Starring Atomic, Burberry, Instacart: running you through this week's coolest retail technology plays

RTIH Editor, Scott Thompson, brings you his top ‘future of retail’ systems launches and deployments from the past week, including footwear sizing technology, self-service bars, immersive AR experiences, and autonomous mobile robot milestones.

Atomic

EyeFitU has launched new footwear sizing technology. This enables customers to find the ideal shoe size based on precise foot measurements.

Atomic, a specialist in the ski and outdoor sports industry, is integrating the solution.

“We’re excited to introduce our footwear sizing solution in partnership with Atomic, a company that shares our dedication to precision and innovation. This technology is a game-changer for footwear sizing, especially in performance driven industries like skiing, where fit is crucial. Together, we’re creating a more personalised shopping experience that customers can trust,” says Isabelle Ohnemus, CEO and Founder at EyeFitU.

Birmingham City FC

EFL League One football team Birmingham City FC has worked with Boxbar Tech to overhaul the Globe & Ball bar in its St Andrew’s stadium and give it a self-service twist.

In a LInkedIn post, Boxbar Tech said: “Alongside our partners at Levy UK, we’re thrilled to announce we have transformed the Globe & Ball bar at the St Andrew’s @ Knighthead Park stadium, delivering a structurally integrated, fully bespoke and permanent in-built self-service bar wall.”

It added: “Since the start of the season, the Globe & Ball has been treating Blues fans to a choice of self-serve draft beer and cider including Cruzcampo, Birra Moretti, Beavertown Neck Oil and Strongbow Dark Fruits, pouring from: a fully branded installation; with six in-built Boxbar terminals; and 12 serving taps”

“With each terminal able to serve two pints end-to-end in under 30 seconds, fans have welcomed the new experience with open arms. So much so that additional terminals have now been introduced to a second location in the stadium to keep up with demand.”

The O2 and Amazon

The O2 has opened a second Amazon Just Walk Out technology powered bar.

In a LInkedIn post, Rao Kalidas, Chief Creative Officer at Levy, said: “Another great collaboration with our partners AEG, Amazon, Benchmark Designs, and all the extended teams involved. Always inspiring to see what can be achieved when we bring our expertise together to deliver something exceptional for fans.”

“Innovative technology continues to be a game-changer in enhancing the fan experience… excited to see where this journey takes us next!”

Amazon

Amazon has announced Haul, a discount storefront offering cheap items like $3 handbags, to directly compete with Chinese marketplaces like Temu and Shein.

A US beta launched this week in the Amazon Shopping app.

Haul mostly ships products directly from China with slower delivery and stricter returns, which allows for much lower prices. This comes after Amazon recently imposed price caps on Chinese sellers using its platform in anticipation of stricter US and China trade regulations. However, it now seems like the company wants its own piece of the pie.

All items are priced $20 or less with the majority priced $10 and under, and some items as low as $1. Customers can get further savings when they add more items to a single order, with 5% off orders $50 and over, and 10% off orders $75 or more.

“Finding great products at very low prices is important to customers, and we continue to explore ways that we can work with our selling partners so they can offer products at ultra low prices,” says Dharmesh Mehta, Vice President of Worldwide Selling Partner Services at Amazon.

“Amazon Haul aims to help make shopping for fashion, home, lifestyle, electronics, and other products even more fun, easy, and affordable, all backed by Amazon’s A-to-z product guarantee so customers can shop with confidence that the products they’re purchasing are safe, authentic, and in the condition expected.”

“It’s early days for this experience, and we’ll continue to listen to customers as we refine and expand it in the weeks and months to come.”

e.l.f. Cosmetics and Beekman 1802

e.l.f. Cosmetics and Beekman 1802 have teamed up to celebrate World Kindness Day with a new game within e.l.f.’s Roblox experience, e.l.f. UP!

This promotes kind hearted self-expression through a new themed room, a gameplay quest spreading kindness, a collection of UGC items and a pet baby goat within the game’s Pet Adoption Centre. Players will meet Beekman 1802 founders Josh Kilmer-Purcell and Dr. Brent Ridge as NPCs (non-playable characters) and embark on a quest to find their missing goats.

Guided by e.l.f. Beauty’s CMO, Kory Marchisotto, players will search for five hidden goats throughout the experience, performing acts of kindness along the way. Completing these quests will unlock exclusive, kindness themed UGC digital fashion and accessory items for players to collect.

“We see the Roblox community coming together every day to shape digital culture, from the experiences they create to how we express ourselves,” says Tami Bhaumik, Vice President of Civility and Partnerships at Roblox.

“It's amazing to see influential brands come together to release creative experiences on the platform that align with our mission of connecting people with optimism and civility, while reminding the community to be kind to one another in a fun, immersive way.”

