Starring Rokt, Sensei, Pio, Wolt, and StrongPoint: RTIH’s most read retail technology articles from last week
Check out the articles on this here website that caught your fancy last week, including real-world commerce launches on Roblox, autonomous stores in Italy, key takeaways from Retail Technology Show 2024, and a groundbreaking AI deployment by our friends across the pond..
Rokt boosts global leadership team by hiring Marc Allsop as Head of EMEA and Mick O’Brien as Head of ANZ
Rokt, an e-commerce technology company that taps machine learning and AI to make transactions more relevant to each shopper, has appointed Marc Allsop as Head of EMEA and Mick O'Brien as Head of Australia and New Zealand (ANZ).
Allsop has experience across payments, loyalty, B2B and B2C marketing.
O'Brien has over 20 years of enterprise sales experience in the Australian technology industry. They will focus on business development in their respective markets and report directly to Chief Revenue Officer Craig Galvin.
"Marc and Mick are incredible leaders with strong histories of building long-lasting client relationships and growing sales teams that consistently exceed targets and outperform year after year," says Galvin.
"We are excited to welcome them both to the team to grow Rokt's presence in these critical global markets."
Sam’s Club claims retail industry first as it deploys AI powered exit technology at 120 plus locations
Sam’s Club reports significant progress in its roll-out of technology that resolves a key member concern - waiting in line for receipt verification to exit the club.
The retailer’s application of artificial intelligence and computer vision technology has been deployed in more than 120 clubs since first unveiling it at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in January.
This is pitched as the largest scale implementation of member facing AI powered technology in the retail industry.
Sam’s Club says that other retailers have struggled to deploy similar technology at scale, with some abandoning efforts, just starting initial pilots or having no plans to enhance customer experiences through check-out and store exit technologies.
In clubs where the technology has been deployed, more than half of members are getting the friction free exit experience. This translates to all members leaving the club 23% faster. Sam’s Club plans to deploy the exit technology to all of its clubs by the end of 2024.
It builds on existing digital solutions such as Scan & Go.
Currys partners with Accenture and Microsoft as omnichannel retailer looks to accelerate adoption of generative AI
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.”
Walmart’s Justin Breton talks key takeaways from US retail giant’s real-world commerce launch on Roblox
Justin Breton, Director of Brand Experiences & Strategic Partnerships at Walmart, has taken to social media to share three things he’s heard from the retailer’s community and the industry following a real-world commerce launch on Roblox last week.
In a LinkedIn post, he said: “I ordered the tumbler and got it the next day! It came so fast.” – We’re instilling Walmart as a reliable digital destination with fast delivery.”
He added: “Someone asked where I got this bag. I told them I bought it from Walmart on Roblox.” – We’re helping establish a new commerce platform.”
“This will create money making opportunities for creators.” – While we’re still testing, people already see the long-term potential.”
Breton concluded: “There’s so much more to come from our team this year, so keep your eyes peeled for what’s next. And something’s coming soon.”
Pio plug and play warehouse robotics system launches in the US with first customers including Sunday Swagger
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.
Grocery retail technology firm StrongPoint lands Tesco and Amazon veteran Neil McCourt as strategic advisor
StrongPoint reports that Neil McCourt has joined the company as a strategic advisor.
McCourt worked for 22 years at Tesco, ending as Retail Managing Director.
At Amazon he served as Vice President for Fulfilment in Europe, where he was instrumental in setting up its grocery operations across five markets.
He was also one of the founding members of the UK government’s Future High Street Forum and Digital Advisory Board.
Comment: Retail Technology Show 2024 and IAB Europe standards signal a maturing retail media market
Dan Sands, EMEA Sales Director at retail media platform Zitcha, analyses the major trends from Retail Technology Show 2024, which took place in London last month.
Italian job for autonomous store technology firm Sensei as Conad opens Grab and Go store in Trento
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.
A logical next step: Wolt makes delivery fleet available for orders outside its own platform via API integration
Finnish delivery service Wolt is opening its platform with the new service Wolt Drive.
This provides its logistics offering to other businesses, enabling deliveries within 35 minutes. In a nutshell, every store, service provider, or e-commerce merchant can now access Wolt's delivery network in Vienna.
Customers can now select the Wolt Drive option when shopping online at Sacher. Other businesses include mel&koffie, Schachtelwirt, and Ginza Yipin.
Matthias Winkler, CEO at Sacher Hotels, says: “An original Sacher Torte delivered to your home within one hour? This is now available in Vienna.”
“The trend towards rapid delivery has long since arrived in Vienna. By integrating Wolt as a delivery option into our own online store, we can not only easily meet this customer demand but also rely on a professional delivery infrastructure without having to build our own resources.”
“At the same time, we maintain our operational autonomy: the customer orders directly from us, Wolt handles the logistics.”
Pringles Poptopia goes live and Wow Bao apps its game: 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 Moss, Gander, SPAR, AiFi, Halfords, The Save Mart Companies, GoCardless, and Topps Tiles.
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