Starring Homebase, Decathlon, Aldi: Check out our 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. As we head towards the 20,000 followers mark, these are the articles that are currently on their radars, including Grabango, Morrisons Media Group, Quadient, Furniture Village, Gopuff, Polytag, Hectare, NewStore, Signifyd, and the latest RTIH Top 100 Retail Technology Influencers List.
Payments and FinTech veteran Nikhita Hyett joins online fraud protection firm Signifyd as General Manager for EMEA
Signifyd, an e-commerce fraud protection specialist, has announced the appointment of Nikhita Hyett as General Manager for EMEA.
Hyett most recently served as Managing Director, Europe at BlueSnap.
In her new role, she will spearhead strategic growth initiatives, identify operational enhancements, nurture key partnerships, and drive the expansion of Signifyd's presence across critical markets and verticals in EMEA.
With a background spanning leadership roles at BlueSnap, Adyen, and Global Blue, Hyett brings experience from the payments and FinTech sector.
The 2024 RTIH Top 100 Retail Technology Influencers List goes live, sponsored by 3D Cloud by Marxent
The latest edition of the RTIH Top 100 Retail Technology Influencers List has arrived, sponsored by 3D Cloud by Marxent. Here are the people who made a splash in 2023 and are set for a barnstorming 2024.
RTIH has scoured the retail technology world to find the most influential figures for this comprehensive list of people and trends that shape the industry and help drive it forward.
We’re living in unprecedented times.
The Covid-19 outbreak and cost-of-living crisis have driven a seismic change in shopping habits.
We are seeing retailers taking innovative technologies like AR, AI, and spatial computing, and finding ways to use them to make customer experiences more exciting and dynamic.
Which is where the RTIH Top 100 Retail Technology Influencers List comes in, presented, we should stress, in no particular order.
Such disruption requires new ways of problem solving and thought leaders who can both evangelise and execute on the likes of digital transformation and omnichannel success.
We hope you enjoy reading through it and, as always, if you would like to give feedback or believe that there are some glaring omissions, please feel free to get in touch via the form at the end of this article.
Many thanks to 3D Cloud by Marxent, which provides 3D product visualisation software trusted by top furniture and DIY retailers, for sponsoring it.
Download the list in pdf format here.
Or read via Issuu here.
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Morrisons Media Group ramps up retail media offering, including digital screens on Market Street food counters
Morrisons Media Group (MMG) is introducing new retail media opportunities in a bid to further connect Morrisons customers with their favourite brands.
First up, digital screens are being introduced at Morrisons Market Street food counters.
The screens provide brands the opportunity to promote products that complement the counter range on offer as well as an additional moment to interact with customers in a part of the store where their products are not stocked.
They are situated on Morrisons butcher, fishmonger, deli, pizza and oven fresh counters in over 300 Morrisons stores and the first campaigns are now live.
Meanwhile, My Points Boosters is a new feature being trialled in the More Card app which offers customers hyper-personalised challenges based on their shopping patterns. It is pitched as a first in the UK grocery market, and uses AI to personalise offers to each customer.
My Points Boosters users are given the opportunity to select up to ten leading brands from a personalised list, before being rewarded if they reach certain spend milestones within a set time frame.
The amount of More points they unlock increases as they hit bigger milestones and they can track their progress via the app.
Other new channels include trolley media which is now available in over 300 stores as well as personalised ads on Facebook and Instagram using the retailer’s first party data asset.
Retail veteran Mike Cadden becomes Chief Technology Officer at Marie Curie UK following interim period
Marie Curie UK has appointed Mike Cadden as Chief Technology Officer following an interim period lasting seven months.
In a LinkedIn post, Cadden said: “The last seven months have been amongst the most challenging, the toughest and yet the most fulfilling of my career, Marie Curie UK is a truly special place, providing a critical service to the UK and full of the very best people, doing very difficult jobs.”
“Therefore I am extremely proud and excited that the board have offered me, and obviously I accepted, the permanent Chief Technology Officer role.”
He added: “This is without doubt the biggest role of my career, supporting this amazing organisation into the future and delivering our charity five year strategy and the technology and transformation strategy that underpins it.”
“The work we do humbles me every day and to be a part of what our caring services teams do, even in such a small way, is amazing. Here's to the future.”
Marie Curie has an online shop as well as high street stores across the UK.
Aldi launches Aldigo checkout-free grocery shopping experience powered by Grabango tech
In partnership with Aldi, Grabango has launched Aldigo checkout-free shopping at a Chicago area grocery store.