M&S

M&S has expanded its Beauty Takeback Scheme, in partnership with HANDLE, to an additional 60 stores across the UK, bringing the total number to 100. 

Dedicated beauty takeback scheme boxes are now available in new locations including Birmingham Bullring, Cardiff, and Inverness.

Launched in June 2023 as part of the retailer’s Plan A roadmap to Net Zero, the scheme enables customers to recycle any form of plastic or aluminium beauty packaging - from bottles and tubes to caps, pumps, and tubs – from any retailer, by dropping their used beauty packaging into boxes located within the store’s beauty section.  

Since launching, the scheme has processed over 1.6 tonnes of beauty packaging which otherwise might have ended up in landfill. As part of M&S’ partnership with HANDLE, this year it has produced a wide-toothed hair comb, made from at least 98% of the recycled packaging collected by M&S. The comb will be available to purchase online and in selected stores for £8.  

Burberry

Burberry has announced a new immersive AR experience.

This festive season, it is launching its first virtual scarf try on offering.

In a LinkedIn post, Seema Kukadia, Digital Innovation Manager at Burberry, said: “Using the latest in web 3D and augmented reality technology, our new immersive experience encourages customers to virtually explore Burberry’s iconic scarves and visualise how the brand's best known accessory will look.”

Available online via Burberry.com and in select stores, customers can use their mobile phone camera to view the scarf styled on themselves in real-time.

The experience has been developed in partnership with WANNA, a provider of AR and 3D experiences for luxury brands.

Ocado Retail

Polytag has bolstered its partnership with Ocado Retail, with the online grocery retailer expanding its range of products that use the firm’s technology.

Over 60 of Ocado’s food, drink, and household product ranges now feature Polytag’s Digital Link QR codes, enabling consumers to delve deeper into product information and sustainability practices with a simple scan.

The expanded range of Polytag enabled packaging follows the success of the project Polytag ran with Ocado Retail in 2023 to deliver a nationwide digital deposit return scheme (DDRS) trial.

Over eight weeks, 20,000 20p rewards were given to consumers that had purchased - and recycled - Ocado's milk bottles via standard kerbside collection methods. Post-trial surveys revealed that 93% of the pilot users felt ‘positively’ towards the idea of a DDRS in the UK. 

The initiative will now see the online grocer package dry food and cleaning products in refillable containers to reduce single-use plastic and encourage reuse behaviours. Polytag’s QR codes will be used to educate customers on how to take part in the refill scheme and return their products.

Instacart and Coles Supermarkets

Instacart and Australia’s Coles Supermarkets have announced that Caper Carts, the former’s AI powered smart trolleys, will be coming to Melbourne, starting in early 2025 with its Richmond Traders location in Victoria. This marks Instacart’s first retail partnership that brings Caper Carts to the APAC region.

Customers can grab a trolley at the store’s entrance and start shopping. Caper Carts are equipped with AI, cameras, and a built-in scale, which work together to automatically recognise items as they are added to the trolley.

They enable customers to bag as they shop and watch their running total. At the end of their shopping, customers can checkout directly from the trolley. 

Caper Carts will sync to Coles’ Flybuys rewards programme, allowing customers to earn points as they shop.

People can scan their Flybuys card or Coles app to instantly access personalised offers and view in-store specials on the trolley’s digital screen. Equipped with gamified capabilities, customers will also have the chance to win discounts by spinning a digital wheel on the trolley’s screen at checkout.

“As the first retailer in Australia to introduce AI powered trolleys, we’re excited to offer our customers a convenient and engaging way to shop in-store, helping them save time, manage their budget, and checkout faster – or at their own pace,” says Coles Chief Digital Officer, Ben Hassing.

“The Coles smart trolley illustrates our omnichannel approach, leveraging digital capabilities to enrich the in-store experience. We are committed to testing and learning through innovative solutions to make sure we are delivering on customer needs, increasing convenience, and helping customers discover more value through their shop at Coles.”

Levi Strauss & Co.

Levi Strauss & Co. has announced the Levi’s Jeans Fit Guide, leveraging Amazon Alexa technology to help shoppers find the right style and size using interactive voice technology. 

Launching in Germany, the tool guides consumers through a series of questions, ultimately recommending the perfect pair of jeans based on their preferences and body type.

“The Levi’s Jeans Fit Guide underscores our focus on being DTC first by offering our Germany consumers an innovative way to find their perfect jeans fit,” says Lucia Marcuzzo, Managing Director for Europe at Levi Strauss & Co.

“It brings elements of the in-person shopping experience to the comfort of their homes and helps to remove some of the uncertainty around style and fit that comes with making an online purchase.”

