Including Slip, Apadmi, NewStore, and Hanshow: 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 Currys, Asda, Walmart, UNTUCKit, WHSmith, Leroy Merlin, Whizz, Michael Kors, Wolt, and Holland & Barrett.

Slip bags £2.5m in investment from VCs and angels including Asos VP of Customer & Marketing and former John Lewis CTO

Slip, a platform which helps retailers digitise  receipts, has raised a £2.5 million seed round led by Adjuvo and joined by Haatch Ventures, Unbundled VC, the Side by Side Partnership, and a range of angels including Asos’ Executive Vice President of Customer & Marketing, Dan Elton, and former CIO at Frasers and former CTO at John Lewis, Julian Burnett. 

Launched in 2022, Slip’s software has been tapped by retailers including JD Sports and Beyond Retro. 

Its API can integrate with existing systems - thanks to partnerships with providers including Shopify, Klaviyo, Epos Now and Sitoo - with insights from customer activity fed directly into partner CRMs or marketing technology stacks.

Asda draws on Apadmi mobile expertise as grocery giant looks to further strengthen its loyalty offering

Asda has partnered with Apadmi for a project involving it Rewards offering.

Asda Rewards is the supermarket giant’s loyalty app which came to market in 2022. This gives customers the opportunity to earn Asda Pounds into a Cashpot which they can spend at Asda either in-store or online.

The pair have already worked together alongside various delivery partners to launch the new Asda Rewards Baby Club, which gives a 10% cashpot across all baby items to all members who sign up from now until the end of June.

Apadmi’s App Store Optimisation specialists have been promoting the new initiative via in-App Events.

Currys taps Bambuser technology as British retailer leverages capabilities of shoppable video calls

Bambuser, a video commerce provider, has announced a partnership with home electronics retailer Currys.

"We are excited to embark on this journey with Bambuser," says Andy Gamble, Group CIO at Currys.

"Video commerce presents a unique opportunity for us to engage with our customers in a more meaningful way and showcase our products to buyers one-on-one in a personalised and interactive way.”

“We believe that this partnership will enable us to create enhanced shopping experiences that drive customer loyalty."

By teaming up with Bambuser to implement its virtual consultation solution, Currys says that it aims to leverage the capabilities of shoppable video calls, allowing shoppers to interact with product experts, ask questions, and make informed purchasing decisions during virtual consultations – wherever they are.

UNTUCKit extends NewStore Unified Commerce Platform deal as retailer continues its omnichannel journey

NewStore has announced the extension of its partnership with UNTUCKit.

It says that the renewal highlights “the significant value the NewStore Unified Commerce Platform has delivered over the past six years, cementing the brand’s position as one of the world’s fastest growing and most innovative omnichannel retailers”.

Since going live in 2018, UNTUCKit has expanded its store footprint from 25 to more than 80 locations across the US, Canada, and the UK.

During that time, the organisation achieved a 40x return on its initial investment thanks to the incremental revenue driven by the platform’s omnichannel features. In the last year alone, that translated to a 19% uplift on UNTUCKit’s bottom line.

“When we re-evaluated the market, many vendors claimed to offer a lower total cost of ownership, but none were able to unlock growth in the same way as NewStore,” says Aaron Sanandres, Co-Founder and CEO, UNTUCKit.

“There is much talk about the promise of omnichannel in retail today, but it is clear that NewStore has the only platform to enable a truly unified customer experience across all our channels.”

Home improvement and gardening retailer Leroy Merlin deploys Hanshow electronic self labels across French stores

Hanshow and Leroy Merlin have partnered to deploy ESLs across over 50,000 products integrated with the the latter’s mobile app in France.

Customers can now experience easy product geolocation and personalised recommendations in Leroy Merlin stores. After 18 months of R&D, the retailer implemented a fully customised solution in all its outlets.

Leroy Merlin’s integration of Hanshow ESL into its app offers geolocation in-store to guide customers to products and aisles.

