RTIH rolls out the biggest retail technology news articles from May including RTS 2025, EE, and OneStock
It’s June, May is done and dusted, so let’s kick back and reflect on another eventful month for the retail systems space. Here's your briefing on the most important stories from May, including Walmart Realm, Emperia, Retail Technology Show 2025, REWE Group, Trigo, Aptos, Sam’s Club, and the 2024 RTIH Innovation Awards.
1. Retail Technology Show 2025 to take place at ExCeL London as exhibitor and visitor numbers rise
Retail Technology Show is moving from London Olympia to ExCeL London, in response, it says, to overwhelming demand from exhibitors and visitors.
The organisers said in a press release: “With several very successful years at London Olympia and an abundance of wonderful memories, the time has come for Retail Technology Show to expand to a larger venue for the 2025 edition.”
“With demand for space increasing each year, and the rising number of retailers coming through the doors, now is the time to transition to a new venue. One that allows for considered growth, giving more value to everyone that makes up the largest retail gathering in the UK.”
“ExCeL will offer more opportunities for prime exhibition locations, greater space for the market leading conference programme, and improved options for networking and customer experiences.”
2. OMS specialist OneStock scores $72 million investment for international expansion with particular focus on US market
OneStock, a provider of order management systems (OMS), has announced a $72 million investment from Summit Partners.
OneStock was founded in 2015 by CEO, Romulus Grigoras, and CTO, Benoit Baccot, to help retailers and brands navigate the increasing complexity of the omnichannel landscape and enhance overall customer experience.
The company’s cloud native solution provides a centralised platform designed to manage end-to-end order fulfilment and visibility and enable retailers to offer a ‘buy anywhere, deliver anywhere, return anywhere’ experience to customers.
"Since the beginning, we have been dedicated to creating smarter and more sustainable shopping experiences, and our partnership with Summit marks a thrilling new chapter in our journey, reaffirming our long-term commitment to innovation and growth in the retail technology space,” comments Grigoras.
“With Summit's support and the benefit of their deep experience in the retail technology sector, we're poised to accelerate our growth even further. Our clear ambition is to emerge as the number one global leader in the OMS category.”
3. LEGOLAND Windsor Resort launches Europe’s first theme park checkout-free store powered by Zippin
Zippin and Aramark UK have partnered with LEGOLAND Windsor Resort to launch Europe’s first checkout-free store in a theme park. The store, which recently opened for the 2024 season, lets resort guests grab items without having to join a queue.
DUPLO Coffee Co, located in DUPLO Valley, sells a variety of sandwiches, snacks, coffee, and other drinks.
It was converted into a Zippin powered store where guests can enter with a credit card or mobile wallet, take what they want, and exit.
There are no checkout lines and no stopping to scan purchases. Guests are automatically billed for what they take as they exit.
4. Walmart Realm leverages Emperia technology for industry first influencer led virtual stores in immersive worlds
Walmart Realm has gone live, pitched as a first of its kind immersive commerce marketplace featuring influencer driven virtual shops.
This leverages technology from Emperia and gamifies the shopping journey, transporting customers into fantastical realms where they can interact with products and play nostalgic online games.
In a LinkedIn post, Justin Breton, Director of Brand Experiences & Strategic Partnerships, said: “Introducing Walmart Realm, the first ever immersive commerce experience curated by creators and inspired by social trends. Trust me when I say… You’ve never experienced online shopping like this before.”
“Walmart Realm embraces the limitless possibilities of virtual technologies, creating stunning shoppable environments to inspire our customers. Said differently, it’s not just a replica of a store or structure.”
“We’re continuing to shorten the distance between inspiration and commerce, highlighting the best fashion, beauty, and home products as selected by our creator partners, in each virtual shop.”
5. Retail technology analyst and influencer Natalie Berg added to 2024 RTIH Innovation 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 on Thursday, 21st November.
Entry forms and FAQs can be found here.
Natalie delivers valuable insights on the trends shaping the global retail sector, with a particular focus on the convergence of physical and digital commerce.
She is passionate about how retailers can enhance the customer experience and has co-authored two books on retail, including Amazon: How the World’s Most Relentless Retailer Will Continue to Revolutionise Commerce.
Natalie hosts the Retail Disrupted podcast and is a regular keynote speaker on the retail conference circuit.
