Orquest is a RTS 2024 innovation winner: 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 20,000 followers mark, these are the articles that are currently on their radars, including RTIH magazine, adidas, Halfords, Rimi Baltic Group, Topps Tiles, Harrods, Tesco, Eagle Eye, VoCoVo, ReturnBear, and GoCardless.
Focus on influencers and retail technology innovation: sixth edition of RTIH magazine now available in digital format
We’re pleased to launch the sixth edition of our magazine in digital format.
This bumper issue, which made its debut at Retail Technology Show 2024 in London last week, focuses on the 2023 RTIH Innovation Awards, the second RTIH Retail Technology Innovation Report, and the RTIH Top 100 Retail Tech Influencers List.
Download the magazine in pdf format here.
Or read via Issuu.
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Tesco taps Eagle Eye AI and machine learning technology to help grocery giant personalise Clubcard promotions
Eagle Eye has secured a one-year contract, with the option to renew for a further year, with Tesco for its AI powered Personalised Challenges solution.
This is a digital platform which allows retailers to personalise promotions, providing customised challenges designed to reward incremental behaviour.
In-built AI and deep machine learning facilitate hyper personalisation through its analytics capability, providing consumers with promotions more suited to them.
Following a trial, Tesco will roll-out Personalised Challenges to more Clubcard members in the coming months, under the name Clubcard Challenges. The solution will power personalised and gamified offers and promotions to each individual Clubcard member.
AI technology will give each customer a personalised challenge, which when completed, rewards people with extra Clubcard points. Customers can complete up to ten challenges, with a total of £50 worth of Clubcard points up for grabs during a six-week campaign, starting on 20th May.
Retail Technology Show 2024: adidas talks loss prevention measures vs rising tide of theft
The rising tide of retail crime due to cost-of-living pressures and criminal gangs stealing to order was discussed by Corin Dennison, Director of Global Profit Protection and Risk, adidas, at Retail Technology Show (RTS) 2024 in London last week, alongside potential loss prevention measures.
“What is a tolerable inventory shrinkage rate?” asked Dennison in the Theatre B conference stream on 25th April, referring to the retail trade’s name for breakages and internal/external theft.
“Is it a 1% or 5% shrink? The answer really depends on the appetite at each individual firm.”
“We’re retailers that just want to sell stuff easily without friction, and with good customer experiences (CX). Each company must decide on how best to balance this with the security and loss prevention need.”
You don’t want to turn your shop into Fort Knox or too closely video customers against in-store face recognition software to such an extent that it damages CX, and ultimately sales.
Self-checkout may also make enforcement harder.
Comment: avoiding ‘shiny object syndrome’ and staying focused amidst retail technology and innovation hype
Check out this insightful article by Oliver Banks.
Big moment for Kriya as UK retailer Halfords taps its PayLater solution for B2B wholesale orders
Halfords is now powering B2B wholesale orders with Kriya PayLater.
In a LinkedIn post, Anil Stocker, CEO and Co-Founder at Kriya, said: “This is the first big milestone in our partnership with Halfords, but also a big moment for Kriya. We’re delivering on our vision to help enterprises grow by removing the friction from B2B commerce.”
He added: “In this first phase we’ve tackled wholesale. It’s a complex, analogue sales channel which we’ve digitised with our Merchant Portal. Now, Halfords’ B2B buyers are onboarded in seconds and wholesale orders can be processed with ease.”
This helps the retailer to convert a bigger base of buyers by offering payment terms, process bigger order values, more often, and reduce friction and cost of sale.
Stocker concluded: “This is just the beginning. We have exciting projects in the pipeline to bring PayLater to Halfords e-commerce, Trade Card, and much more too!”
“A big shout out to Anthony Caie (Director of B2B, Services & Financial Services at Halfords), Stuart Zissman (Head of Consumer Financial Services) and Chloe Roberts (Proposition Manager) for your vision, it’s great to be working with you. And a big thank you to my team for making it happen.”
New VoCoVo Link wearable headset device available for demonstration at National Convenience Show this week
VoCoVo has launched VoCoVo Link, a new wearable headset device specifically designed for the needs of small and medium retail environments, such as convenience stores, aimed at improving team communication and safety.
For use by up to eight team members concurrently, this improves safety by allowing people to be in constant contact with each other, and often acts as a deterrent to criminals.
