Taking a trip to the future: RTIH runs you through October’s coolest retail technology plays
RTIH Editor, Scott Thompson, brings you his stand out ‘future of retail’ systems deployments and launches from October, including Walmart, H&M, M&S, Auchan Luxembourg, Snapchat, EE, Tahina, Zara, Serve Robotics, Wing, Simbe, Bambuser, Sawhorse Productions, Save A Lot, and 3D Cloud.
Walmart
Walmart’s young adult clothing brand, No Boundaries, has officially launched on Zepeto, an Asian avatar centric social universe.
In a LInkedIn post, Sawhorse Productions said: “Our team is thrilled to build on our work with Walmart to engage younger audiences by activating this rapidly growing UGC platform.”
“The NoBo drop includes ten virtual versions of pieces from the line’s fall collection. And we brought the community in by collaborating with Zepeto creator, Xexi, to design limited edition items. We also created a twisted prep photobooth backdrop, knowing that Zepeto users love the in-game photo booth function.”
It added: “Sawhorse is passionate about helping brands navigate the immersive/gaming space. Is Zepeto new to you? It’s a platform to watch - ultra fast growth, truly global user base and a highly engaged community.”
Sawhorse Productions
Sawhorse Productions has launched Wicked on Roblox ahead of the film’s theatrical release in the United States on 22nd November.
Wicked is the first of a two-part film adaptation of the acclaimed stage musical of the same name by Stephen Schwartz and Holzman, which in turn was based on the 1995 novel of the same name by Gregory Maguire and characters from L. Frank Baum's 1900 novel The Wonderful Wizard of Oz.
People can buy tickets directly through the Roblox experience, thanks to a partnership with Fandango, and grab some free UGC with each purchase.
H&M
Oskar Jakobsson, Director Customer Solutions at ICA Gruppen, has taken to social media to praise the smart fitting rooms at H&M’s flagship store in Stockholm that opened this month.
In a LinkedIn post, he said: “I sometimes get asked what I recommend or think about digital solutions for retail. For me this is often the wrong question, tech for the sake of technology is always a bad decision. Tech should improve the customer experience, self service should reduce friction, staff tools should improve efficiency and staff experience also.”
He added: “That’s why I was happy to see the smart fitting rooms at H&M Stockholm. I have been a supporter of this solution since I was head of innovation at H&M, we then did the first initial POC and tests so I was extra proud to see it live today.”
“What we found in the initial tests was that in a good implementation they increase customer experience, increase sales, help staff to be more efficient and reduce friction in the entire explore, fit to buy journey.
The solution detects what shoppers bring in through RFID. They can see availability in-store of colours and sizes, send a request to staff to bring new sizes etc. They can also see what matches well and availability online.
Tahina
Tahina has released the final designs for its autonomous food store which is set to launch in London during Q2 2025.
“Our dishes have been developed by an executive chef with a wealth of experience acquired through fine dining European establishments to the top premium casual British groups. Unlike a lot of ‘fast’ food, Tahina uses quality ingredients to create grab and go food that’s truly delicious,” says Emilio Malik, one of the founders of Tahina who is also behind the West End restaurant Lazeez Lebanese Tapas, which has been a fixture of Mayfair’s Duke Street for 16 years.
The flagship store will be fully autonomous via a range of technology, including AI, intelligent weight shelves, motion detector sensors and cloud computing.
“The world is changing rapidly and we’ve crafted Tahina around these new ways of living,” says Malik. “Our store is tech driven, using the latest developments in autonomous retail and AI to provide a seamless and simple experience for our customers.”
He adds that, due to the ‘plug and play’ nature of the store, the concept can easily be rolled out across multiple sites.
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.”
Snapchat
Snapchat launched an immersive high street experience, Snap Street, in East London this month.
The Ely’s Yard building in Brick Lane was transformed into an actual indoor high street with shop fronts showing off the augmented reality (AR) experiences available on Snapchat - curated by brands like Depop, Boots, and Cosmopolitan.
Free to attend, and open for one weekend only (Saturday 19th - Sunday 20th October) Snap Street imagined what a high street might look like in the future.
Depop debuted The Depop Claw Machine, offering visitors the chance to win some circular fashion, including streetwear, designer styles and exclusive Depop merch.
Visitors could also immerse themselves in the world of Depop using the Snapchat x Depop AR Mirror. From 12-2pm on Saturday, shoppers could get creative and make a free personalised phone charm with help from Depop seller @SantexSante.
Future Stores
A new retail store opens its doors on Oxford Street this month, 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.
Dorel Home
Dorel Home, a division of Dorel Industries, a home products firm, has partnered with 3D Cloud, a specialist in 3D product visualisation for furniture.
The 3D Cloud Room Planner will allow Dorel’s teams to create a wide range of lifestyle renders with significantly greater speed and flexibility versus CGI, reducing costs and accelerating time to market.
"The 3D Cloud Room Planner brings scale and simplicity to our visual content production workflow," says John White, CIO at Dorel Industries. "It will help us better support our retailers and partners by providing more efficient and tailored imagery faster than ever before."
The tool will be utilised internally to produce lifestyle imagery that aligns with the specific requirements of Dorel's stakeholders. Although it will not be available for public access, it will play a crucial role in meeting the needs of dealers and partners, ensuring that Dorel's visual content remains relevant and adaptable.