She is an objective TV and radio commentator with frequent appearances on the BBC, Bloomberg and Sky News, and also writes a guest column for Retail Week and Forbes.
In addition to her media work, she is an elected member of the KPMG Retail Think Tank where she provides quarterly insights and analysis on the health of the UK retail sector.
6. Sainsbury’s and Microsoft connect as grocery giant looks to boost customer and colleague experience with artificial intelligence
Sainsbury’s and Microsoft have announced a new five-year strategic partnership, using the latter’s artificial intelligence and machine learning capabilities and Sainsbury's datasets to help accelerate the retailer's recently announced Next Level Sainsbury’s strategy.
The tie up aims to improve store operations, drive greater efficiency for colleagues and provide customers with more efficient and effective service, delivering stronger returns for shareholders under Sainsbury's Save and Invest To Win programme.
7. Sam’s Club claims retail industry first as it deploys AI powered exit technology at 120 plus locations
Sam’s Club reports significant progress in its roll-out of technology that resolves a key member concern - waiting in line for receipt verification to exit the club.
The retailer’s application of artificial intelligence and computer vision technology has been deployed in more than 120 clubs since first unveiling it at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in January.
This is pitched as the largest-scale implementation of member facing AI powered technology in the retail industry.
Sam’s Club says that other retailers have struggled to deploy similar technology at scale, with some abandoning efforts, just starting initial pilots or having no plans to enhance customer experiences through check-out and store exit technologies.
In clubs where the technology has been deployed, more than half of members are getting the friction free exit experience. This translates to all members leaving the club 23% faster. Sam’s Club plans to deploy the exit technology to all of its clubs by the end of 2024.
It builds on existing digital solutions such as Scan & Go.
8. Trigo powered REWE Pick&Go Düsseldorf store starts new test phase for retailer’s autonomous shopping experience
Christoph Eltze, Chief Digital and Technology Officer at German grocery giant, REWE Group, has taken to social media to discuss the retailer’s Pick&Go store format landing in Düsseldorf, Germany, and how this marks the start of a new test phase for its autonomous shopping experience.
In a LinkedIn post, he said: “This is because we are constantly working on responding more and more flexibly to the needs of our customers, including with our Pick&Go innovation. For the first time in Düsseldorf, we are relying on the principle of four wins.”
Customers in Düsseldorf can decide at the exit of the store which shopping route they want to take, choosing between four options:
Cashierless payment via the Pick&Go app; manual scanning of products at the self-checkout terminal; payment at the conventional tape cash register; or payment at self-checkout terminals with computer vision support, which eliminates the need for scanning.
9. Currys partners with Accenture and Microsoft as omnichannel retailer looks to accelerate adoption of generative AI
Currys, an omnichannel retailer of technology and electrical products and services, has selected Accenture and Microsoft to deliver its core cloud technology infrastructure that will enable it to leverage the latest AI technologies to enhance operations, elevate the shopping experience, and improve the colleague experience for its 25,000 people.
Accenture and Microsoft, together with their joint venture Avanade, will work with Currys to modernise, secure and simplify its technology estate, enabling Currys to accelerate the adoption of Microsoft AI technologies such as Azure OpenAI Service.
Alex Baldock, Group CEO, Currys, says, “AI is the biggest technological leap of our life time. Currys exists to help everyone enjoy amazing technology, so as well as bringing the benefits of AI to millions of customers, we’ll do the same to our own business.”
“We couldn’t have better partners for this, and together we aim to put Currys at the forefront of digital transformation in retail. We’re just starting out here, but the possibilities are vast. I’m looking forward to unlocking big benefits for our colleagues, customers and shareholders.”
10. EE rolls out Aptos cloud-based PoS solution across its UK stores following a six week pilot
EE is introducing a new cloud-based PoS solution from Aptos in its retail stores. The aim is to enhance customer engagement capabilities and reduce the IT infrastructure footprint in each store.
Following a six week pilot across 15 locations, the software is being rolled out to EE’s more than 400 stores across the UK.
As part of the IT refresh across its retail estate, EE has upgraded to a newer version of Aptos’ PoS solution, delivered via SaaS, which will run on mobile devices that its employees can use throughout the store.
They will be able to complete all sales, service and operational processes from a single device, instead of multiple devices for different tasks.
EE has also removed fixed tills from each of its stores, allowing staff to have more personal conversations with shoppers, while also helping to reduce any potential congestion and queues.
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