GenAI powered chatbots and the joys of TikTok shopping: 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 Asda, NCR, Macy’s, Enactor, Walmart, Roblox, Wolt, PepsiCo, Target, Walgreens Boots Alliance Global Sourcing, and TradeBeyond.
‘A unique and enjoyable experience’: Two thumbs up as RTIH’s secret shopper ventures into TikTok’s e-commerce realm
As an avid TikTok user, RTIH’s secret shopper has spent countless hours scrolling through their feed, entertained by the endless stream of creative content.
Yet, despite their regular use of the app, they had never ventured into its online shopping realm. They were a bit sceptical, to be honest. However, a recent irresistible deal changed their mind and, dear readers, they’re now a true convert to TikTok shopping.
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.”
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.”
‘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.”
SCALA hosted event sees supply chain leaders including Sainsbury’s discuss where AI will have the most impact
The majority of supply chain and logistics leaders appear optimistic that AI will unlock new benefits. However, 67% believe it may have the greatest impact on those doing administrative roles.
On 6th June, over 150 senior supply chain and logistics professionals, along with industry leaders from the likes of Sainsbury’s and Nestle, came together to discuss this brave new world during an event hosted by SCALA.
Live polling on the day saw 67% of respondents say that colleagues delivering ‘shopfloor’ operations – as opposed to others such as those in managerial or senior leadership positions - will be most impacted by AI.
84% agreed that ‘people and enthusiasm’ was the most important factor in the speedy adoption of AI.
Meanwhile, ‘people’ were also cited as the most likely factor when it comes to making large scale transformation difficult (57%).
Surprisingly, on the day polling also indicated that 24% of organisations are already using AI for planning purposes. Comparatively, 38% of respondents said they are not currently using AI powered tools.
The debate saw a series of expert industry speakers present their cases for increased use of AI, with many underlining its capacity to catalyse future business growth.
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.
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.
Continue reading…