Just say no to Just Walk Out: 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 16,000 followers mark, these are the articles that are currently on their radars, including Wendy’s, Amazon, Oracle NetSuite, Pricer, Kingfisher, Virtualstock, Gather AI, and Co-op.
New chapter for former Amazon and Deliveroo exec Devesh Mishra as he becomes President of CoreAI at Keystone
Keystone has announced the appointment of Devesh Mishra as President and Chief Product and Technology Officer at CoreAI as the company looks to lead in innovation in artificial intelligence.
Prior to joining Keystone, Mishra spent 16 years at Amazon, where he held several senior positions, most notably as Vice President, Global Supply Chain.
In this role, he led a team across engineering, data science, and product management, managing a supply chain that spanned 185 markets, and leveraging data analytics, predictive technology, and machine learning.
Most recently, he served as the Chief Product and Technology Officer at Deliveroo, where he was responsible for overseeing the company's tech organisation, including engineering, data science, design, and product development functions.
The SSE Arena, Belfast achieves a checkout-free shopping first with Amazon Just Walk Out technology tie up
The SSE Arena, Belfast has announced a collaboration with Amazon to implement the US online giant’s Just Walk Out technology at the venue, making it the first indoor arena in Europe to offer checkout-free shopping.
This will be located on the first floor and named PAY & AWAY.
Guests will enter by using their chosen contactless payment method at the entry gate, with the technology then detecting what customers take from or return to the shelves and creating a virtual shopping session.
When they complete their shopping experience, they can leave without waiting in line, and their chosen payment method will be charged for the items taken.
Amazon bins Just Walk Out technology at Fresh grocery stores as US giant ramps up focus on smart carts
Amazon is removing Just Walk Out frictionless shopping technology from its Amazon Fresh stores.
This will be replaced by smart carts that allow customers to skip the checkout line but also see their spending in real-time.
Just Walk Out will continue to be offered in Amazon Go stores and some smaller Amazon Fresh stores in the UK. Amazon will also continue to offer the technology to third-party retailers.
“We’ve invested a lot of time redesigning a number of our Amazon Fresh stores over the last year, offering a better overall shopping experience with more value, convenience, and selection, and so far we’ve seen positive results, with higher customer shopping satisfaction scores and increased purchasing," says spokesperson Jessica Martin.
“We’ve also heard from customers that while they enjoyed the benefit of skipping the checkout line with Just Walk Out, they also wanted the ability to easily find nearby products and deals, view their receipt as they shop, and know how much money they saved while shopping throughout the store.”
Apparel company UNTUCKit opts for Oracle NetSuite as its new enterprise resource planning system
UNTUCKit, an apparel brand known for creating “shirts designed to be worn untucked,” is using Oracle NetSuite to automate financial processes, helping to improve the speed and accuracy of reporting, and scale its operations.
Founded in 2011, UNTUCKit began as a direct-to-consumer e-commerce brand offering a single product – men’s button-downs. Today, it operates more than 80 storefronts in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom that offer a range of products from button-downs and Henleys, to swimwear and dresses.
To support its growth and expanding product portfolio and sales channels, UNTUCKit needed to replace its manual financial and inventory processes in QuickBooks in order to improve business visibility and operational efficiency.
Enter NetSuite as its new ERP system.
PAR Technology Punchh offering selected as loyalty platform provider for fast food giant Wendy’s
Wendy’s has selected PARTech’s loyalty and offer solution, PAR Punchh, to advance its customer engagement efforts.
Wendy’s will leverage PAR Punchh’s AI driven platform and Punchh Enterprise Support to boost its loyalty programme for customers who visit any of its nearly 6,500 locations across the United States and Canada.
It is looking to add gamified experiences, targeted offers designed to bring “great food for a great value” to its customers, and exclusive promotions tailored to individual customer preferences.
Ocado Retail focuses on thinking local first as pureplay taps Sunderland Gift Card for employee platform Mint
Online grocery retailer Ocado reports that it is taking a local first approach to its employee reward and recognition initiatives in Sunderland.
The 200 plus employees at the Ocado Retail contact centre at the Riverside, Sunderland can earn a virtual currency called ‘Ocadough’ to either save or spend on their employee platform Mint.
This launched in 2023 and applies gamification to reward and recognition.
Opening three times a year, the Mint ‘shop’ gives employees access to a range of tangible products, including the Sunderland Gift Card from Sunderland BID which can be spent with over 190 national and independent businesses in the city.