DPD

DPD says it has become the first UK parcel delivery company to deploy Ottonomy's multi-compartment, fully autonomous ‘locker' robot, Ottobot.  

Larger than DPD's existing autonomous delivery robots, this has a maximum payload of 70kg, eight separate compartments that can carry parcel of varying sizes and can also facilitate collections.  

The robot features four-wheel powered swerve drive with independent steering and suspension, while multiple sensors including light detection and ranging ‘lidars' and cameras, and software enable it to navigate the most complex environments autonomously. 

DPD's first locker robot will be deployed in Milton Keynes, where the company has been operating autonomous robot deliveries since July 2022, which have also since been rolled out in Raunds, Bristol and Lincoln. 

The Ottobot will be based at the firm’s Milton Keynes depot in Knowlhill and will navigate the city's traffic free Redway network to access nearby residential neighbourhoods. The additional compartments not only enable up to eight separate deliveries each time it leaves the depot, but can also accommodate larger parcels in two 38lt compartments. 

Glovo and Mars

Glovo, a multi-category delivery app, and Mars, the snacking, food and pet care big hitter, have announced the expansion of their global partnership focusing on retail media strategies across more than five markets, including key countries like Spain, Italy and Poland.

The pair say that the partnership has seen strong results in only one year, with more than 50% growth achieved by Mars products within Glovo, and has set goals to grow the business by the end of 2030.

As retail media becomes one of Glovo’s biggest bets inside the platform, it will play a central role in the next phase of the partnership. Glovo will offer Mars exclusive benefits such as early access to new advertising solutions, covering the user from awareness to conversion, and media data sharing.

These efforts are designed to help Mars accelerate its digital strategy, covering the full marketing funnel with winning strategies in place across all involved markets. The partnership also provides an opportunity for deeper integration between Glovo and Mars’ media teams. 

This year, Glovo has seen an increase of 47% in the snacking category, which includes ice creams, chocolate, and other sweets, and a 51% increase in the petcare category across markets.

Brain Corp

Brain Corp reports that its fleet of over 37,000 autonomous mobile robots (AMRs), powered by the BrainOS Robotics Platform, has now covered more than 250 billion square feet of space globally.

To put this scale into perspective, 250 billion square feet is equivalent to covering the entire landmass of New York CIty almost 30 times, 4.34 million football fields, or 89 million tennis courts. In addition to the area covered, Brain Corp’s fleet also reached more than 19 million hours of autonomous operation, equal to over 2,100 years of continuous operation. 

"This latest milestone is a testament not only to the success of Brain Corp, but to the shift we’re seeing toward automation across sectors,” says David Pinn, CEO at Brain Corp. "Whether it’s optimising inventory management or creating cleaner, safer environments, our autonomy solutions are helping organisations tackle their most complex operational challenges."

Tesco and Coca-Cola

Tesco Media and Insight Platform has launched an exclusive campaign with Coca-Cola, with the aim of spreading festive cheer and pushing the hashtag #ActsOfKindness.

As a Tesco Media first, a number of Tesco vans will receive a Coca-Cola Christmas makeover this Christmas season.

Each van wrap invites interaction with a QR code for a chance to win a festive hamper. When people spot a van, they can join in with the hashtag #ISAWSANTA.

In a LinkedIn post, Tesco Media and Insight Platform said: “This campaign is a fantastic team effort between Coca-Cola Europacific Partners, Tesco, and Tesco Media. Huge thanks to everyone who made it happen. Here’s to a season of joy, kindness, and holiday magic!”

Sensei

Sensei has celebrated one year of its Verona autonomous store with DAO Cooperativa.

In a LinkedIn post, the company said: “One year ago, we proudly opened Italy’s first autonomous store with DAO Conad, marking our debut in Italy and a major step in redefining retail.”

“Over the past 12 months, nearly one million visitors have enjoyed our store’s seamless experience, with an impressive 47 second average checkout time. This milestone reaffirms our commitment to transforming retail in Italy through cutting-edge, checkout-free technology. From our start in Verona to our latest store in Trento, we’re just getting started.”

It added: “A big shoutout to our amazing Sensei team, who worked tirelessly to deliver an outstanding customer experience. Thank you to our dedicated team and loyal customers - here’s to more success and innovation ahead as we continue expanding our presence.”

Amazon

Amazon has launched Prime Air drone delivery for customers in Tolleson, Arizona.

Customers who live near Amazon's same-day facility in the city, which is located west of Phoenix, can now have deliveries completed in under an hour using the company’s MK30 drones.

These smaller sites are hybrid, part fulfilment centre, part delivery station.

More than 50,000 items are available for drone delivery in Tolleson, including household products, beauty items and office supplies. Products have to weigh five pounds or less to be eligible, and there is a fee for the service.