Including Lidl and White Stuff: RTIH’s biggest retail technology articles on LinkedIn this week
We’re big fans of LinkedIn and are busy building an amazing community of retail tech enthusiasts on the social media platform. These are the articles that are currently on their radars, including NewStore, OneStock, Shopify, Boden, Liberty London, Aptos Retail, Octup, Pricer, RELEX Solutions, and Obsess.
NewStore bags omnichannel retail technology deal with British lifestyle and fashion retailer White Stuff
NewStore, a mobile first unified commerce platform for retail brands, has landed a deal with British lifestyle and fashion retailer White Stuff.
The project is in its early stages, with a NewStore spokesperson telling RTIH that the company is currently unable to share indepth information.
However, in a LinkedIn post, Martin Farrell, Senior Account Executive at NewStore, said: “White Stuff is an iconic British fashion and lifestyle brand, founded by two friends George Treves and Sean Thomas in 1985.”
“They’ve grown to become a high street favourite with >100 stores across the UK and Germany, with even more stores planned (including my hometown, Liverpool).”
He added: “There’s way too many exciting initiatives planned to mention here, so I’ll summarise using the words of Trading Director, Tracey Verghese in her recent Fashion United interview “there’s a real ‘watch this space’ kind of energy". I couldn't agree more, Tracey.”
“Thank you to Jo Jenkins (CEO at White Stuff), Steve Borg (Technology and Transformation Director) and James Brazeley (Enterprise Architect) for your trust in NewStore; we’re delighted to work together alongside AbsoluteLabs. and I can’t wait to see the results!”
British department store Liberty London deploys latest versions of Aptos Store POS and CRM applications
Liberty London is renewing its partnership with Aptos for store technology and customer experience solutions.
Specifically, the retailer will deploy the latest versions of Aptos’ Store POS and CRM applications and migrate the software delivery from on-premises to SaaS.
It says that this will enable it to unlock real-time personalisation and offer even more seamless interactions between associates and shoppers at its Regent Street store.
Norwegian retailer PetXL Group looks to optimise supply chain with RELEX Solutions retail technology
PetXL Group, a Norwegian specialty retailer for pet food and accessories, is partnering with RELEX Solutions, a provider of unified supply chain and retail planning solutions.
It says it will tap RELEX technology to improve the overall forecasting and replenishment process and provide visibility into the performance of its retail operations.
PetXL Group operates within Scandinavia, with 15 stores and a distribution centre.
It selected RELEX because it needed a structured way to forecast and replenish and wanted to make educated decisions based on data. It aims to centralise ordering processes to enhance efficiency, ultimately allowing more time for serving customers in stores.
Lidl Ireland deploys hundreds of Re-turn machines in stores and constructs Deposit Return Rooms
Lidl Ireland reports significant progress in the installation of in-store solutions enabling customers to return cans and bottles.
In a LinkedIn post, Alan Barry, Chief Development Officer (CDO) at Lidl Ireland & Lidl Northern Ireland, says:
“In less than 12 months Lidl Ireland has installed 358 Re-turn machines in 179 stores, constructed 88 Deposit Return Rooms and invested tens of millions of euros.”
“Our solution puts the customer first with two Re-turn machines in every store ensuring no customer has to queue to return cans or bottles.”
He added: “Every year an estimated 1.9 billion cans and plastic bottles are consumed and by 2029 as part of the Single Use Plastics Directive, Ireland must recycle 90%.”
“With the launch of Re-turn today, we are happy to play our part in creating A Better Tomorrow. All this would not have been possible without a phenomenal effort from a hugely dedicated team.”
E-commerce technology startup Octup raises $4 million in pre-seed round led by Tal Ventures
Octup has secured $4 million in pre-seed funding from Tal Ventures as well as the founders of unicorn companies Trax and Rapyd, to broaden the roll-out of its 360-degree end-to-end discovery platform for e-commerce.
The company specialises in processing and consolidating data from various operational domains, including marketing, last mile delivery, customer support, and warehousing.
It detects anomalies, correlations, and trends to pinpoint the root causes of cost inefficiencies.
"In creating Octup, our goal was to tap into deeper operational insights beyond standard metrics to uncover real opportunities,” says Alon Partuk, CEO and Founder at Octup.
“We believe it's crucial to understand how key business metrics like lifetime value (LTV) and client retention relate to the quality of our service. Our dedicated team tackled technical and data complexity challenges head on, developing an advanced engine to access previously elusive information.”
“This innovation now provides complete operational visibility, revealing hidden costs and delivering significant value to our clients. Companies leveraging Octup’s solution have seen their overall profits increase by up to 40%."
OneStock targets seamless omnichannel integration with Order Management-Shopify Connector launch
OneStock has launched an application designed to effortlessly integrate its Order Management System (OMS) with the Shopify commerce platform.
"OneStock envisions a retail landscape where order management is easy; easy to deploy, easy to configure, easy for users day to day and easy to track,” says Romulus Grigoras, CEO at OneStock.
"This is a major step forward in the retail industry's journey towards more efficient order management as part of a fully integrated shopping experience. Our OMS features have been available to Shopify users for a long time now, as we have a few customers such as the French shirtmaker, Figaret Paris, using OneStock OMS with Shopify e-commerce.”
