Including Scala, StrongPoint, and Circana: RTIH presents last week’s biggest retail technology plays at a glance

RTIH rounds up the stand out retail systems deals, launches, deployments and pilots from the past seven days. Including BP, M&S Food, Retail Insight, Rimi, Harrison Retail, Boden, Peak, Bealls, Legion Technologies, SPAR International, East of England Co-op, Northeast Grocery, Amazon, and Steve Madden.

Rimi

Rimi (part of ICA Group), has placed an order with StrongPoint to supply and install its self-checkout solutions in the Baltic-based grocery retailer’s stores.

The value of the order is approximately EUR 2.3 million, excluding implementation and future technical support revenue. Delivery and installation are scheduled for 2025.

Rimi has been using StrongPoint self-checkouts for over five years, showcasing the solution’s proven reliability and customer convenience. The new order includes self-checkouts with cash handling capabilities, as cash management remains an important aspect of the checkout process in the region.

BP

Oil and gas company and forecourt retailer, BP, has renewed its partnership with Retail Insight, a provider of in-store execution software, for an additional three years in the UK.

BP provides fuel, food and beverages to motorists and shoppers across the UK, operating over 300 convenience stores as part of its partnership with M&S Food.  

Since partnering with Retail Insight in 2019, it has used the company’s AI powered solution, WasteInsight, for dynamic markdowns on goods nearing expiry, providing reduced prices to customers.

A cloud-based software solution, WasteInsight applies a machine learning model to provide dynamic markdown prices that encourage sell-through and reduce waste.  As well as enabling dynamic discounts, it also addresses expiration management, offers more efficient donations to charities and drives improved forecasting accuracy, allowing retailers to sell more while wasting less.

Scala

Marketing technology specialist, Scala, has opened a showroom space in Madrid, Spain where its solutions can be sampled and new custom made solutions developed and shared.

Located on the fourth floor of Condesa de Venadito, 1. Madrid, the showroom is well served by local, national and international transport links including the Adolfo Suárez Madrid–Barajas Airport. It has been operational since September and was officially opened on Thursday, 21st November with an opening reception attended by 50 guests including Disney, Leroy Merlin and NCR. 

“Scala has so much to offer businesses of all types and, as we have seen from those who have already visited the showroom, there is a huge interest in the ways in which our solutions, built on a deep understanding of customer experience and the capabilities of our technology, can create efficiencies and drive profits,” says Alvaro Morales, Scala Sales Director, Spain and Portugal.

“The opportunities unlocked through in-store retail media can be demonstrated so clearly using the showroom, as can the ways in which Scala provides powerful customer-communications across quick serve restaurants, stores, healthcare settings, educational spaces and more.”

The showroom is separated into industry specific zones including a grocery space in which the  benefits of integrated signage and customer communications in a retail environment are showcased, and a restaurant area where Scala’s menuboard, ordering and fulfilment solutions are shared. 

Amazon and Steve Madden

Amazon reports that Buy with Prime, a direct-to-customer (DTC) offering, is now available on SteveMadden.com.

“We've always believed in moving fast, and there's no better partner than Amazon for that. Plus, stepping over their boxes every day on my way to the kitchen made it clear that it was time to team up and make it official,” says Steve Madden, Founder, Creative & Design Chief.

Prime members looking to purchase an item using Buy with Prime on the Steve Madden online store can click on the “Buy with Prime” button on a product’s page. Those using the offering for the first time will log in and verify their Amazon account information.

If a Prime member has already used Buy with Prime, the customer will move to the brand’s checkout page, which will be automatically populated with their preferred delivery address and default payment method from their Amazon account.

Once the purchase is made, Amazon handles the order delivery. Post-purchase, Prime members can view, manage, and track their Buy with Prime orders from their order confirmation email or in their Amazon account.

Harrison Retail

UK-based Harrison Retail has unveiled a new showroom located in Evesham, exhibiting 15 bespoke PoS loss prevention solutions. 

