Including Asda, NCR, Macy’s and Enactor: 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, Roblox, StrongPoint, Studenac, ReturnBear, Wolt, PepsiCo, Forage, DoorDash, Galp, and Sensei.
Asda wraps roll-out of new NCR Point of Sale software across UK grocery giant's store estate
Asda has completed the roll-out of new NCR Point of Sale (PoS) software across its store estate.
In a LinkedIn post, Kevin Besford, Senior Director - Retail Future at Asda, said: “A huge thank you to everyone involved in this extremely ambitious project.”
He added: “This commitment is driving us forward as we continue to build our brand new Asda digital landscape. An even bigger thank you to all our store colleagues who’ve continued to work extremely hard in serving our customers through this time of change.”
“A massive well done to everyone involved in the Asda front end programme, a massive cross functional effort to mobilise across 612 stores.”
The project included 16,674 checkouts, 6,211 physical installs, 27,888 scan and go devices updated, with deployment peaking at 42 stores per week, and over 30,000 colleagues newly trained.
Besford concluded: “An amazing collaboration across the Retail, Tech and NCR teams to get this done.”
Macy’s taps Enactor technology as department store chain completes major PoS checkout modernisation project
Macy’s has announced go live for a major PoS checkout modernisation project.
In a LinkedIn post, Naga Tirumala Rao Chillapalli, Technical Engineering Manager at Macy’s, said: “Modernising Point of Sale is no small feat, involving the replacement of registers, modernising PoS applications, and backend integrations.”
“It requires extensive collaboration between product, business, change management, software vendors, store leadership, and cross-functional teams.”
He added: “In my role as a manager, this project has been both a challenge and a triumph. I've had the privilege of overseeing multiple facets of the project, from development to Enactor configurations, environments, PoS labs, testing, SRE and QA automation. It's been a journey of growth and learning, and I'm immensely proud of the progress we've made together.”
“I couldn't be prouder of my team and the entire project team. This achievement is a testament to the incredible teamwork, dedication, and collaboration of everyone involved.”
“Together, we have overcome challenges, embraced change, and delivered a solution that will drive positive impact for our customers and store colleagues.”
The new Point of Sale systems are now live at Macy’s Mall of Georgia.
Chillapalli concluded: “We will continue to build on this momentum, innovate, and deliver exceptional experiences for our customers and colleagues.”
Studenac market CIDO Nina Mimica joins 2024 RTIH retail technology awards judging panel
The awards 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 in Central London on Thursday, 21st November.
Entry forms and FAQs can be found here.
Studenac, which is owned by a fund managed by Enterprise Investors, a private equity firm in Central and Eastern Europe, has more than tripled its store network in almost six years, expanding throughout the country via a combination of organic growth and acquisitions, and it sees potential for further growth based on its proximity retail concept.
Nina is responsible for the innovation and digitalisation strategy and development using advanced analytics and new product development as drivers for new company growth and value, optimisation, efficiency and customer satisfaction.
Grocery retail technology firm StrongPoint announces Pål Wibe as newest member of its board of directors
Grocery retail technology provider, StrongPoint, reports that Pål Wibe has joined the board as a Non-Executive Director.
Wibe has over 25 years’ experience as a CEO, senior executive and board member in the retail sector.
His career includes roles at the grocery retailer Rimi (later ICA Norway), the discount store chain Europris, and he was a long-standing board member of Norway’s first online only grocery retailer, Oda.
He has served as CEO of the retailers Nille and XXL and began his career at the management consultancy McKinsey.
“I am grateful for the trust StrongPoint’s shareholders have placed in me by appointing me to the board. I strongly believe in the power of technology to enhance efficiency and streamline operations, particularly in the grocery sector.”
“With such a broad portfolio of business critical solutions, StrongPoint is an indispensable partner for grocery retailers,” says Wibe.
Galp and Sensei give Católica Lisbon School of Business and Economics students a taste of autonomous shopping
Portuguese multinational energy corporation, Galp, has gone live with its new Smart Store offering at Católica Lisbon School of Business and Economics in Portugal.
The autonomous location is powered by Portuguese startup Sensei’s technology.
In a LinkedIn post, Maria Estarreja, Executive Director Retail Innovation Lab (RIL) at Católica Lisbon School of Business and Economics, said: “I have the pleasure to announce that we opened last week at Católica Lisbon an autonomous Galp Smart Store, that will allow us to provide improved services to our dear students and, at the same time, will be a research lab for the RIL.”
She added: “This project was only possible due to the hard work and collaboration of the RIL and Católica Lisbon, Galp and Sensei.”
“I would like to thank all the teams enrolled in this project, as well as send a special thank you to Ana Casaca (Global Head of Innovation at Galp) and Joana Rafael (COO at Sensei) for dreaming with us.”
Focus on sustainability as Evri stumps up £19 million and preps UK’s biggest fleet of e-cargo bikes for parcel delivery
UK parcel delivery company, Evri, has announced a £19 million investment in new plans to fast track the roll-out of electric cargo bikes.
The move, which is expected to give Evri the UK’s biggest fleet of e-cargo bikes for parcel delivery, are part of a wider £19 million investment in sustainability.
This will see Evri grow its fleet of e-cargo bikes from 33 to 99 and electric vehicles (EVs) from 168 to 270 within the next year.
The firm also has plans to grow its fleet of electric cargo bikes to 3,000 over the next decade - as part of its wider plans to reduce carbon emissions across its network and become a net-zero company by 2035.