EE
EE has opened an extended reality (XR) retail playground, giving visitors to its flagship store, the EE Studio, in Westfield, White City, London, the opportunity to try a wide range of augmented reality (AR), virtual reality (VR) and mixed reality (MR) devices side by side.
This will showcase some of the latest and greatest in PC, console and standalone VR headsets in an immersive new space. This includes the HTC Vive XR Elite, PlayStation VR2, and he Meta Quest 3.
Visitors will also have an opportunity to try out a selection of smart eyewear designed to extend screens, such as the TCL NXTWEAR S+ and XREAL Air 2 Pro glasses, or discover how they can livestream, capture video or listen to music on-the-go with the Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses.
More than 21 virtual and mixed reality experiences await those stepping into EE’s new space, such as Just Dance on PlayStation VR2, Superhot VR on HTC Vive XR Elite, and Out of Scale: A Kurzgesagt Adventure on Meta Quest 3.
Save A Lot
Save A Lot, a discount grocery chain in the US, and Fabric, an automation solutions specialist, have announced a new partnership to provide on-demand grocery delivery with the opening of a Brooklyn-based micro fulfilment centre.
This is part of a larger expansion, which includes a push into New York to enhance last mile delivery options.
Orders placed from the Brooklyn online storefront on the Uber Eats app will be delivered to doorsteps by Uber couriers.
“We know consumers are looking for fast delivery options for fresh, affordable grocery essentials, so we’re pleased to be partnering with both Save A Lot and Fabric who continue to innovate in the space,” says Nathan Bernheim, Head of Enterprise Sales for Grocery and Retail at Uber.
“Together we can bring essential items to communities that need them in entirely new ways.”
Simbe
Simbe, the company behind the autonomous item scanning robot Tally, has launched Simbe Brand Insights, a solution that equips retailers’ vendor partners with near real-time shelf intelligence.
Retailers can use this to generate new revenue streams and increase ROI by converting the data Simbe collects into daily, actionable intelligence for vendors and manufacturers of all types, such as direct store delivery partners (DSD), consumer packaged goods (CPG) brands, national brand manufacturers, and smaller brands represented by brokers and agencies.
This includes insights for their own brand(s) on SKU level shelf availability and out of stocks, precise item location, restocking and promotion execution and more, which vendors can use to improve inventory, product placement, pricing, shelf share, and the overall customer experience.
“For years, our retail partners have run their businesses with our platform’s item level data, and it’s become clear that this information also has immense value beyond store walls,” says Brad Bogolea, Simbe’s Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer.
“By sharing store intelligence with vendors, Simbe Brand Insights puts the retail ecosystem on the same side of the table, leading to stronger relationships and performance across the board.”
Marks and Spencer
M&S has announced the initial results from what is pitched as the first retailer run ‘autonomous field’ trial, which will see it selling lower carbon parsnips later this year.
In partnership with supplier, Huntapac, the first fully autonomously farmed parsnips will be available in selected M&S stores this November.
The technology enabling this includes two robots for bed forming, planting and weeding, two different types of drone to monitor and maintain crop health, and the latest scientific testing on soil health and carbon impact.
AI was used to monitor and improve crop health and autonomous technology can reduce weather impact.
For example, in March this year, following the wettest six months in England since 18711, the team were able to get in and plant the field with the autonomous robot which wouldn’t have been possible with a traditional tractor.
This has also contributed to an increase in quality and number of parsnips and reduced waste, with a 16% higher yield of grade one vegetables compared to Huntapac’s other parsnip fields.
Zara
Video commerce platform specialist Bambuser has announced a live shopping partnership with Zara.
In a LinkedIn post, Louise Blomqvist, President of EMEA at Bambuser, said: “Last week marked a historic moment for our teams, and I couldn’t more proud to share that we’ve partnered with one of the world’s most iconic fashion brands, Zara, for their very first ZaraStreaming.”
“Our collaboration is a testament to the power of innovation and how technology can transform the retail experience. By combining Zara’s dedication to brand and image with our streaming capabilities, we’ve created an interactive, real-time shopping experience both exciting and engaging for customers worldwide.”
Hosted by mother-daughter duo, Cindy Crawford and Kaia Gerber, who brought a Zara collection to life, this offered personal styling tips, with the aim of making the experience engaging and relatable. It was directed by David Lowery and styled by Carlyne Cerf de Dudzeele.
Blomqvist concluded: “Thank you to the incredible teams at Bambuser and Zara for making this possible, and to our global community for embracing the power of video shopping with us.”
Serve Robotics and Wing
Serve Robotics, an autonomous sidewalk delivery specialist, and Wing Aviation, an on-demand drone delivery provider, have announced a pilot partnership.
In the coming months, select Wing deliveries will be picked up by a Serve delivery robot from the restaurant's curbside and delivered to a Wing drone AutoLoader a few blocks away, for aerial delivery to customers as much as six miles away.
"We're excited to partner with Wing to offer a multi-modal delivery experience that expands our market from roughly half of all food deliveries that are within two miles of a restaurant, to offering 30 minute autonomous delivery across an entire city," says Dr. Ali Kashani, CEO and Co-founder at Serve Robotics.
"Together, Serve and Wing share an ambitious vision for reliable and affordable robotic delivery at scale. Our end-to-end robotic delivery solution will be the most efficient mode for the significant majority of deliveries."
