Farewell Tesco, hello Stockholm, Sweden: RTIH rolls out the biggest retail technology news stories of the week
It’s Friday, the weekend is almost upon us, so let’s kick back and reflect on another eventful week for the retail systems space. Here's your briefing on the most important stories from the past five days, including Getir, Ikea, Furniture Village, Amazon, Aldi, Hugo Boss, and the RTIH Top 100 Retail Technology Influencers List.
1. 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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2. Rapid delivery big hitter Getir in crisis talks as it preps major 'make or break' restructuring move
Turkish ultrafast grocery delivery firm, Getir, is said to be working on a radical restructuring plan just two years after it was valued at just off $12 billion.
According to Sky News, Getir, which operates in five markets including the UK, is examining a number of options as part of talks with its leading investors.
Sky News report: “Sources said this weekend that this could involve a break-up of the rapid delivery group, an exit from a number of its remaining markets or some form of emergency restructuring mechanism.”
It added: “A source close to the company denied that any form of insolvency process was under consideration, saying that if it decided to exit a country it would do so in an orderly fashion.”
“Another insider added that the next few days were "make or break" for the company, with key decisions about Getir's future expected to be taken as early as the next fortnight.”
AlixPartners, the restructuring firm, is understood to be advising on the situation at Getir, which is backed by the likes of Mubadala, the Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth fund, Sequoia Capital and Tiger Global.
It was valued at $11.8 billion when it raised more than $750 million in a funding round in 2022.
Getir did not respond to our request for comment.
3. 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).
4. 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.”
5. 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.”
6. Emperia tech powers Hugo Boss House Bali virtual experience promoting spring/summer 2024 collection
Emperia has announced a new collaboration with Hugo Boss, the Boss House Bali virtual experience.
To promote the launch of its spring/summer 2024 collection, the company has opened the doors of the Boss House Bali to a select group of Hugo Boss Experience members, VIP customers, media, and key tastemakers from the Asia-Pacific region.
Taking over a villa on the island of Bali, built by architect Alexis Dornier, the physical activation is an immersive space that showcases the Boss lifestyle, from gourmet dining and cooking classes to wellness workshops and active adventures.
Coinciding with the opening, the brand is extending this to audiences worldwide, launching the virtual experience, developed by the Emperia platform, available globally on hugoboss.com.
The virtual world offers an opportunity to explore the Boss House Bali and shop for Boss products, namely items from the menswear, womenswear, and fragrance collections and additionally to book a physical stay at Boss House Bali.
There is also a gamification element, providing special discounts.
7. URBN partners with FinTech giant Stripe to power online and in-person retail payments across its brands
Stripe has announced a partnership with URBN to power online and in-person retail payments for Urban Outfitters, Anthropologie Group, Free People, and FP Movement.
With Stripe as its primary payments infrastructure, URBN says it will introduce a more consistent checkout experience for its customers with the goal of increasing authorisation rates and enabling future innovation.
“Payments are a critical link between our brands and millions of URBN customers who expect checkouts to be as easy as trying on an outfit or adding items to a cart,” says Dave Hayne, Chief Technology Officer at URBN.
“Stripe lets us stay focused on building the best unified commerce experience possible by removing the complexity of payments across our brands.”
8. 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.
9. 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.
10. Jo Hickson departs Tesco and the UK to head up Innovation Lab at H&M Group in Stockholm, Sweden
Jo Hickson has left Tesco, where she spent the past five years and held the role of Head of Labs, Tesco Technology and Group Innovation, to join H&M Group.
Her new role will see her leave the UK, and start work as Lab Director for H&M Group in Stockholm next week.
In a LinkedIn post, she said: “Five years at Tesco has gone by all too quickly. I've loved the job, the team, the company. An absolute privilege to lead Tesco Labs and be part of Tesco Technology.”
“I will miss our team so much. Will also be missing England too, as I head to an exciting new life in Stockholm.”
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