Including Pricer, Zilch, and Paramount Global: 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 NewStore, Ocean State Job Lot, Spar Malta, LEAFIO AI, LOVALL, Manhattan Associates, Sizekick, and STRONGER.
Shopsense AI and Paramount Global
Shopsense AI has launched an AI powered retail media platform, with Paramount Global as its inaugural partner.
Shopsense says that its patent pending technology unlocks new advertising and incremental revenue opportunities for broadcast and streaming networks by making content seamlessly shoppable within their own apps and e-commerce sites.
Paramount Global debuted the new mobile shopping experience during the CMT Music Awards red carpet pre-show coverage airing on CMT on Sunday, 7th April. The live CMT Music Awards aired on CBS and Paramount+ directly following the red carpet coverage.
“Paramount’s premium entertainment content consistently influences consumer shopping journeys,” says John Halley, President at Paramount Advertising.
“TV is no longer just a top-of-the-funnel awareness generator. It is a 1:1 vehicle that brings the full funnel to the living room. We’re thrilled to launch with the Shopsense AI platform at the CMT Music Awards to capitalise on fandom and see it expressed through commerce.”
Pricer
Pricer will showcase new connected stores solutions at Retail Technology Show 2024, taking place at London’s Olympia on 24th and 25th April.
Exhibiting at booth #6E18, the company will present its latest shelf-edge automation and communication solutions that serve the smart retail market, with new applications for grocery, fashion and DIY retail as well as retail media networks (RMNs).
Based on electronic shelf labels (ESLs), Pricer aims to digitally awaken the shelf-edge in real-time to improve store operations - from on shelf availability to dynamic pricing and retail media capabilities – as well as empowering retailers’ omnichannel offerings, including store within a store, efficient picking of store-fulfilled e-commerce orders and advanced replenishment.
Universal Store and Perfect Stranger
Universal Store Holdings is to deploy NewStore’s Omnichannel PoS solution across the company’s retail banners in Australia.
The roll-out will span two brands, Universal Store and Perfect Stranger, and 89 stores, replacing each organisation’s legacy PoS systems.
The NewStore platform will allow each retailer to provide a more personalised level of service by consolidating customer, order, and inventory data into an iOS app.
As a result, each brand’s store teams will be able to assist and check out customers from anywhere on the store floor, using only an iPhone.
Zilch and Checkout.com
Zilch, which lays claim to being the world’s first ad subsidised payments network, has selected Checkout.com as its primary acquiring partner globally, with a particular focus on the UK and USA.
With its payments network supporting over 145 currencies and domestic acquiring coverage in over 45 markets, Checkout.com says that it will help Zilch continue to offer the fast and reliable high performance payments that its expanding customer base has come to expect from its regulated network.
In February, Zilch expanded its consumer debit and credit offering with the launch of ‘Pay over 3 months’ in addition to ‘Pay over 6 weeks’, for its more than 3.6 million registered users.
Customers use their Zilch card on average 100 times a year and now make more than 10 million payments per month with the firm.
LOVALL
Descartes Systems Group reports that UK-based fashion retailer LOVALL, formerly known as Love Leggings, is using its e-commerce warehouse management system (WMS) to improve productivity by automating fulfilment and optimising the use of existing warehouse space to hold three times as much inventory.
The solution has enabled LOVALL to meet rising e-commerce order volumes without needing to hire additional resources, even during peak periods like this past November when order volumes increased by 28% compared to the same time the previous year.
“Our business has scaled from an Amazon marketplace that used manual- and paper-based systems to pick and pack orders weekly to a growing online fashion brand that fulfils orders daily with almost 100% accuracy using the Descartes solution,” says Chris Brian, Co-Founder, LOVALL.
“Descartes has a strong track record of success in our industry with other high growth fashion brands. Its e-commerce WMS gives us a reliable and trusted technology foundation that can easily keep pace with our expanding business.”
Re-Up
AI powered gas stations and convenience stores specialist, Re-Up, is installing autonomous chefs at locations powered by Nala Robotics.
The Wingman is an autonomous fry station that can be added or configured to any restaurant or commercial food service operation.
Re-Up will leverage Nala Robotics' artificial intelligence technology to enhance its food service offerings, enabling customers to enjoy freshly prepared, fully customisable, fried chicken, french fries and other menu items on demand, without human intervention.
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."
Ocean State Job Lot
American discount retailer, Ocean State Job Lot, has selected the Manhattan Associates’ Manhattan Active Transportation Management solution.
OSJL operates over 150 stores across nine states, supported by a network of distribution centres and an array of global suppliers.
A longstanding Manhattan Warehouse Management customer, the retailer is replacing its legacy transportation management system with Manhattan Active TM to improve its logistics planning and execution capabilities.
This move also marks OSJL’s first step towards unifying distribution, transportation, labour and automation within a single, cloud native application built on Manhattan Active technology.
Spar Malta
Spar Malta has announced a partnership with LEAFIO AI to implement a cloud platform for inventory management and planogram optimisation in its stores.
The retailer will deploy three of LEAFIO's solutions, Inventory Optimisation, Shelf Efficiency, and Promotion Intelligence. These are integrated into a unified ecosystem, operating on a shared LEAFIO AI Retail Platform.
In addition to inventory optimisation, Spar Malta aims to enhance its planogram management with the Shelf Efficiency solution.
Currently, there are no standardised planograms, leading to inconsistent product displays across stores. Shelf Efficiency provides digital control over store layouts.
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