The ESL solution also provides price consistency between online and offline channels, boosting the user experience with various features such as customer reviews, enriched product descriptions, access the Home Index to assess a product's environmental and social impact, and the ability to flash labels directly from the application.

Wolt Capital financing service goes live for merchants in Sweden, Poland, Finland and Denmark following pilot

Finnish delivery company, Wolt, has announced the launch of Wolt Capital, a new service promising fast and simple access to additional financing for merchants.

It is partnering with finmid to offer this.

Edward Daka, Product Lead, Banking & Payouts at Wolt, says: “We are always listening to our partners and adapting our services and offerings to meet their needs. Fast and simple access to capital has regularly come up in our talks with merchants.”

“That’s why today, we’re excited to introduce  Wolt Capital. This initiative is designed to support the success and growth of merchants, giving them the opportunity to access transparent financing.”

British retailer WHSmith signs on to use Xiatech AI powered Xfuze integration, data and analytics platform

WHSmith has chosen Xiatech, the company behind Xfuze, pitched as the world’s first composable hyper-integration platform, as its partner to support the acceleration of the business’ growth and international expansion.

The ten-year partnership will involve WHSmith deploying Xfuze to create a real-time, hyper-connected business by integrating the system landscape and creating a single view of trusted data (including customers, sales, product, inventory), supporting the retailer’s operations and decision-making across its global business.

Lyndon Hearn, Group CIO, WHSmith, says: “As a business operating in more than 30 countries around the world, we are always looking at how we can consistently deliver the best possible experience for our customers, no matter where they shop with us.”

“We are excited to partner with Xiatech whose innovative integration, data and analytics platform offers us rapid feedback and insights from across our business, helping us stay connected to the needs of our colleagues, customers and suppliers and helping us to always be there for every one of life’s journeys.”

Holland & Barrett invests in MRI Software AI footfall analytics for its 1,000+ UK and Europe stores

MRI Software has announced a partnership with Holland & Barrett, a UK health and wellness retailer that has over 1,000 stores across the UK and Europe.

By leveraging AI driven technology from MRI OnLocation for Footfall Analytics, Holland & Barrett will gain insights into store performance metrics within its portfolio as well as visibility relative to the broader UK market.

Michael Kors set to debut Shopping Muse, an AI shopping assistant from Mastercard company Dynamic Yield

Michael Kors is adopting Shopping Muse, a retail assistant from Dynamic Yield, a Mastercard company.

Michael Kors is the first retailer to make Shopping Muse and its generative AI capabilities available to consumers through an integration on its website in the US.

The aim is to recreate the in-store experience by translating consumers’ colloquial language into tailored product recommendations, meaning consumers can quickly find the perfect look that matches their inquiry as well as their demonstrated behaviour and preferences.

Dynamic Yield CEO Ori Bauer says: “As a trailblazer in ready-to-wear fashion, Michael Kors is a perfect example of how to put our ready to use technology to use.”

“Shopping Muse is helping translate the signature Michael Kors service to the digital world, delivering a satisfying shopping experience as singular and impactful as the brand’s aesthetic.”

VoCoVo research: retailer workers rely on personal phones to communicate in-store amid crime spikes

Amid a dramatic rise in retail-crime, 85% of small retail store owners admit to having challenges with communication in-store, exacerbated by team members having no way to speak with each other discreetly without customers overhearing confidential exchanges.

That’s according to research by VoCoVo, who polled over 200 UK decision-makers of small store and independent retailers.

MixIn by Endeavour expands retail media digital offering into Meta through partnership with Zitcha

The retail media arm of Australian drinks and hospitality business, MixIn by Endeavour, has partnered with Zitcha, to facilitate its off-site media across Meta’s Managed Partner Ads (MPA).

MixIn General Manager, Martyn Raab, says the tie up will allow suppliers to “close the loop” on seeing how their Meta brand spend impacts their ad performance.

“By leveraging Zitcha and the measurement from MixIn, brands can see the performance of their activity to deliver real insights and campaign measurement,” he comments.

