Including Xiatech, Voyado, and Trigo: RTIH rolls out the biggest retail technology news stories of the week

It’s Friday, the weekend is almost upon us, so let’s kick back and reflect on another eventful week for the retail systems space. Here's your briefing on the most important stories from the past five days, including REWE Group, Walmart, WHSmith, Michael Kors, Bestseller, Currys, Volvic, Asda, and UNTUCKit.

1. 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.   

2. 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.”

3. 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.”

4. REWE Group once again teams with Trigo as it opens first autonomous PENNY store in Bucharest, Romania

REWE Group has opened its first autonomous PENNY store in Romania.

The 349 square metre location can be found in Bucharest.

In a LinkedIn post, Christoph Eltze, Chief Digital and Technology Officer at REWE Group, said: “After more than 80,000 hours of work and 4,000 hours of testing with a team of more than 50 colleagues, the time has finally come: the first autonomous PENNY store has been launched in Bucharest – not only in Romania, but worldwide.”

Eltze added that in Germany, REWE Group are pioneers with hybrid test stores in Cologne, Berlin, Hamburg and Düsseldorf as well as a store with fully autonomous check-out via REWE Pick&Go in Munich.

In Lithuania, it was the first to launch autonomous stores with IKI Go a year and a half ago – and to this day is the only one in the country with five locations.

5. Bestseller enlists Voyado to manage customer data, communication, loyalty programmes in one omnichannel environment

Voyado has announced a partnership with Bestseller to help it drive increased customer loyalty and deliver hyper-personalised experiences across all touchpoints.

Bestseller operates more than 20 brands, including JACK & JONES, Vero Moda, and Only.

These brands offer clothing and accessories for women, men, teenagers, and children in more than 16,000 multi-brand and department stores and approximately 3,000 branded Bestseller retail stores around the world.

This includes 70 countries in America, Asia, Europe, Oceania, and the Middle East. 

Steffen Simonsen, Head of Brand Tech, says: "The initial scope of our project was to acquire a loyalty management solution to integrate with our existing marketing automation platform.”

“However, we quickly saw the power of Voyado's unified solution to manage the loyalty programme and leverage the loyalty mechanisms seamlessly in our customer communication across all channels.”

"We realised that to be successful with our loyalty initiative, it would be critical to enable our users to get insights and act on all customer data, including loyalty data, as efficiently as possible.”

“This efficiency allows us to turn great ideas in the morning into impactful customer experiences by the afternoon without dependencies from central IT.”

6. 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.

7. 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.”

8. Mineral water brand Volvic launches 3D programmatic digital out-of-home campaign at London Underground stations

Wavemaker UK, Global and DOOH.com have collaborated on a 3D programmatic digital out-of-home (DOOH) ad campaign for the launch of a new Touch of Fruit Sparkling range from Volvic.

For the next seven weeks, commuters and passers-by at Kings Cross and Waterloo London Underground stations will see Touch of Fruit Sparkling 3D cans popping out from digital screens.

The experience includes digital outdoor ads situated in close proximity to stockists, encouraging consumers to discover the new sparkling fruity flavoured drinks at their earliest convenience. 

The campaign marks the first time a 3D DOOH campaign has been programmatically bought and activated and it has been made possible thanks to the offering from Global via its Digital Ad Exchange (DAX). 

9. Anyone for tennis and checkout-frees stores? Zippin makes history at 2024 French Open tennis tournament

A new checkout-free store debuted at this year’s French Open. Launched in collaboration between Zippin, Sodexo Live!, and Fujitsu, this represents the first public autonomous store in France.

Housed in a historic building at the Auteuil Greenhouses near Court Simonne-Mathieu, the 630 square foot store offers a variety of cold sandwiches, pre-packaged beverages, and snacks.

Tennis fans tap a payment method to enter, select their items, and leave. Zippin’s checkout-free platform uses AI, computer vision, and sensor fusion to accurately determine purchases and automatically bill shoppers upon exiting the store. There are no lines, no scanning, and no mobile app required. 

This follows on from a Zippin powered American Express Shop at the US Open during the past two years.

A new checkout-free store debuted at this year’s French Open. Launched in collaboration between Zippin, Sodexo Live!, and Fujitsu, this represents the first public autonomous store in France.

Housed in a historic building at the Auteuil Greenhouses near Court Simonne-Mathieu, the 630 square foot store offers a variety of cold sandwiches, pre-packaged beverages, and snacks.

Tennis fans tap a payment method to enter, select their items, and leave. Zippin’s checkout-free platform uses AI, computer vision, and sensor fusion to accurately determine purchases and automatically bill shoppers upon exiting the store. There are no lines, no scanning, and no mobile app required. 

This follows on from a Zippin powered American Express Shop at the US Open during the past two years.

10. 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.