Topps Tiles selects GoCardless to launch its Trade Pay offering, deepening footprint in the trade market
Topps Tiles has tapped FinTech firm GoCardless to power the payments behind Trade Pay, its newly launched trade credit scheme which gives traders the ability to regularly pay on credit in the retailer’s stores.
Traders can now pay their monthly instalments through direct debit, with the funds automatically collected on the day they’re due.
The Trade Pay launch accelerates Topps Tiles’ push into the trade market.
The retailer knew that lines of credit were important to these customers and had previously offered its trade credit scheme through a third-party finance provider. The arrangement was convenient but costly, with fees charged per transaction.
Beside the seaside: Rimi Baltic Group tests out Rimi Express unmanned autonomous store in Tallinn, Estonia
Rimi has opened its first unmanned, self-service store in the Baltic.
This is situated in Tallinn (the capital of Estonia) in the Noblessner district located by the seaside.
The pilot project lays the foundation for a possible round the clock shopping experience. The Rimi Express store is a 32 square metre, environmentally friendly wooden building.
Kristel Mets, CMD at Rimi Estonia, calls it a “completely new approach in terms of both technical solutions and customer experience.”
She says: “We chose the Noblessner area, which, with its modern and innovative atmosphere, is the perfect place to test a new store. Here we get a good experience on how to offer a shopping opportunity to both locals and tourists and a large number of people simultaneously during major summer events.”
“We thank everyone who has contributed to implementing this pilot project, and we look forward to the customers' first impressions and feedback."
Store workforce scheduling firm Orquest named winner of Retail Technology Show 2024 Innovation Awards
Artificial intelligence driven in-store workforce scheduling solution, Orquest, has been announced as the winner of the 2024 Innovation Awards by Retail Technology Show 2024.
Announced at the BIG Retail Party at the end of day one, Orquest was chosen from a shortlist of ten companies also selected as finalists as part of the 2024 Innovation Awards programme, which champions best-in-class technologies and solutions.
Each year, the RTS Innovation Awards seek out the foremost examples of future forward innovation from across the RTS show floor, selecting those disruptive technologies that that can transform retailers’ operations – from building sustainable retailing practices, to next-generation in-store solutions and new retail formats.
Powered by AI, Orquest’s in-store workforce scheduling solution and smart planning capabilities simplify store and HR management processes to improve retail interactions at every level of the business.
It aims to enhance retail operational efficiency, foster frontline team well-being and deliver an optimised customer experience.
Cross-border returns management firm ReturnBear hires Bernadette Hunter as Chief Revenue Officer
ReturnBear, a reverse logistics solution for cross-border returns, has announced the appointment of Bernadette Hunter as its new Chief Revenue Officer (CRO).
Hunter has helped to shape e-commerce strategy and retail customer experiences at the likes of Microsoft, Meta (formally Facebook), and Yahoo.
As VP of Sales and Partnerships at FlavorCloud, a cross-border shipping logistics platform, she spearheaded the company’s go-to-market strategy and revenue growth.
“I consider myself so fortunate to have worked alongside large brands like eBay, Amazon, and Nordstrom on their e-commerce strategy, as well as so many emerging direct-to-consumer brands growing quickly on platforms like Shopify,” she says.
Retail Technology Show 2024: Sustainability initiatives showcased by Harrods Supply Chain Director
Simon Finch, Supply Chain Director at Harrods, talked about what the retailer is doing on the second day of Retail Technology Show (RTS) 2024 in London last week.
The sustainable driver is especially important as the environmental, social and governance (ESG) agenda, which maps to the UN’s 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), advances.
This could garner better bank interest rates on loans and deliver other non-reputational benefits to companies that embrace the green agenda.
“It’s important that people talk about the topic and aren’t afraid about accusations of green washing,” said Finch, who certainly couldn’t be accused of green hushing, where firms refuse to debate the issue for fear of reputational damage.
Silence is not the way to go if real change is to happen quickly to reduce greenhouses gases and climate risk.
Partnerships across supply chains and industry wide collaboration via organising bodies such as the GS1 UK chapter of the standards body, which has been involved in barcodes previously and generally pushes for collaborative efforts across the retail and healthcare via its 58,000 membership, are hugely important.
It is only collaborative efforts in advancing the green agenda and net zero aims that will move the dial significantly.
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