Happiness dashboards and post-purchase experiences: 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 Walmart, Robert Dyas, Dobell, Akeneo, Google Cloud, Church & Dwight, Migros, Harrods, Enactor, RELEX Solutions, JogOn, and ZigZag.
Harrods
Enactor has announced implementation of a self-checkout (SCO) system in luxury department store Harrods.
Mike Carrell, Founder and Managing Director at Enactor, says: “The self-checkout market is changing rapidly and we are therefore thrilled that more clients are entrusting us to provide them with a modern solution and next-generation PoS solution powered by our single platform architecture.”
“The launch of this SCO pilot programme with Harrods is not just a business venture but a testament to our shared commitment to excellence, innovation, and mutual growth.”
“We are delighted to continue our journey with Harrods and provide their customers with a shopping experience like no other.”
The Retail Trust
Retail industry charity, the Retail Trust, has developed a generative AI powered dashboard to help retailers including FatFace and Next improve staff mental health and prove the value of their wellbeing strategies.
The new ‘happiness dashboard’, built in partnership with a handful of retail employers and the Retail Trust’s technology partner BJSS, allows companies to track staff wellbeing trends and improve the effectiveness of support.
The platform works by identifying trends around which Retail Trust wellbeing services employees are using to generate recommendations on how to improve engagement, reduce levels of absenteeism or presenteeism, and increase staff retention.
It also shows each employer exactly how much initiatives to improve mental health are saving their business and the economy, by calculating the financial value of fewer staff calling in sick, working while unwell, quitting their jobs or turning to the NHS as a result.
Walmart
Walmart is making its AI powered logistics technology - Route Optimisation - available to all businesses as a Software as a Service (SaaS) solution through Walmart Commerce Technologies.
“We have invested significant time, resources and operational knowhow into building solutions like Route Optimisation, but that can be a barrier for many businesses,” says Anshu Bhardwaj, Senior Vice President and Chief Operating Officer, Walmart Global Tech and Walmart Commerce Technologies.
“By adopting our at scale, AI powered tech, businesses can eliminate the need and expense of developing their own technology, and instead focus on what they do best – serve their customers."
Migros
Swiss retailer, Migros, has partnered with Kezzler to launch a new supply chain data marketplace powered by EPCIS 2.0 technology.
According to a press release, the solution will provide “a secure and centralised platform for businesses of all sizes to share and access valuable product and supply chain data.”
“This data will be captured using EPCIS 2.0, the latest GS1 standard for electronic product information capture, which connects physical products to their digital representations.”
Migros and partners will gain real-time insights into product provenance, movement, and condition throughout the supply chain.
Church & Dwight
Rockwell Automation has been selected by Church & Dwight Co. to strengthen the consumer goods company’s cybersecurity programme.
The consumer packaged goods firm says that it chose Rockwell specifically to help build resiliency and minimise risks in its operational technology (OT) manufacturing security practices.
With several global consumer brands under its umbrella, Church & Dwight recognised the critical impact and importance of a strong OT security posture and enlisted Rockwell.
The goal was to gain a deeper understanding of its manufacturing risk profile by identifying critical assets, vulnerabilities and security gaps.
After examining and prioritising risk, Rockwell collaborated with Church & Dwight to develop a remediation roadmap, new security policies, and other measures to minimise risks.
MCCS
Marine Corps Community Services (MCCS) has selected Jesta I.S.’s Merchandising ERP solution for a digital transformation project involving its Marine Corps Exchange (MCX) stores, totalling more than 160 worldwide.
The implementation of Merchandising ERP, the foundation of Jesta’s end-to-end Vision Retail Management Suite, will drive and support innovation, and enhance operational performance, data quality and data assurance across the stores.
It will also help MCX realise cloud operations and facilitate the adaptability of future technology enhancements.
ON
ON, an AI chat platform used by brands in retail, sports, and media, has announced a slate of new retail partnerships.
New clients include Kut from the Kloth, a denim brand; Business & Pleasure Co., an outdoor and lifestyle brand; and n+Bikes, a specialist in the micromobility space.
The ON platform addresses the bulk of inbound inquiries, offering an automated, AI chat experience that aims to accelerate speed-to-resolution through the shopping journey.
JogOn and ZigZag
Returns software specialist ZigZag has partnered with JogOn on its commitment to prevent one million pairs of running shoes from going to landfill.
It is estimated that there are 18 billion pairs of running shoes sold in the world every year - the equivalent of two pairs per person on earth.
At the same time, there are millions of people globally with limited access to shoes of any kind and an estimated three million people that suffer from foot related diseases.
JogOn is implementing ZigZag's returns software to address these issues and find new homes for the 33 million running shoes discarded into landfills annually. Starting with the commitment of one million shoes, its goal is to find new owners amongst individuals who would benefit from the quality footwear being thrown out every day.
Valora
Valora, a convenience retailer in Switzerland with subsidiaries in Luxembourg and Germany, is working with RELEX Solutions as it looks to enhance availability, reduce waste and ultimately improve customer satisfaction.
Wysupp, a RELEX partner, is managing the implementation.
Valora has 15,000 employees, 2,400 convenience stores, 3,400 SKUs and two distribution centres across Switzerland, Germany, Austria, Luxembourg and the Netherlands.
It will be replacing an existing space planning solution with RELEX, in concert with adding the firm’s forecasting and replenishment capabilities for a unified approach to store planning, store operations, and supply chain.
Robert Dyas
Robert Dyas reports that there are now 500 dropship suppliers on its online store, ranging from startups to well known brands.
Virtualstock's cloud-based SaaS platform links Robert Dyas to its network of suppliers.
This allows the retailer to swiftly and easily onboard new suppliers, and to rapidly expand its online product catalogue for an improved customer experience and enhanced online revenue.
Notably, 70% of the total gross merchandise value (GMV) for Robert Dyas now originates from dropshipping.
Dobell
British online menswear brand, Dobell, says that its has taken ownership of its post-purchase experience, reducing ‘where is my order’ (WISMO) queries, driving business profitability and generating a 57% click through rate (CTR) on post-purchase emails, in partnership with Scurri.
Strong demand both domestically and internationally, including America and Europe, for Dobell’s clothing has led to consistent growth with a current turnover of £6 million and following a reset during the Covid pandemic and a subsequent rebrand, it has a renewed focus on lean growth.
It chose to implement Scurri Track Plus to improve the post-purchase experience by sending branded tracking emails and providing a branded tracking timeline to customers.
Support queries have reduced by 37% since implementing Scurri Track Plus, the number of contacts per query have also decreased.
PTC
PTC has announced the results of a collaboration that has seen integration between its PLM platform, FlexPLM, and digital product creation and colour management platform, DMIx, developed by ColorDigital.
This was showcased for the first time at the PI Apparel Europe Show, which took place at Lake Maggiore on 12th-13th March.
Leveraging PTC’s Flex Insights platform, the integration facilitates data exchange between FlexPLM and DMIx, enabling FlexPLM customers to elevate the efficiency and creativity of their design and merchandising teams, extending the value of digital colour management throughout the entire enterprise.
Akeneo and Google Cloud
Akeneo and Google Cloud have announced a partnership designed to optimise product information management for retailers and brands.
This will see Akeneo leverage Google’s AI tools to automatically develop multilingual product descriptions, and will integrate streams of images and videos into product information, whether it already exists, needs to be created, or needs to be adapted to local cultural specificities.
According to the pair, the partnership will help the former’s retail and brand customers, who include White Stuff, Sass and Belle, and INTERSPORT achieve greater cost optimisation, speed to market and create better product experiences for consumers.
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