Starring Walmart Realm, Voyado, and OneStock: 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 LEGOLAND Windsor Resort , Zippin, Emperia, Getir, Haz, Kammac, Tesco, PepsiCo, Adyen, and Vapiano.

Swedish retail technology firm Voyado appoints Erica Sandelin Ekelund as CEO as it pushes for UK growth

Voyado has announced its current CFO and EVP of Strategy, Erica Sandelin Ekelund, will take over the role of CEO from Per Åkerberg on 1st June.

She will now lead the company's push for growth in the UK, identified as a key market.

Per Åkerberg has been CEO since 2022, when he left his position as Chairman of the Board to become more operational within the company.

He will now return to the board to continue his position in advising on the growth ambitions of the business.

Ekelund’s relationship with Voyado began in 2017, and one of her first acts with the business was securing an investment from Novax.

She was appointed to the role of CFO in 2019 and has taken responsibility for establishing Voyado's growth strategy, which included the acquisitions of Apptus and ReDeal.

LEGOLAND Windsor Resort launches Europe’s first theme park checkout-free store powered by Zippin

Zippin and Aramark UK have partnered with LEGOLAND Windsor Resort to launch Europe’s first checkout-free store in a theme park. The store, which recently opened for the 2024 season, lets resort guests grab items without having to join a queue.

DUPLO Coffee Co, located in DUPLO Valley, sells a variety of sandwiches, snacks, coffee, and other drinks.

It was converted into a Zippin powered store where guests can enter with a credit card or mobile wallet, take what they want, and exit.

There are no checkout lines and no stopping to scan purchases. Guests are automatically billed for what they take as they exit.

Walmart Realm leverages Emperia technology for industry first influencer led virtual stores in immersive worlds

Walmart Realm has gone live, pitched as a first of its kind immersive commerce marketplace featuring influencer driven virtual shops.

This leverages technology from Emperia and gamifies the shopping journey, transporting customers into fantastical realms where they can interact with products and play nostalgic online games.

In a LinkedIn post, Justin Breton, Director of Brand Experiences & Strategic Partnerships, said: “Introducing Walmart Realm, the first ever immersive commerce experience curated by creators and inspired by social trends. Trust me when I say… You’ve never experienced online shopping like this before.”

“Walmart Realm embraces the limitless possibilities of virtual technologies, creating stunning shoppable environments to inspire our customers. Said differently, it’s not just a replica of a store or structure.”

“We’re continuing to shorten the distance between inspiration and commerce, highlighting the best fashion, beauty, and home products as selected by our creator partners, in each virtual shop.”

OMS specialist OneStock scores $72 million investment for international expansion with particular focus on US market

OneStock, a provider of order management systems (OMS), has announced a $72 million investment from Summit Partners.

OneStock was founded in 2015 by CEO, Romulus Grigoras, and CTO, Benoit Baccot, to help retailers and brands navigate the increasing complexity of the omnichannel landscape and enhance overall customer experience.

The company’s cloud native solution provides a centralised platform designed to manage end-to-end order fulfilment and visibility and enable retailers to offer a ‘buy anywhere, deliver anywhere, return anywhere’ experience to customers.

"Since the beginning, we have been dedicated to creating smarter and more sustainable shopping experiences, and our partnership with Summit marks a thrilling new chapter in our journey, reaffirming our long-term commitment to innovation and growth in the retail technology space,” comments Grigoras.

“With Summit's support and the benefit of their deep experience in the retail technology sector, we're poised to accelerate our growth even further. Our clear ambition is to emerge as the number one global leader in the OMS category.”

FinTech giant Adyen announces pasta, pizza and payments partnership with Italian restaurant group Vapiano

Adyen has announced a partnership with Italian restaurant group Vapiano.

Adyen’s technology is enabling guests to customise their checkout experiences, and making it possible for them to order food on their phone using digital wallet payments for the first time.

The announcement follows a pilot in one of the group’s London branches, in which data analysis found that 80% of orders were made via a mobile ordering platform on customers’ phones.

While the pilot revealed a demand for faster and more seamless ordering services, it highlighted the limited choice of payment options for customers.

Getir exits UK and leaves multi-million pound outstanding debt to Premier League club Tottenham Hotspur F.C.

Getir, the rapid grocery delivery company that was valued at $12 billion just two years ago, quit the UK recently, and is also leaving the US and western Europe.

The Turkey-based company has a three-year training kit sponsorship deal with Tottenham Hotspur F.C. which expired at the end of the Premier League season on Sunday.

And according to a report by Sky News, it owes close to £5 million to the club.

This comes as Getir tries to access a tranche of agreed funding from major investors Mubadala and G Squared to help facilitate its withdrawal from the UK, Germany and the Netherlands.

At the time of publishing this article, it was unclear whether it had the means to settle its debt to Spurs.

Getir and Tottenham Hotspur did not respond to our request for comment.

The Home Depot and Instacart announce same-day delivery partnership in US following pilot this year

Instacart and The Home Depot have announced a Stateside partnership to offer same-day delivery in as fast as an hour from nearly 2,000 store locations.

Customers can now order a wide range of home improvement items – from home appliances and building supplies to light fixtures and garden essentials – directly to their doorstep.

This follows a pilot in select markets earlier this year.

The service also includes Instacart’s Big & Bulky fulfilment solution, which ensures same-day and scheduled deliveries for heavy items up to 60 pounds, such as grills, ladders, and large boxes.

Social commerce startup Haz bags $1.4m in pre-seed funding to connect people through the things that they own

London-based startup Haz, an AI social commerce app that connects friends through the things they own, has landed $1.4 million in pre-seed funding led by Speedinvest with participation from the scout programmes of A16Z (co-founder Reface, Dima Shvets), Atomico (Sameer Singh), Concept Ventures (Oliver Kicks), and individuals from Lapse, Lendable, Lottie & Ecoigo.

The cash will be used to develop its proprietary AI technology and launch the platform in the UK before expanding across Europe. 

“82% of Gen Z now think about the resale value of an item before they even buy it, yet 47% of items fit for resale remain unsold,” says Haz Co-founder Ronan Harvey-Kelly.

“It takes a lot of time to resell something and consumers still lack the data they need to make informed resale decisions. That’s where Haz comes in.”

Tesco creates UEFA Champions League themed immersive shopper experience with PepsiCo Wembley store takeover

Tesco Media and Insight Platform has announced a new partnership with PepsiCo around its sponsorship of the UEFA Champions League, the final of which takes place on Saturday, 1st June.

The former is a partnership between Tesco, the UK’s largest grocery retailer, and dunnhumby, a specialist in customer data science.

Third-party logistics specialist Kammac makes appointments and promotions as it unveils new look senior leadership team

Third-party logistics (3PL) provider, Kammac, has announced the development of its senior leadership team following its acquisition by the Elanders Group last year.

Overseen by Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Ged Carabini, Kammac's new look team includes the recruitment of Simon Gallimore (pictured below) as Business Executive Director.