It was the best of times, it was the worst of times: RTIH presents the retail technology week in numbers
Do you like numbers? Do you like retail systems news? Then this is the article for you. Including Jisp, JD.com, Wow Bao, Cobot, M&S, RELEX Solutions, Patagonia, Greggs, Retail Technology Show 2024, Shopify, and Batch LDN.
104%…Jisp has announced that sales have continued their upward trajectory, earning retailers almost £1.5 million in the first quarter of 2024, up 104% on the same period last year. This growth means that its Scan & Save offering has now achieved £5.4 million in sales for retailers since launch.
With the cost-of-living crisis, including increasing rent and mortgage costs, still impacting the UK, the number of registered Jisp app users jumped by 167%.
This has seen Scan & Save shopper savings also surge in the period, up 115% on the previous year, hitting £375,000 in only three months of the year. Total shopper savings since launch have reached almost £1.8 million and continue to grow at pace.
The increase in daily Jisp app downloads by shoppers, which tracks above the average for daily downloads of an app, mirrors the trend in UK consumers seeking greater value and ways to make their budgets stretch further in an increasingly difficult financial climate.
1…Wow Bao has announced a full integration of its Hot Buns Club rewards programme in the metaverse.
In doing so, it lays claim to being the first fast casual restaurant to integrate a rewards programme and in real life perks in the metaverse.
US-based Roblox players who visit its virtual experience, Dim Sum Palace, can search for clues to unlock a free Bao themed head UGC accessory, free Wow Bao product, and a chance to win Wow Bao for a year.
After they join the Hot Buns Club to claim the limited supply UGC items, they will receive a link via email for a free box of Wow Bao at their local grocer and be enrolled for a chance to win free bao for a year.
Additionally, as a member of the Hot Buns Club they are eligible for exclusive rewards and benefits.
4…Greggs has published its fourth annual sustainability report, which outlines the progress made towards its 2025 green targets and sets out key focus areas for the year ahead.
Three years into a five-year sustainability plan, Greggs says that it has made significant progress on its ten commitments and has reached the following key milestones:
· 896 Greggs Foundation Breakfast Clubs now open, feeding over 62,000 children every school day
· Almost £650,000 of Greggs Outlet profits donated to the Greggs Foundation Community Grant programme to distribute to communities in need
· 97.1% of electricity usage across all operations came from renewable sources
· Maintained over 30% of range as ‘Healthier Choice’ products
· Over 500 shops (21% of the estate) feature Eco-Shop elements
· Published Ethnicity Pay Gap Report
$9 million…Bite, a provider of intelligent kiosk solutions for fast casual and quick service restaurants, has secured $9 million in Series A funding.
The round was led by Staley Capital, with participation from Graham Partners, Food-X, One Way Ventures and Tamarisc Ventures.
Bite’s self-service kiosk software provides the ability to drive digital ordering at fast casual and quick serve restaurants. Its in-store ordering platform currently helps more than 1,100 restaurant locations improve labour efficiencies and leverage personalisation, and integrates into existing tech stacks.
$100 million…Collaborative Robotics (aka Cobot) has raised $100 million in Series B funding led by General Catalyst and joined by Bison Ventures, Industry Ventures and Lux Capital.
Existing investors Sequoia Capital, Khosla Ventures, Mayo Clinic, Neo, 1984 Ventures, MVP Ventures and Calibrate Ventures also participated, bringing the total funding raised to over $140 million in less than two years.
Founded in 2022 by former Amazon VP of Robotics and Distinguished Engineer Brad Porter, the Cobot team includes robotics and AI experts from Amazon, Apple, Meta, Google, Microsoft, NASA, and Waymo.
The new capital will be used to further expand the team and advance its commercial deployments. Paul Kwan, Managing Director at General Catalyst, joins Alfred Lin from Sequoia Capital on Collaborative Robotics' Board of Directors.
"Getting our first robots in the field earlier this year, coupled with today's investment, are major milestones as we bring cobots with human-level capability into the industries of today," says Porter. ”We see a virtuous cycle where more robots in the field lead to improved AI and a more cost-effective supply chain. This funding will help us accelerate getting more robots into the real world."
One billion yuan…Chinese e-commerce giant, JD.com, has announced an investment of one billion yuan in cash incentives aimed at attracting a wider pool of video content creators and institutions to its platform.
It says that the move confirms its commitment to leveraging short videos and live streams in innovating the online shopping journey for its users and providing brand merchants with novel avenues for growth.
For individual content creators, the platform offers cash subsidies across more than 20 product categories, including electronics, home appliances, fashion, and health.
Creators who meet the platform’s recruitment criteria can receive weekly bonuses of up to 30,000 yuan, alongside additional incentives such as video playback subsidies and sales commissions.
On the institutional front, JD has established a separate five-million-yuan incentive programme. Institutions that successfully onboard a significant number of influencers will receive monthly cash subsidies.
JD will also provide one-on-one guidance and support.
1…Patagonia has opened its first store in the Netherlands, in Amsterdam, designed to serve as both a retail store and a space for local activist and sports communities.
