier Quadient parcel lockers to be seen at Co-op stores including Liverpool from this month onwards
Co-op has partnered with Quadient. It says that the collaboration to supply Parcel Pending by Quadient lockers aligns the retailer’s footprint in the heart of local communities with the growth in consumer demand for safe, secure and convenient parcel lockers.
Parcel Pending by Quadient is used for deliveries and returns from carriers, including Royal Mail, DPD, Evri, and UPS, as well as for new services like convenient key drop-offs with Keynest.
More than 30 of these lockers will initially be installed at Co-op stores, with the potential for the partnership to grow. The first lockers will be seen this month at Co-op stores in Bedford; Bradford; Guildford; Keighley; Liverpool; Stockport; Swinton and Telford.
George Hayworth, Head of Q-Comm Development, Co-op, says: “We are delighted to partner with Quadient. Safe, secure and convenient parcel lockers are one of the ways in which we make things easier and deliver enhanced convenience for our member-owners and customers.”
“With our stores conveniently located in high streets and transport hubs, university campuses and residential developments, parcel lockers can help local residents and time-pressed consumers pick up or return parcels at a time that is convenient to them, quickly, easily and conveniently.”
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