“However the ‘wow’ fact here, is that we've now gone one step further in seamless integration and, thanks to this connector, are now reducing by half the integration efforts required to add order management to all orders coming to a Shopify platform.”
The connector offers a range of features to mid-market and enterprise businesses, including real-time synchronisation, stock unification, intelligent order allocation, Ship from Store, Click and Collect and Delivery Promise.
REWE Group launches REWE Ready ‘smart shop’ at EV charging station, powered by Reckon.ai tech
REWE Group has launched a REWE Ready ‘smart shop’ at the EnBW Hypernetz EV Charging Hub in Lichtenau/Chemnitz, Germany.
Customers can buy Rewe and Go sandwiches, wraps, salads, get a beer, buy cigarettes, and enjoy a cappuccino while they are charging their cars.
In a LinkedIn post, Mehmet Tözge, Director Smart Store Development at Lekkerland SE, said: “Lekkerland SE customer preferences have changed. End consumers want to shop 24/7, fast and with as few contacts as possible.”
The store includes smart fridges from Reckon.ai.
Shoppers scan their card, open the door, take their products, close the door and leave within 30 seconds.
Tözge said: “The combination of computer vision cameras with sensor fusion enables us to offer end consumers a unique, reliable and seamless way of shopping. The time to market and the ease of implementation: smart fridges are plug and play devices. Going live is a matter of seconds.”
He added: “New products are added within a couple of minutes. All temperature zones are possible. Shopping by Tap&Go or by mobile Application and much more.”
Ana Pinto, CEOat Reckon.ai. commented: “This is our first shop at an EV charging station powered by our AI smart cabinets, creating a fully autonomous shopping experience. The future is now.”
Andrew Busby and John Lewis Partnership’s Naomi Simcock join Smart Retail Tech Expo London line up
Smart Retail Tech Expo reports that Andrew Busby of Redline Retail Consulting will be hosting a fireside chat with Naomi Simcock, Operations Director at John Lewis Partnership, to discuss 'Great customer service in a digital age' at its upcoming London event.
Their session will be considering what technologies can improve customer experiences, how to balance the need from customers for human contact with the productivity agenda and what great customer service looks like for John Lewis, amongst a range of other topics up for discussion.
J.Crew brings Virtual Closet experience to Apple Vision Pro with 2023 RTIH Innovation Awards winner Obsess
J.Crew has launched a Virtual Closet app on Apple Vision Pro, the heavily hyped new spatial computer that blends digital content with the physical world and unlocks spatial experiences.
Created in partnership with Obsess, this allows users to shop J.Crew products in an interactive, ultra-high-definition 3D environment.
It utilises SharePlay, a set of features for shared experiences while on a FaceTime call, to chat with J.Crew's stylists or host group calls to get others' opinions on looks.
Retail Technology Show research: UK shoppers value human roles in retail amidst AI boom
Despite AI being all the rage in retail right now, 74% of UK consumers believe no matter how good it becomes at improving customer experience (CX), there will always be a role for human interaction in the sector, according to new research from Retail Technology Show, which takes place on 24th and 25th April at London’s Olympia.
A survey of over 1,000 Brits revealed that 25% agree AI is improving their shopping CX.
And a further 44% say they don’t mind if retailers use it in their buying journeys, as long as the experience is positive.
However, there are still deep reservations around the impact of the technology on consumers and the retail industry overall.
Swedish retail technology firm Voyado bags deal with luxury menswear brand Luca Faloni
Voyado, a Swedish retail technology platform, has secured a new partnership with luxury menswear brand Luca Faloni.
The company will be working with Voyado to focus on combining customer interactions and building customer loyalty.
A key element of the partnership will be ensuring easy integration with its existing Point of Sale system.
Maxi Di boosts digitalisation journey by tapping additional retail technology solutions from Pricer
Pricer has inked a framework agreement for the last quarter of 2023 and 2024 with Maxi Di, a retail group within Selex Group, and Pricer’s partner IBC.
“We are thrilled to share the exciting news that Maxi Di, who already uses Pricer’s in-store solution in more than 50 large format stores, has chosen to enhance and solidify its digitalisation journey by embracing additional innovative solutions from Pricer,” says Michael Cacciatore, Country Manager at Pricer Italy.
“This agreement represents a noteworthy advancement in the ongoing evolution of digitalisation within the retail sector.”
Boden works with fusefabric as it continues digital transformation push with move to Shopify
Boden is in the midst of a move to Shopify’s digital platform.
In a LinkedIn post, Simon Hamblin, Co-founder at fusefabric, said: “Heading into Boden’s offices this morning, to continue their digital transformation to Shopify.”
“We're gearing up for a couple of full on days with the awesome team at Boden, from mastering Shopify Flow to handling Returns & Refunds, sorting out Payments, and tackling Backorders – it's all on our radar.”
“We're deep into this journey with Boden, it's challenging, no doubt, but that's what makes it exciting! The Boden team is with us, ready to face the hurdles, and it's this shared drive through the tough spots that truly energises our partnership.”
“And of course, all work and no play isn't our style. We've got an evening out planned with the Boden team - a chance to unwind, connect on a personal level, and recharge our batteries for the exciting times ahead.”
Hamblin concluded: “This journey with Boden is a true partnership, a shared digital transformation towards Shopify. We're genuinely humbled and excited to be part of this collaborative path, looking forward to the fantastic experiences that lie ahead together.”
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