Aldi lays claim to being the first major US grocery retailer to deploy checkout-free technology in an existing, full size store.
“The launch of Aldigo is a pivotal moment for the grocery industry,” says Will Glaser, CEO at Grabango.
“Although more challenging, it was important to us to launch this technology in a typical store and not one purpose built for us. Aldi is one of the most innovative retailers in the world, and we are honoured to partner with them to give their shoppers an exciting new way to shop the store.”
The Grabango system was added to an existing store without the need to make any changes to its planogram or product displays.
The technology, which uses computer vision to identify and keep track of every item in the store, allows shoppers to exit the store without waiting in line or scanning items.
UK retailer Homebase teams with Quadient to offer online delivery and returns solutions for customers
Quadient has announced a new partnership with Homebase, a UK home improvement retailer.
This allows Homebase to host parcel lockers as part of Quadient’s Open Locker Network, with the aim of offering convenient, secure delivery and pickup solutions for carriers and consumers at its stores across the United Kingdom.
Neil Robinson, Head of Property at Homebase, says: “The introduction of smart lockers makes it even easier for customers to pick up or return their online deliveries in-store, as well as acting as an extension of our own click and collect service.”
The partnership is a step on Quadient’s journey to roll out 5,000 open locker locations across the UK.
Ikea UK and Ireland opens first Irish distribution centre as it continues fulfilment transformation push
Ikea Ireland has opened a distribution centre in Rathcoole, Co. Dublin.
The facility, employing over 200 people, follows investments in six plan and order points, upgrades to the Ballymun store, and a collaboration with Tesco Ireland on an affordable collection service.
Ikea claims that the DC will result in its business in Ireland having one of the shortest delivery times in Europe.
Before now, deliveries to Irish consumers required dispatch from the UK. Delivery times will now reduce to three days.
The DC is over 27,000 square metres, has a storage capacity of 20,000 cubic metres – equal to over 258,000 flatpack BILLY bookcases or double the size of Croke Park pitch – and is capable of housing up to 9,000 different product lines, spanning across almost every product in the Ikea range.
The retailer expects the facility to be making more than 300,000 deliveries in the first year of operation, with that figure almost doubling to nearly 600,000 within five years. Eventually the plan is to be able to deliver up to three million items a year from the centre.
Furniture Village pays tribute to Chief Information Officer Mike Broughton who passed away earlier this month
UK retailer Furniture Village has announced the passing of its Chief Information Officer, Mike Broughton.
In a LinkedIn post, it said: “Mike passed away peacefully on Friday 5th April surrounded by his family.”
“As many of you will know, Mike was a larger than life character who brought a wealth of experience, talent and good humour to our board.”
“He was an inspirational leader and mentor who always made time for his colleagues and encouraged everyone to fulfil their potential with his endless capacity for warmth, empathy and positivity. More than anything, he was a true gentleman.”
It concluded: “He leaves behind a lasting legacy and will be hugely missed by all his FV family. Our heartfelt condolences go to the Broughton family at this very sad time.”
Broughton worked at Furniture Village for just over six years.
His CV also included stints at Asda (as Senior Director IS), William Hill (as Chief Information Officer), and Barclays Bank (as Change Director).
Retail technology innovation of the week: Wow Bao Hot Buns Club rewards programme hits the metaverse
Retail Technology Innovation of the Week is a new series brought to you by RTIH and sponsored by 3D Cloud by Marxent, highlighting stand out deployments, launches, and initiatives by retailers and tech suppliers.
Every week, we will showcase forward thinking tech plays that have impressed our Editor and the Retail Technology Innovations Report judging panel, in the run up to the publication of the 2024 report in April.
And this week we’re focusing on Wow Bao, which has announced a full integration of its Hot Buns Club rewards programme in the metaverse.
Decathlon UK taps Fifty AI powered audience insights technology as retailer inks media agency partner deal
Decathlon UK has announced Fifty as its media agency partner in a deal that will see the sports retailer utilise AI powered audience insights technology.
Fifty will be responsible for developing and executing its integrated media strategy across all media and channels.
“We're thrilled to partner with Fifty," says Oliver Simpson, Head of Performance Marketing at Decathlon UK.
“Their capabilities perfectly align with our growth goals, with the AI platform showcasing how we can adapt to market trends quickly and more accurately.”
“Early on the Fifty team showed us where we had opportunities to reach new audiences in key growth segments and importantly how to connect with them, an approach that will support long-term brand building and sustainable growth.”
