Starring Wolt, Bambuser, Deliveroo, and Mastercard: 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 Currys, Leroy Merlin, WHSmith, Bath & Body Works, Michael Kors, Accenture, Xiatech, Volvic, and the 2024 RTIH Innovation Awards.

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.”

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.

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). 

2024 RTIH Innovation Awards FAQs

The sixth edition of the RTIH Innovation Awards is now open for entries.

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

This year, we’re bringing you three new categories: AI Innovation, Sustainable Retail Innovation, and Inclusive Technology Innovation.

Key 2024 dates

Friday, 25th October: Award entry deadline 

Tuesday, 29th October: 2024 shortlist revealed

30th October-6th November: Judging days

Thursday, 21st November: Winners announced at the 2024 RTIH Innovation Awards ceremony, to be held at RIBA’s 66 Portland Place HQ.

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.”

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.

Bath & Body Works puts focus on innovative retail technology solutions as it inks multi-year deal with Accenture

Bath & Body Works is collaborating with Accenture to modernise, transform and simplify its core digital and technology platforms.

This multi-year initiative is part of the retailer of personal care and home fragrance products’ strategy to elevate the brand and leverage the latest technologies in digital, MarTech, AI and generative AI (genAI) to drive growth.

“Our collaboration with Accenture is about having a strong technology foundation and scaling the power of digital, data, and AI to deliver new levels of customer experiences, agility and performance,” says Gina Boswell, CEO, Bath & Body Works.

“This will help us accelerate profitable growth by enhancing our operations, elevating our brand and engaging our customers differently through personalised and seamless experiences that keep them coming back.”

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

‘A match made in heaven”: Deliveroo and Mob agree rapid lunch and dinner recipe ingredients delivery tie up

Deliveroo has announced a partnership between its UKI grocery delivery service and online cooking and content platform Mob.

In a LinkedIn post, Suzy McClintock, Deliveroo's VP of Grocery and Retail, said: “Mob is on a mission to instil a love of cooking in everyone and we can get you the ingredients in 20 minutes or less, so this is a match made in heaven.”

“More broadly recipes, inspiration and discovery are an area that we're really interested in exploring, so I'm thrilled that we're able to partner with a leader in the space. It's the icing on the cake that Benjamin Lebus was a Deliveroo rider back when he was getting the business off the ground.”

Mob will be releasing a series of lunch and dinner recipes, the ingredients for which people be able to get through Deliveroo and its partners including Co-op, Morrisons, Sainsbury's, Waitrose, Asda and Whole Foods .

The pair have also created a new Mood Tool which you can check out here. You can pick your mood, pick a dish, get the ingredients from Deliveroo and get cooking.

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.”.