“It means suppliers will be able to buy their Meta social media campaigns via MixIn and see which audiences viewed and responded to those campaigns. Suppliers will then be able to see if customers went on to purchase a product from the advertised brand through Endeavour Group channels such as BWS or Dan Murphy’s.”

“It demonstrates a high return on investment through sales data at an anonymised cohort level.”

“And one of the great things about this partnership is it protects the data of our consumers by never sharing personal information - the platform just sees them as an anonymous user.”

Whizz raises $12 million in Series A funding for e-bike rental platform targeting last mile delivery challenges

Whizz, an e-bike subscription platform for last mile delivery drivers, has raised $12 million in a Series A funding round led by LETA Capital, with participation from Flashpoint VC, and others.

The round takes the company’s total funding to $20 million.

These funds will enable Whizz, which was founded in 2022, to provide mоrе delivery workers across the United States with the best tools for the job. Many of these are immigrants without a crеdіt history to gain approval for a lоаn, which prohibits them from accessing affоrdаblе and safe electric transportation.

“Since its launch in 2022, Whizz has sped ahead of its competitors by building the safest and most reliable delivery e-bike on the market, and creating powerful software that has allowed the business to grow exponentially without breaking down,” says Mike Peregudov, Co-founder and CEO.

“The moment has come when the market is moving from the early stage into maturity.”

“Regulatory pressure is increasing, which will make it difficult for new businesses to enter the market, but it’s welcomed news for established companies such as us, and we fully intend to stake our claim as the number one e-bike rental service in the US.”

FinTech heavyweight FreedomPay lays claim to industry first with launch of Merchant Centric Acquiring service

FreedomPay has launched Merchant Centric Acquiring (MCA), pitched as a first of its kind, independent and impartial advisory service available to merchants in the United States and Canada that democratises payment processing.

This promises to address the following merchant pain points:

• Providing a comprehensive rate assessment with no cost or obligation

• Transparency of cost and savings on a monthly and three-year basis

• Choice among MCA certified processors recommended and vetted by FreedomPay

• Fair Play Pledge delivers immediate rate reduction, immediate cancellation terms and immediate satisfaction

• A new approach and better way of making merchants a partner in the pricing process

C&C Group CTO Carole Kingsbury adds her expertise to 2024 RTIH Innovation Awards judging panel

We’re pleased to announce the addition of Carole Kingsbury, Chief Technology Officer, C&C Group, to our 2024 RTIH Innovation Awards judging panel.

The awards, sponsored by CADS, 3D Cloud, and Retail Technology Show 2025, celebrate global tech innovation in a fast moving omnichannel world.

Our 2024 winners will be announced at the 2024 RTIH Innovation Awards ceremony, which will be held at RIBA’s 66 Portland Place HQ on Thursday, 21st November.

Entry forms and FAQs can be found here. 

From publishing to fashion retail, Carole has successfully delivered technology solutions and services for FTSE 100 and FTSE 250 companies.

Whether working as a Technology Consultant, Business Analyst, Programme Manager, or IT Director, her approach has consistently focussed on people, process, data, and technology (in that order).

For the past 16 years of her career, Carole has been privileged to have led teams of various shapes and sizes to achieve delivery of complex business and technology change in the retail sector and has always advocated for cross-functional ways of working and thinking to encourage active collaboration and create a culture of continuous improvement, development, and innovation.

Walmart announces drone delivery, Generative AI powered shopping assistant and digital shelf labels initiatives

Walmart began trialing drone delivery in 2021 and has completed over 30,000 deliveries to date.

Earlier this year, it announced the largest drone delivery expansion of any US retailer, bringing this to up to 75% of the Dallas Fort Worth (DFW) population.

As a next step, Walmart is focused on bringing the experience directly to its app.

Starting later this month, customers in DFW will begin to be notified of the new ordering capability through the app if they are eligible for drone delivery based on the address associated with their account.  

The integration will be done in phases as more drone delivery sites launch and drone providers receive additional regulatory approvals to fly more goods across greater distances.