Powered by Gopuff makes its debut with 20 plus CPG partners leveraging the instant commerce platform
Gopuff has announced the launch of Powered by Gopuff, a logistics and technology platform that, according to the quick commerce big hitter, enables brands to offer affordable delivery from their owned and operated online stores in as fast as 15 minutes.
“We’ve spent the last ten years building and scaling our own hyper-local logistics network and operations to consistently meet customer demands for fast, affordable, and reliable delivery,” says Daniel Folkman, SVP of Business at Gopuff.
“As a result of this work, we've established ourselves as the face of instant commerce. Now, with the launch of Powered by Gopuff, we're also becoming the fabric of instant commerce by extending our proprietary fulfilment and logistics capabilities beyond our app for the first time."
2023 RTIH Innovation Awards winner and unified commerce firm NewStore hires Michael DeSimone as CEO
NewStore, a mobile first unified commerce platform for retailers, has announced the appointment of Michael DeSimone as CEO.
NewStore Founder Stephan Schambach will remain Chairman of the board.
“NewStore is the go to unified commerce platform for global enterprise retailers facing the challenge of outdated, siloed systems. Our unique ability to deliver seamless omnichannel experiences worldwide sets us apart,” says Schambach.
“Michael’s expertise will be instrumental in enhancing the company’s operations and offerings, ensuring our solutions, like our award winning Omnichannel PoS, evolve in line with the always changing demands of the retail market.”
DDRS Alliance and recycling tech firm Polytag announce decision to align and accelerate Digital DRS efforts
Not-for-profit company, DDRS Alliance, whose members include Circularity Solutions, Recycl3r, ACE UK, Tetra Pak and Valpak - and recycling tech firm, Polytag, have announced a collaboration to accelerate the development and adoption of Digital DRS in the UK.
As the launch date for a DRS in the UK is reportedly delayed further until 2028, the two organisations have pledged to leverage their experience and expertise to demonstrate the viability and convenience of a Digital DRS.
DDRS Alliance has also published a Digital DRS Charter, which is designed to ensure alignment across all major DRS stakeholders in the UK and beyond. It is hoped that all proponents and stakeholders will sign up to the principles outlined within it.
DDRS Alliance and Polytag both utilise GS1 Digital Link QR codes to facilitate a Digital DRS. GS1 forecasts that brands will begin replacing traditional product barcodes with two-dimensional smart QR codes from 2027.
These QR codes can be used as a tool to increase supply chain visibility, authenticate products for retailers, and extend the label for consumers, through additional features and benefits designed to engage consumers with rich, dynamic content and engage through loyalty and reward schemes.
Brands and retailers can also use the future proofed QR codes supplied by Polytag to operate a Digital DRS. The collaboration comes after several trials from the respective parties demonstrating both the technical readiness and consumer appeal of a Digital DRS.
New Hectare Advance Pay product tackles complex puzzle of last mile trade finance for farming community
Hectare, a provider of agricultural technology supply chain solutions, has announced the launch of Advance Pay, a new embedded finance product that, according to a press release, “gives arable farmers access to instant cash flow from their grain contracts at a fair market interest rate”.
This aims to solve the challenges of financing last mile grain supply chains, with Hectare laying claim to being the first to market to offer an independent solution without the heavy costs or administration headaches of traditional finance, lock-in contracts for grain pools, or input financing.
With Advance Pay on grain trades, farmers receive instant payment for up to 80% of the contract's value.
Amazon hits back at media reports that its Just Walk Out technology relies on human reviewers watching from afar
Amazon has slammed “erroneous” media reports that its Just Walk Out checkout-free stores technology relies on human reviewers watching from afar.
Said reports claimed that, though it seemed completely automated, Just Walk Out actually relied on more than 1,000 people in India watching and labelling videos to ensure accurate checkouts.
The cashiers were simply moved off-site, leaving people to be essentially spied on while they shopped.
In an online post, Amazon countered: “Most AI systems, including the underlying machine learning models behind these technologies, are continuously improved by annotating synthetic (AI generated) and real shopping data.”
“Our associates are responsible for this labeling and annotation step. Associates don’t watch live video of shoppers to generate receipts - that’s taken care of automatically by the computer vision algorithms. This is no different than any other AI system that places a high value on accuracy, where human reviewers are common.”
It concluded: “We are excited about the future of AI powered, identity and checkout solutions like Just Walk Out technology, Amazon Dash Cart, and Amazon One. The future of retail will be transformed by AI, and we are just getting started.”
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