Starring Evri, Target, Asda, and Dunelm: 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 THG, Frasers, Walmart, Roblox, Macy’s, Enactor, REWE Group, Walgreens Boots Alliance, and Foot Locker.

1. 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.

2. Target preps GenAI powered chatbot roll-out across US stores as technology plays ‘outsized role in future of retail’

Target has announced plans to roll-out a new generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) tool to team members at all of its nearly 2,000 stores by August.

This makes it the first major retailer to share that it is bringing this technology to its store team members across the US.

The tool, called Store Companion, is a chatbot designed by Target that can answer on the job process questions, coach new team members, support store operations management and more.

Store Companion's goal is to make the teams' jobs easier and allow them to work more quickly and efficiently, offering faster service and deeper guest engagement.

The initiative is part of Target's broader strategic approach to using GenAI across its business to empower its team, enhance the guest experience and support the company's long-term growth.

3. One to watch: THG agrees tie-up with Sports Direct owner Frasers

UK-based e-commerce group THG is to sell its luxury goods websites to Sports Direct owner Frasers as part of a new tie-up.

Frasers’ credit and loyalty scheme, Frasers Plus, will as a result be integrated into THG’s Ingenuity e-commerce platform and made available to THG customers.

Frasers will also buy THG’s luxury goods websites such as Coggles, and sell a range of THG protein products in Sports Direct stores.

THG’s Ingenuity technology arm helps companies sell online. The company’s other major divisions include beauty, through websites such as Lookfantastic, and nutrition, which centres around its Myprotein brand.

In a LinkedIn post, Julian Burnett, Founder and CEO at Quercus Advisors, said: “Both businesses are platforms designed for multi-brand scale and reach, leveraging core people, processes and self-built systems to drive out efficiencies across their labels and those of their partners.”

“I’m imagining a trial down under may yield powerful learnings for both, and could signal a closer collaboration, maybe even here in the UK. That is definitely one to watch.”

4. 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.

Walmart is now launching a Walmart Discovered AR experience, built in partnership with Sawhorse Productions and Metavertising.

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.”

5. 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.”

6. REWE Group CDTO Christoph Eltze: Artificial intelligence revolution has only just begun and wait and see is not a good option

Christoph Eltze, Chief Digital and Technology Officer at German grocery giant, REWE Group, has taken to social media to discuss the AI revolution in the retail space.

In a LinkedIn post, he said: “Is AI revolutionising today's (bricks and mortar) shopping? Since ChatGPT at the latest, there has been a real hype about AI applications.”

“But one in four retailers considers AI to be a trend that will soon be over, according to the results of a Bitkom survey at the end of last year.”

“My assessment: The effects of AI are sometimes overestimated in the short-term, but completely underestimated in the long-term.”

“Artificial intelligence offers numerous opportunities both to support our colleagues in the right places in the store and to continuously develop the shopping experience of our customers. However, we are still in the testing phase industry wide.”

Eltze went on to give various examples of how REWE Group is tapping AI solutions.

For instance, the HOLMES tool (Holistic Management of Exceptional Salespattern) is currently helping colleagues in around 100 PENNY stores to find items that are hidden on the shelf or are currently sold out, for example.

7. 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.”

8. Huge project: home furnishings retailer Dunelm partners with SVS on roll-out of new omnichannel gift cards

Dunelm has announced the roll-out of omnichannel gift cards, in partnership with Stored Value Solutions (SVS).

In a LinkedIn post, Thiago Palharini, Senior Product Manager at Dunelm, said: “This huge project touched virtually every system in the company, and it took a massive team effort to pull off.”

“Now, you can buy Dunelm gift cards online and in-store, which can be used both ways. Perfect for gifting to someone you love.”

“A special shoutout to our fantastic teams in customer care, FinTech, order management, marketing, finance, and customer comms.”

“So proud to be part of these teams and deliver something that has the potential to be a game-changer for our business!”

Malc Berg, SVP Business and Account Development Executive at SVS, commented: “Great to be working with Dunelm. Superb achievement. Huge congrats to all involved. We’re proud to be in partnership with you.”

9. Walgreens Boots Alliance Global Sourcing announces deployment of TradeBeyond supply chain technology

Supply chain management solution provider, TradeBeyond, reports that Walgreens Boots Alliance (WBA) Global Sourcing has selected its platform to optimise and standardise the company’s operations across its retail brands and to leverage more innovative and agile sourcing practices. 

This will be used to manage numerous processes within WBA’s Global Sourcing function, as well as overall sourcing and order management follow up.

It will also replace several legacy and redundant systems with the aim of creating digital efficiencies, unifying processes, and facilitating data transparency and integrity. 

10. Foot Locker launches revamped FLX Rewards loyalty programme in North America and preps new mobile app

Foot Locker has launched its reimagined loyalty programme, FLX Rewards, across North America. 

Kim Waldmann, Global Chief Customer Officer, says: “It all started by listening intently to our customers, and they were super clear on what they wanted from us - access to sneaker heat, exclusive rewards, and recognition of their loyalty in the form of cash back.”

“And so that’s what we delivered, showcasing our commitment to deepening customer relationships and expanding sneaker culture to more consumers across the globe.”

Later this year, meanwhile, Foot Locker will launch a new mobile app featuring real-time product launch updates, enhanced storytelling, a streamlined shopping experience and a forthcoming “Store Mode,” with the aim of enabling a more seamless omnichannel experience and connectivity for team members.

Waldmann concludes: “I am incredibly proud of the teams that worked to deliver these customer centric innovations, both significant milestones in our overall Lace Up plan.”