This will offer technical products for outdoor sports, including climbing, snow sports, and trail running. It will host regular community events such as repair workshops, film screenings and public talks.
Founded in Ventura, California, by Yvon Chouinard in 1973, with a commitment to environmental activism, the outdoor apparel retailer has 12 stores and is stocked in specialty outdoor dealers across Europe.
The Amsterdam location stands on the former site of the RoXY Club, which played a pivotal role in the city’s house and techno culture of the 1990s and was known for extravagant, multidisciplinary performances.
10…The Retail Technology Show Innovation Awards finalists have been announced.
Retail Technology Show 2024 will take place at London’s Olympia on 24th and 25th April.
The “ten trailblazing solutions who are leading the charge in retail innovation, poised to drive businesses forward and ignite competitive advantage” are as follows:
🌟Flip
🌟Scaleflex
🌟Shopopop
🌟Teamwork Commerce
🌟Pricer
🌟Find & Order
🌟Orquest
🌟ProGlove
🌟ReachFive
🌟Solink
The winner will be revealed at the BIG Retail Party, happening from 4.30pm on day one of RTS 2024 at the Champagne Bar.
1…Shopify is gearing up to exhibit at Retail Technology Show for the first time.
The exhibition/conference will take place at London’s Olympia on 24th and 25th April. Shopify will be demoing its latest enterprise and retail solutions on stand 5B60.
5…Ahold Delhaize, Tesco, Woolworths Group, Empire Company/Sobeys, and Shoprite Group, have teamed up to establish a venture capital fund, W23 Global, which will seek to invest in innovative startups and scaleups that deploy technology to enhance customer experiences, transform the grocery value chain and address the sector’s sustainability challenges.
Each retailer is an equal funder and partner in the initiative, while their CEOs will sit on the investment committee.
W23 Global CEO and Chief Investment Officer, Ingrid Maes, says: "W23 is a potentially game-changing international VC fund with a powerful proposition for both our investors and portfolio companies.”
“We aim to offer our investors incomparable access to transformative innovation in grocery and sustainability worldwide.”
“W23 Global will work with its investors to identify common unaddressed challenges and support entrepreneurs to develop solutions, offering faster pathways to global scale for portfolio companies.”
“With leading grocery CEOs on our investment committee, founders can rapidly develop ideas based on an accelerated understanding of retailers’ needs.”
1,600…2023 RTIH Innovation Awards winner Barron McCann has helped spread the message about saving the planet by handing out 1,600 bamboo fibre cups to local charities and organisations - with help from British homeware company Milly Green.
Derby-based Barron McCann, which provides IT services to customers throughout the UK and Europe, handed out the cups created by Milly Green to YMCA Derbyshire, Treetops Hospice, Derby County Community Trust, Derby Women’s Centre and Bridge The Gap C.I.C.
Each mug is made from 100% bamboo and is fully recyclable.
57%…A new study by RELEX Solutions reveals that, while 57% of retailers and CPG companies plan to invest in predictive and generative AI in the next three to five years, AI and machine learning ranked just fifth in importance for overall technology spend behind enhancing e-commerce capabilities, improving inventory management, demand forecasting, and leveraging data analytics.
The report was conducted by Researchscape and surveyed 285 retail, CPG, and wholesale leaders globally.
Overall, respondents rated rapidly shifting consumer demand volatility (55%), global events and disruptions (50%), and inaccurate sense of customer specific demand (43%) as the biggest threats to improving supply chain efficiency and accuracy over the next three years.
94% of respondents also said they have been impacted by social media influencing or "de-influencing" over the last 12-24 months – another sign that anticipating and sensing demand surges across all channels will be especially critical to success.
1…Tokyo, Japan-based sizing technology specialist, Makip, has announced its first UK customer, independent fashion brand, Batch LDN.
Batch LDN was founded by fashion entrepreneurs Sam Matanle and Julian Osborne in 2022 to provide affordable casual suits, tackle fast fashion and promote sustainable garment production.
Its online shoppers are now using Makip’s Unisize technology, which helps them to ‘try on’ and purchase the most suitable and perfectly fitting suits with confidence on their first attempt.
85% and 72%…A new BearingPoint study, involving a survey of British Retail Consortium (BRC) members, highlights a number of key opportunities for UK retail to become a more sustainable industry.
Although 85% of major retailers surveyed outlined sustainability as a business driver, and 72% have a roadmap to go beyond minimum compliance, four key opportunities were identified.
2,195…The number of insolvencies of retailers has increased 19% in the past year to 2,195 in 2023/24 (year end 31st January), up from 1,843 in 2022/23, according Mazars, an audit, tax and advisory firm.
High profile retail insolvencies include The Body Shop in February, as well as fashion brand Ted Baker and online luxury fashion retailers MatchesFashion and Farfetch.
Many retailers have been hit by a combination of increased costs and cautious household spending among consumers. Higher interest rates are also causing significant problems for any firm with a significant level of debt that is either “floating rate” or that is coming for refinancing.
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