Ocado Retail also uses the Sunderland Gift Card to stock the Mint shop with physical gifts that employees can buy with their Ocadough. The top selling item in 2023 through the Mint shop was the Sunderland Gift Card, with employees using it in a range of local businesses.
The latter is part of the Town & City Gift Card initiative from Miconex active across the UK and Ireland with over £30 million spent with local businesses to date.
Checkout-free store startups crush stadiums and micro markets, struggle with convenience and groceries
And so is Frank Beard, Head of Marketing at Rovertown, who in a recent post on X (formerly known as Twitter) gave the thumbs up to those companies betting on stadiums and micro markets.
Although he added: “Convenience? Not buying the tech. Grocery? Small pilots, no scale, challenging format.”
Kingfisher keeps the faith with dropshipping specialist Virtualstock as it inks three-year contract extension
Kingfisher, the owner of B&Q and Screwfix, is renewing its retail technology partnership with Virtualstock, a dropshipping and curated marketplace SaaS platform whose other clients include Aldi, John Lewis, and Argos.
It has inked a three-year contract, with Virtualstock’s tech being used to support 1,100 B&Q stores across eight different countries in Europe.
Paul White, Commercial Director at B&Q, says: “Virtualstock technology wraps around our existing IT infrastructure enabling us to scale our online offer at pace, introducing new products, ranges, and markets.”
“Dropship is a route that enables us to build a broad portfolio of products giving our customers both choice and accessibility. We look forward to continuing to work in partnership with Virtualstock as we continue to expand our offer and grow our online business.”
German startup Sizekick agrees AI powered partnership with Swedish active wear brand STRONGER
Sizekick, a Munich-based startup specialising in AI driven size recommendations for online fashion retail, has announced a partnership with STRONGER, an activewear brand based in Stockholm, Sweden.
Sizekick provides precise size recommendations based on individual body measurements.
“We believe STRONGER is a perfect partner for us. Their unwavering commitment to delivering exceptional user experiences and sustainability aligns seamlessly with our mission to eliminate returns based on size uncertainty," says David Oldeen, Co-founder and CEO at Sizekick.
"Together, we aim to enhance STRONGER's profitability through reduced return rates and improved conversion rates, offering customers a seamless and sustainable shopping experience."
Co-op rolls out member prices via its own online shop, matching UK retailer's in-store offering
Co-op reports that it is now offering the same member price benefits online for its member-owners as it does in-store.
Member prices are across more than 300 key lines and everyday essentials, with branded and own-branded items including: Co-op 800g loaf (£0.76p); whole cucumber (£0.80p) ; six salad tomatoes (£0.85p); six medium free-range eggs (£1.40); Co-op spaghetti/penne pasta (£0.80); Co-op tomato ketchup 550g (£1.10) and Co-op baked beans 400g (£0.49p)
According to a press release: “As a co-operative business, being a Co-op member-owner is more than just a having a loyalty card, it gives members the chance to directly benefit while also having a say in how their business is run.”
“In addition to delivering additional value through member prices, membership also includes personalised offers every week, gamification and access to pre-sale tickets for artists at Co-op Live via the Co-op app.”
East of England Co-op inks deal to roll-out Pricer digital platform across all its food stores
East of England Co-operative Society, one of the largest regional co-operatives in the UK, has signed an agreement with Pricer for an installation worth 50 MSEK in all 120+ of its food stores and involving the cloud-based platform Pricer Plaza and digital labels.
It has selected Pricer’s in-store automation and communication solution and the latest four colour electronic shelf labels.
The project will start in June and the plan is to have all installations finalised during spring 2025.
Inventory monitoring startup Gather AI bags $17 million in funding to transform supply chain traceability
Gather AI, a provider of computer vision and AI powered warehouse inventory monitoring solutions, has announced a $17 million Series A-1 round led by Bain Capital Ventures with participation from Tribeca Venture Partners, Dundee Venture Capital, Expa, and Bling Capital.
This provides a total of $34 million raised to date. The cash will be invested in scaling operations.
Gather AI was founded in 2017 by Sankalp Arora, Daniel Maturana and Geetesh Dubey, after launching from Carnegie Mellon University’s Robotics Institute.
It automates inventory visibility challenges through drones across third-party logistics, manufacturing, and retail facilities, laying claim to much richer data than warehouses can currently obtain with barcodes.
Customers include NFI, GEODIS, DSV, Barrett Distribution, and DPI Specialty Foods (KeHE).
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