Last week, the company marked the opening of its showroom with an inaugural retail loss prevention event, bringing together key stakeholders from across the retail sector and talks from industry experts: Simon Singleton, Former COO of H&B and Pepco Group UK, Simon Hedaux, CO-Founder of Rethink Retail and Adrian Beck, Professor at the University of Leicester for the ECR Retail Loss Group. 

Guests were invited to tour a fully operational supermarket replica, showcasing a selection of bespoke PoS loss prevention solutions in-situ, designed to minimise the volume of products that can be removed from shelving without compromising customer shopping experience.

The showroom also features a multi-functional space equipped to accommodate up to 50 guests for the likes of presentations, events, and workshops. 

Boden

Peak, an AI platform that optimises product inventory and pricing, has partnered with Boden to optimise the trading capability of merchandisers.

The retailer has undergone a modernisation process over the last ten years, with its team continually looking for ways to build and maintain a best-in-class tech ecosystem.

As such, Boden turned to Peak to analyse its pricing structure, specifically selecting the company due to the speed of integration and its ability to go to market immediately given an integration with Snowflake.

Over a six-week period, Peak’s AI platform scrutinised Boden’s historic pricing and customer spending habits to pinpoint where the retailer could adjust to increase sales. Implemented alongside its planned sale moments - the brand uses markdown to clear seasonal lines through which it typically clears 10% of its stock - pricing recommendations resulted in margin gains and directly impacted profitability.

The intention is for Boden to adopt Peak’s AI platform more broadly as a key part of its integrated tech stack, optimising broader merchandising decisions as the landscape continues to shift for retailers.

Bealls

Legion Technologies, a specialist in workforce management (WFM), has announced a new partnership with Bealls, a family owned, privately held retailer with stores in 22 US states.

Bealls will leverage Legion’s AI native workforce management platform in demand forecasting, automated scheduling, time and attendance tracking, and frontline communications to improve the experience for associates across the company’s 650 retail locations.

American Golf

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. 

East of England Co-op

East of England Co-op has completed its roll-out of EDGEPoS, a software system from Henderson Technology, at five forecourt sites.

Located in Felixstowe, Colchester, Brightlingsea, Ipswich and Framlingham, EDGEPoS has been installed in two tills per site, and fully integrated to receive fuel sales.

Implementation has meant there is now a direct product feed from the central database to the forecourts.

Membership cards can now be accepted along with employee discount cards. The forecourt sites can also streamline the customer accounts process, and store colleagues have increased visibility of drive off and no means to pay transactions. 

Northeast Grocery

Northeast Grocery, an independent grocery retailer in the US Northeast with nearly 300 stores, is working with Google Cloud to migrate its IT infrastructure and applications from traditional datacentres to the cloud.

“This collaboration with Google Cloud empowers us to modernise our core systems, providing the flexibility and scalability needed to meet evolving customer expectations,” says Larry Peters, Vice President of Cloud and Business Intelligence at Northeast Shared Services.

“Its secure cloud environment and advanced tools enable us to drive cost efficiencies, streamline our processes, and focus on delivering exceptional service across our stores.” 

Overland Shoes

Overland Shoes has gone live on the Patchworks iPaaS platform.

In a LInkedIn post, Patchworks said: “We’re thrilled to support Overland Shoes, home to the iconic G.H.BASS, take their e-commerce operations to the next level.”

“By connecting Shopify and Styleman (Option Systems) via the Patchworks iPaaS platform, Overland Shoes now enjoys: Streamlined workflows with automated data flow; Accurate inventory management for better customer experiences; Scalable infrastructure to support growth across Europe and beyond.”

M&S

Retail Insight has announced the renewal of its partnership with M&S for another three years.

The pair have worked together since 2021, with Retail Insight supporting the retailer in tackling food waste through its cloud-based, WasteInsight solution.

“Our collaboration with Retail Insight over the past three years has been incredibly impactful,” says Chris Thomas, Head of Product for Store Operations at Marks & Spencer.

“The WasteInsight solution has delivered significant waste reduction benefits over the past three years, as well as improved overall operational efficiency. We look forward to continuing to work with the team to help us meet our net zero targets.”

SPAR International

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.