Evri has established a dedicated "final mile electrification taskforce" which will spearhead innovative solutions, explore partnerships, and implement strategies to transform last mile deliveries into a zero-emission operation.
Reverse logistics solution firm ReturnBear announces expansion into United Kingdom market
ReturnBear, a Canada-based reverse logistics solution for end-to-end e-commerce returns, has announced a move to expand its operations into the UK market next month.
The company says that its aim is to “revolutionise how retailers handle cross-border returns from the UK, bringing new cost savings, customer convenience, and sustainability opportunities to the forefront of their e-commerce operations”.
“Merchants can easily sell in a hundred countries overnight using global selling platforms. But there is no easy way to get returns back. Our expansion into the UK market is part of our vision to be the first global end-to-end platform for single-day returns," says Sylvia Ng, CEO at ReturnBear.
“Consumers check for convenient returns before buying, and merchants must meet consumers' expectations to grow in local markets. ReturnBear provides a simple way to do that.”
Walmart deepens relationship with retail giant’s Roblox community as it launches augmented reality experience
In April, we reported that Walmart was now able to sell physical goods directly to users inside Roblox.
Walmart Discovered users can have real-life items shipped directly to their doorsteps.
They are greeted with a new storefront showcasing virtual twins of select items sold at physical Walmart stores. The feature is gated specifically to users aged 13 or older in the United States only.
In a LinkedIn post, Walmart Director of Brand Experiences and Strategic Partnerships Justin Breton, said: “It’s important for us to continue identifying new, innovative ways to deepen our relationship with our Roblox community.”
“That’s why, today, we’re launching the Walmart Discovered AR Experience, the first ever immersive AR experience that allows customers to step inside Walmart Discovered in the real-world.”
Customers can shop trending user generated content, discover indie experiences, and see the month’s free virtual item (with the purchase of a Roblox gift card from Walmart.
The featured UGC and experiences are made by and sourced from the retailer’s community on Roblox.
It has also partnered with Flaunt, a Roblox loyalty platform, to power monthly quests that connect the AR experience with the on-platform experience.
Breton said: “It introduces cross-platform gamification and provides our customers with an element of surprise and delight once a quest is complete.”
He concluded: “Customers can easily access the Walmart Discovered AR Experience on their mobile phones by scanning a QR code on the Roblox gift card display in stores nationwide, visiting a dedicated Roblox gift card landing page on Walmart.com, or joining our growing Discord server for early access to our monthly quest.”
‘Many more to come’: Finnish food delivery company Wolt announces PepsiCo advertising service partnership
PepsiCo has joined the new Wolt Ads offering.
This was launched in April. Following a beta period, Finnish delivery firm Wolt is now looking to scale it across its 27 markets.
“We’re delighted to be able to introduce Wolt Ads to more partners. Over the past months, we’ve seen our partners record significant growth in their sales and return on advertising spend,” said Catalina Salazar, Global Head at Wolt Ads during April.
“While it’s still very early for us in this area, the initial results and feedback from our partners are extremely encouraging and give us confidence that we’re on the right track.”
Long John Silver’s taps Attentive, Bikky, Plein Air and Sparkfly retail technology to boost customer engagement
Long John Silver’s has partnered with Attentive, Bikky, Plein Air, and Sparkfly to implement a digital and in-store customer experience across more than 300 corporate stores and participating franchisees.
This will leverage a suite of platforms including Attentive’s CRM and SMS Messaging; Bikky’s Customer Data Platform; Plein Air’s Web and Mobile App; and Sparkfly’s Offer Management, Loyalty, Digital Wallet, and PoS Middleware Platform, with the aim of creating more meaningful messages, offers, and digital experiences for LJS guests.
Mercaux BYOD solution lets retailers swiftly deploy transformative in-store experience without heavy CAPEX burden
Mercaux, an in-store customer experience platform, has launched a BYOD solution, designed to alleviate CAPEX pressures and elevate customer interactions.
This leverages the retailer's existing investment in hardware, or alternatively, makes use of the store associates own smartphone devices, be it Apple, Android, or Windows, for deployment in less than a month.
Key highlights:
Deploy on any web enabled device, including Apple, Android, and Windows platforms.
Access Mercaux’s Assisted Selling and Clienteling solutions for customer engagement.
Go live with the BYOD solution in as little as one month, leveraging existing hardware or store associate smartphones.
Retail technology that helped New Look beat Asos wins Best Search Software Tool of 2024 gong
MediaVision Group’s e-commerce platform Metis triumphed at the recent European Search Awards, winning Best Search Software Tool for one of its flagship products, Accelerate.
This is an offering within the solution that aims to boost SEO growth for large e-commerce brands at the click of a button.
It helps e-commerce teams optimise and manage onsite products at scale, utilising technology to unlock demand trends weekly and improve product visibility.
Forage and DoorDash team up in bid to scale SNAP/EBT payments for on-demand grocery delivery
Payments firm, Forage, and food delivery big hitter DoorDash have announced a partnership to expand SNAP/EBT acceptance on the latter’s platform.
Since launching support for SNAP/EBT payments in 2023, over 1.1 million over consumers have added their SNAP/EBT cards to DoorDash.
Forage says that its “seamless integration, enhanced reliability, and dedicated SNAP experts help to accelerate the USDA authorisation process for merchants on DoorDash, reducing the time it takes for them to start accepting SNAP/EBT on the app”.
Through this partnership, consumers can order SNAP eligible groceries from more merchants while using their SNAP benefits on DoorDash.
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