AI powered self-checkout kiosks and automated warehouse systems: 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 Conad, Currys, Munro Footwear Group, Misen, Balsam Brands, JYSK, Marvel Stadium, Sensei, Mashgin, and Microsoft.
Conad
Sensei, a Portugal-based provider of autonomous store technology, has announced a deal in the Italian market with the opening of the country’s second autonomous supermarket.
Located in the historic centre of Trento, Conad’s new neighbourhood store TuDay Prendi & Vai promises a faster and more convenient shopping experience without the need to queue or scan products.
Sensei, which has autonomous stores across Europe and South America, has teamed up with the DAO cooperative that manages Conad in the provinces of Trento, Bolzano, Vicenza and Verona.
The opening comes six months after the launch of a first store, located in Verona, for the same client. This has so far pulled in more than 90,000 people.
Munro Footwear Group
Munro Footwear Group has chosen Fluent Order Management to deliver a unified view of inventory across its 250 stores and distribution centres.
MFG’s decision to implement a new OMS is part of its ongoing investment in technology and innovation.
This includes the roll-out of a new national Point of Sale solution in 2023 and the creation of a distribution centre in 2022.
Munro Footwear Group Co-CEO, Marcus Bartlett, says: “To achieve our ambitious transformation agenda, we need to put in place the best systems and processes, and Fluent Commerce has an excellent reputation for delivering real value to retailers all over the world.”
Balsam Brands
SoundCommerce has been selected by Balsam Brands, an e-commerce retailer with roots in holiday and home décor, and a provider of realistic artificial Christmas trees.
The partnership will enable Balsam Brands to deploy detailed data sets for improved insights to action in the areas of shopper experience and business performance across its flagship direct-to-consumer commerce business, Balsam Hill, as well as operations with key retailers such as Nordstrom.
SoundCommerce will unify and catalogue Balsam Brands data for AI modellng, cross-functional business analytics, and customer activation, reducing the time and complexity of integrating and hosting business data for generative AI large language models (LLMs), such as Snowflake Cortex and Google Gemini on Vertex AI.
Balsam Brands will gain direct-to-consumer e-commerce data models rendered and populated with validated data directly in Balsam Brands’ Snowflake tenancy. Data models are available in Snowflake for immediate analysis.
Marvel Stadium
Marvel Stadium in Melbourne, Australia has installed Mashgin's AI powered self-checkout kiosks.
With 26 new kiosks positioned around the stadium, Mashgin's second location in Australia, fans can now experience quicker service and spend more time enjoying the game.
Marvel Stadium, known for its retractable roof and modern facilities, opened in 2000.
Home to five Australian Football League (AFL) teams, including the Essendon Bombers and the St Kilda Saints, it also serves as the headquarters for the AFL.
With a seating capacity of over 56,000, it hosts a variety of other events, ranging from cricket matches to concerts.
Misen
Cart.com, a provider of unified commerce and logistics solutions, reports that cookware brand Misen has selected it as its US fulfilment partner.
It will leverage Cart.com’s third-party logistics (3PL) solutions to streamline order fulfilment, optimise its supply chain and improve customer experience.
Under the new partnership, Misen will ship products out of two of the company’s US facilities, one serving the East Coast and one the West Coast, to support the brand’s nationwide fulfilment operations.
JYSK
Home furnishing retailer JYSK has announced deployment of its new Unified Commerce PoS platform in Portugal.
In a LinkedIn post, Jens Norby, Retail Process Coordinator at JYSK, said: “We’ve taken a huge leap forward!”
“This week has been a milestone for us as we’ve installed our new Unified Commerce PoS platform in a pilot store in Portugal. We’re now ready to roll-out the new platform to more stores, and the number will only increase week by week. Next stop: Spain!”
He added: “A big shoutout to everyone involved, from the local forces who have worked hard on the preparation to our dedicated IT developers at JYSK who have put in tremendous effort to reach this milestone.”
“Now, we’re facing the Hypercare period, and then we’ll set our sights on the next two countries: France and Austria. We’re ready to continue this journey.”
Currys
Currys, an omnichannel retailer of technology and electrical products and services, has selected Accenture and Microsoft to deliver its core cloud technology infrastructure that will enable it to leverage the latest AI technologies to enhance operations, elevate the shopping experience, and improve the colleague experience for its 25,000 people.
Accenture and Microsoft, together with their joint venture Avanade, will work with Currys to modernise, secure and simplify its technology estate, enabling Currys to accelerate the adoption of Microsoft AI technologies such as Azure OpenAI Service.
Alex Baldock, Group CEO, Currys, says, “AI is the biggest technological leap of our life time. Currys exists to help everyone enjoy amazing technology, so as well as bringing the benefits of AI to millions of customers, we’ll do the same to our own business.”
“We couldn’t have better partners for this, and together we aim to put Currys at the forefront of digital transformation in retail. We’re just starting out here, but the possibilities are vast. I’m looking forward to unlocking big benefits for our colleagues, customers and shareholders.”
Pio
Pio, a plug and play automated warehouse system leveraging cube storage technology by AutoStore, is now available to all small and midsize e-commerce businesses (SMBs) in the United States.
AutoStore is a warehouse automation company with over 1,500 installations worldwide for the likes of Macy’s, Ikea, and Puma.
Its proprietary cube storage technology is said to offer the densest product and inventory storage solution on the market.
AutoStore says it created Pio as part of its mission to make cube storage technology accessible to all.
Now, Pio’s P100 automated warehouse system has launched in the US with five new customers: Privada Cigar Club, Sunday Swagger, Souko, Barnes 4WD, and AI Stone.
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