Connected lives and Premier League debuts: 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 Walmart, Rokt, OneStock, Moss, AiFi, Rohlik Group, BoxBar Tech, Jisp, Made With Intent, Akeneo, and EE.
Product experience company Akeneo announces appointment of Justin Thomas as VP Sales - EMEA North
Akeneo, a product experience (PX) company and provider of product information management (PIM) solutions, reports that Justin Thomas has joined it as VP Sales - EMEA North.
In 2023, Akeneo expanded its offer and sharpened its operations with the aim of enhancing product experiences for brands, manufacturers, retailers, and distributors on a global scale.
It introduced a series of product updates as part of its latest Spring Release, as well as completing its strategic acquisition of Unifai, a artificial intelligence (AI) platform for data collection, cleansing, categorisation, and enrichment.
Akeneo then leveraged this acquisition to create what is pitched as the first ever AI for PX Centre of Excellence.
The business grew by over 100% in the US and crossed the 850 worldwide customers threshold, led by North American companies, including Arc’Teryx, DSW, Nautica, Belvins, TaylorMade, and Chico’s.
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.”
Ocean Outdoor and Battersea Power Station unveil London DOOH network with launch partners including Under Armour and Pepsi
Ocean’s interactive small format network is the latest addition to its Battersea Power Station portfolio, which combines full motion screens with immersive experiential areas and the opportunity for bespoke murals and projections.
The Loop at Battersea Power Station is an extension of Ocean’s UK Loop network which exists in Manchester, Birmingham, St James Quarter in Edinburgh and Canary Wharf.
Battersea Power Station opened to the public in October 2022 and was recently recognised as one of the top 20 ‘Best Cultural Spots’ in National Geographic’s Best Of The World Series 2024.
In 2023, the riverside neighbourhood welcomed more than 11.2 million visitors, the Christmas period seeing a 30% year on year increase (source: Springboard).
The Loop offers enhanced creative opportunities including on screen and mobile augmented reality (AR), mixed reality including gaming and interactivity, live data and video feeds across a total of 41 internal screens positioned across all levels.
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."
From Netflix to grocery retail technology: David Pavlík joins Rohlik Group as Chief Technology Officer
European e-commerce grocery delivery firm, Rohlik Group, reports that David Pavlík will become its new Chief Technology Officer on 1st June, replacing Ondřej Klamt, who has decided to go on sabbatical after more than eight years in the role.
Pavlík has a background at companies like Netflix, SpaceX, Amazon, and has experience as Chief Technology Officer from his time at ShipMonk and Nano Energies.
“David's arrival is critical to our next phase of growth. His experience and approach are exactly what the Rohlik Group needs for further technological development,” comments Tomáš Čupr, CEO and Founder at Rohlík.
“At the same time, I would like to express my enormous gratitude to Ondrej for his excellent work with us. His contribution to our success has been enormous and he has left behind a strong legacy that we will build on.”
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.
Acrisure Arena launches AiFi tech powered Grab & Go Stands for checkout-free shopping experience
Acrisure Arena in Greater Palm Springs, USA has rolled out frictionless checkout stores powered by AiFi.
The Grab & Go Stands within the venue enable people to select food and drink items they’d like to purchase and walk out without waiting in line or scanning to pay so they can get back to their seats faster.
They are located near the fuzzbox premium cocktails bar and inside the South Main Entrance, and serve soft drinks, water, beers, and pizza.
BoxBar Tech makes Premier League debut with self-serve Amstel unit at West Ham United’s London Stadium
Boxbar Tech reports an activation at Premier League club West Ham United’s London Stadium last month.
The company worked with London Stadium and Delaware North to introduce a 3x self-serve Amstel unit for pre-game and half time pints.
In a LinkedIn post, it said: “We made our Premier League debut with West Ham United.”
“Terminal highlights: plug and play: setup in less than ten mins; contains all stock inside, perfect for tight spaces (think concourses and arena floor bars); suitable for outdoor and indoor events; can serve any drink type: beer, cider, spirit and mixer, cocktails; fully branded to leverage sponsorship; no expensive setup costs.”
This follows deployments for teams and stadiums in Premiership Rugby and the EFL Championship.
Retail technology firm Jisp launches in-app campaign where shoppers can earn up to £50 in cash every week
Jisp has announced the launch of a new in-app competition campaign that rewards loyal shoppers with up to £50 every week to boost their shopping budgets.
This introduces Jisp’s Scan & Win technology into its loyalty app, giving Scan & Save shoppers the chance to win from £1 up to £50 every week through a competition mechanic which runs every Friday.
Jisp works with its brand partners to secure discounts for its shoppers. Each competition runs alongside one of its brand partner’s promoted products and all shoppers need to do for the chance to win is to scan that promoted product in a Jisp retailer’s store.
The competition campaign doesn’t require a purchase. Only a scan of the promoted products barcode using the Scan & Win scanner is needed.
Moss taps OneStock OMS to continue digital transformation and boost customers' shopping experience
Formal menswear specialist, Moss, has implemented OneStock’s distributed order management system (OMS) to improve operational efficiencies and enhance its customer experience.
With 107 UK stores and a global online presence, the brand was looking for a technology partner who could help it leverage its entire stock pool to efficiently fulfil orders both online and in-store.
As a predominantly event-based retailer with a versatile range of menswear, Moss customers’ order sizes are large, with items often sourced from various locations.
It was keen to reduce lead times and delivery costs for customers by better utilising its distribution centre and stores around the UK.
Following a discovery phase, OneStock’s order management system was implemented and integrated with Moss’ existing systems including Remarkable Commerce, Dolphin ERP and Xiatech’s Xfuze platform.
The retailer says that it now has end-to-end visibility of every order with access to all pools of inventory in all locations, and full control of fulfilment processes across all channels.
Made With Intent bags £1.5m seed funding to help online retailers align how they sell with actual buying behaviours
Made With Intent, a UK startup that has developed a platform helping online retailers to understand and target customer intent, has raised £1.5 million.
Led by Mercuri, with Portfolio Ventures and previous investors Haatch following, the seed funding will support the fully remote team of 15 with their product, marketing and partnership efforts.
Made With Intent has raised £2.1 million in total to date.
The idea came after the founder, David Mannheim, recognised a fundamental flaw in online retail strategies. After 15 years of optimising conversion rates in e-commerce, he realised the industry’s fixation on conversion metrics was the very thing holding it back.
EE teams with ex-England Rugby player Ugo Monye to open new Bristol Experience store in Cabot Circus
EE has unveiled its first Experience store in the South West of England in Bristol’s Cabot Circus, with ex-England rugby player, pundit and presenter, Ugo Monye making an exclusive appearance.
The store is designed to introduce shoppers to the latest in connected technology, providing them with face-to-face advice and guidance on a range of different connectivity and technology solutions for their everyday life.
The aim is to help customers visualise their connected lives across four key areas – work, home, learn and game – through designated Experience Zones and a Tech Home area. The store design invites shoppers in Bristol to get hands-on with the latest connected technology in an engaging and immersive space.
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.
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