Amazon Fresh lands in West Hampstead: check out our most read retail technology articles from last week

Check out the articles on this here website that caught your fancy last week, including Currys, Ikea, Clarks, Tesco, Super-Pharm, Goddiva, Sitoo, Fresho, Fluent Commerce, American Golf, and SALESmanago.

2024 RTIH Innovation Awards winners announced, including Currys, Ikea, Clarks, Tesco, and Super-Pharm

Last month, we announced the winners from the 2024 RTIH Innovation Awards, sponsored by Vista Technology Support, CADS, 3D Cloud, SCALA, Brightpearl by Sage’s Lightning 50, Retail Technology Show 2025, and Business France.

Our 2024 hall of fame entrants were revealed during an event which took place at RIBA’s 66 Portland Place HQ in Central London, and consisted of a drinks reception, three course meal, and awards ceremony presided over by comedian Lucy Porter.

In his welcome speech, Scott Thompson, Founder and Editor, RTIH, said: “The event is now into its sixth year and what a journey it has been. The awards started life as an online only affair during the Covid outbreak, before launching as a small scale in real life event and growing year on year to the point where we’re now selling out this fine, historic venue.”

He added: “Congratulations to all of our finalists. Many submissions did not make it through to the final stage, and getting to this point is no mean feat. Checkout-free stores, automated supply chains, immersive experiences, on-demand delivery, next generation loyalty offerings, inclusive retail, green technology. We’ve got all the cool stuff covered this evening.”

“But just importantly we’ve got lots of great examples of companies taking innovative tech and making it usable in everyday operations - resulting in more efficiency and profitability in all areas.”

Congratulations to our 2024 winners, and a big thank you to our sponsors, judging panel, the legend that is Lucy Porter, and all those who attended our 21st November gathering.

Sitoo bags funding from private equity company Verdane as it looks to accelerate global expansion

Swedish firm Sitoo, a provider of cloud-native POS and unified commerce platform solutions, has announced a €26 million minority investment from Verdane.

This will help the company take advantage of what it calls a “massive opportunity” in the US and global markets while strengthening its foothold in the UK and European regions.

“We have seen Sitoo deliver on its growth ambitions with best-in-class execution by Jens Levin and the team since we first met in 2019. Back then they were a local Swedish player with big ambitions and has now become the clear market leader in the Nordics and we look forward to partner with the team to help build the business into a global category leader” says Pål Malmros, Partner at Verdane. 

SALESmanago buys SaaS marketing technology conversion platform Leadoo as it eyes European dominance

SALESmanago has announced the acquisition of Leadoo. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

The Leadoo SaaS platform specialises in identifying, activating and converting website visitors to become buyers, enhancing SALESmanago’s customer engagement solution.

Brian Plackis-Cheng, CEO at SALESmanago, comments: “This strategic move consolidates Europe's marketing automation sector with a formidable combination of Leadoo’s leading web conversion platform and SALESmanago's customer engagement platform.”

“It accelerates our mission to provide a comprehensive, yet simple, mid-market CEP, and is a significant step on our journey to becoming Europe’s number one mid-market platform.”

Fredrik Rönnlund, CEO at Leadoo, adds: "Joining forces with SALESmanago represents an exceptional opportunity for both companies to grow and better serve our shared customer base. We are confident that this merger will help both companies’ current and future customers drive more results from their marketing efforts."

SPAR and Circana tie up delivers data insights on customer loyalty

SPAR International has announced a partnership with Circana, an advisor on the complexity of consumer behaviour.

SPAR country organisations will now have access to Circana’s expertise and cross industry insights through its collaborative technology solution Liquid Data, which is pitched as integrating one of the largest sources of consumer data globally and predictive analytics all accessed on a single, end-to-end user experience.

Country organisations will get a unified view of insights on customer loyalty, utilising AI to highlight trends reflected through data, and support their customer centric initiatives.

Tom Rose, Head of International Operations at SPAR International, says: “We are delighted to announce this partnership with Circana which will support us by offering our partners great insights to enhance customer experiences. Circana is an innovative partner who shares our vision of being locally relevant and internationally strong.” 

UK and Australia-based food startup Fresho announces $17 million funding round and expansion in the US

Fresho, an order management platform for fresh food wholesalers, has announced the close of a $17 million Series B funding round, bringing total investment to $50 million to date. 

The oversubscribed round welcomed both new and existing shareholders, led by Geoff Tarrant, Co-Founder and former Executive Chairman of Payapps, a construction software firm acquired by Autodesk for $600 million in 2024. Tarrant, who also served as director of ASX listed Adbri, will join Fresho's board of directors. 

Founded in 2015 by James Andronis, drawing on 15 years' experience running an Australian seafood wholesaler, and Huw Birrell, a technology entrepreneur with international finance expertise, Fresho’s platform recently celebrated processing its 30 millionth order since 2016, with ten million orders in the past year alone.

Goddiva boosts customer experience as fashion brand brings Zyler virtual try-on technology to online shoppers

Zyler, a specialist in fashion try-on technology, has announced the launch of its AI driven Digital Dressing Room with occasionwear brand Goddiva.

This is activated by clicking on the "Try on & Find Size" button. Shoppers are then able to try on apparel virtually, by using just a few measurements and, if desired, a headshot. After this, they are presented with an on-screen visualisation of themselves in their chosen outfit and can browse through hundreds of items.

The tool also incorporates size recommendation technology from Prime AI, which analyses customer measurements to suggest the best size, factoring in garment fit and brand specific detail for a more accurate and personalised fit.

Powered by generative AI and trained with datasets on various body shapes and sizes for accurate and realistic results, Zyler is a SaaS, offered as a plug and play or API solution.

Fluent Commerce Order Management solution provides American Golf with real-time view of its inventory

American Golf has launched the Fluent Order Management solution.

It is replacing legacy systems with the distributed order management system, which will provide a real-time view of inventory.

The aim is to improve the customer experience by giving a real-time view of items available to purchase, mitigating cancelled orders and overselling. Customers will now benefit from an endless aisle experience, allowing them to place orders in-store, with fulfilment flexibilities to ensure orders are shipped in the most efficient and cost-effective manner. 

AyataCommerce, a technology services company and partner of Fluent Commerce, led the implementation. American Golf now has the capabilities of Ship from Store and Click & Collect, allocating stock in local stores to better serve customers. 

Just Walk Out technology powered Amazon Fresh store set to open tomorrow in West Hampstead, London

Amazon last week opened a new Amazon Fresh store in West Hampstead, London.

The US online giant launched its first such store in the UK - its first physical retail site outside North America - in Ealing, London in 2021. It reportedly planned to open hundreds of Fresh locations in the UK, but that didn’t happen, with the number now standing at 21, all of which are in London except one in Sevenoaks, Kent.

In July last year, the company announced Ealing was to close, along with two others, in Wandsworth and East Sheen.

Amazon has also been working on an overhaul of its UK stores, with the reopening of its Aldgate location earlier this year. The stores originally launched as checkout-free offerings, powered by Just Walk Out technology. But the focus is now on adding more payment options, such as self-service checkouts.