Starring Walmart, Sainsbury’s, Wolt, and Voyado: RTIH’s most read retail technology articles in May
These are the RTIH retail systems articles that caught your fancy during May, including LEGOLAND Windsor Resort, Zippin, Rokt, Sensei, Emperia, Thri5, Microsoft, and the 2024 RTIH Innovation Awards.
Former Marks and Spencer Chief Digital and Technology Officer Jeremy Pee co-founds Thri5
Jeremy Pee has co-founded Thri5, a specialist in intelligent performance for global retail and manufacturing supply chains, with Herman Paek, whose CV includes the position of SVP at Loblaw Digital.
At the tail end of last year, Matalan announced the appointment of Pee as Non-Executive Director.
Most recently, he was Chief Digital and Technology Officer at Marks and Spencer.
He was hired in 2018 from Canadian supermarket chain Loblaw, taking on the aforementioned role in 2013.
He was previously Chief Digital and Data Officer, and held that position for just over four years.
Pee recently returned with his family to Canada in a planned move.
Swedish retail technology firm Voyado appoints Erica Sandelin Ekelund as CEO as it pushes for UK growth
Voyado has announced its current CFO and EVP of Strategy, Erica Sandelin Ekelund, will take over the role of CEO from Per Åkerberg on 1st June.
She will now lead the company's push for growth in the UK, identified as a key market.
Per Åkerberg has been CEO since 2022, when he left his position as Chairman of the Board to become more operational within the company.
He will now return to the board to continue his position in advising on the growth ambitions of the business.
Ekelund’s relationship with Voyado began in 2017, and one of her first acts with the business was securing an investment from Novax.
She was appointed to the role of CFO in 2019 and has taken responsibility for establishing Voyado's growth strategy, which included the acquisitions of Apptus and ReDeal.
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.
US startup Laws of Motion scores $5 million in seed funding for AI FitTech licensing for brands and retailers
Laws of Motion, a specialist in AI sizing technology for e-commerce brands and retailers, has raised $5 million in seed funding from Corazon Capital, with participation from The Scout Program at Sequoia Capital, Leadout Capital, and serial entrepreneurs in the consumer tech and fashion industry, including Raine Group Senior Consumer Advisor Eva Jeanbart-Lorenzotti and John Howard, Co-Managing Partner of Irving Place Capital and a board member of Good American, Skims, and Frame.
This funding will enable the company to expand beyond its direct-to-consumer business with the launch of an AI sizing technology licensing solution.
It will also support its expansion into new markets, as well as the growth of its engineering, R&D, and licensing operations teams.
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.
A logical next step: Wolt makes delivery fleet available for orders outside its own platform via API integration
Finnish delivery service Wolt is opening its platform with the new service Wolt Drive.
This provides its logistics offering to other businesses, enabling deliveries within 35 minutes. In a nutshell, every store, service provider, or e-commerce merchant can now access Wolt's delivery network in Vienna.
Customers can now select the Wolt Drive option when shopping online at Sacher.
Other businesses include mel&koffie, Schachtelwirt, and Ginza Yipin.
Matthias Winkler, CEO at Sacher Hotels, says: “An original Sacher Torte delivered to your home within one hour? This is now available in Vienna.”
“The trend towards rapid delivery has long since arrived in Vienna. By integrating Wolt as a delivery option into our own online store, we can not only easily meet this customer demand but also rely on a professional delivery infrastructure without having to build our own resources.”
“At the same time, we maintain our operational autonomy: the customer orders directly from us, Wolt handles the logistics.”
Rokt boosts global leadership team by hiring Marc Allsop as Head of EMEA and Mick O’Brien as Head of ANZ
Rokt, an e-commerce technology company that taps machine learning and AI to make transactions more relevant to each shopper, has appointed Marc Allsop as Head of EMEA and Mick O'Brien as Head of Australia and New Zealand (ANZ).
Allsop has experience across payments, loyalty, B2B and B2C marketing.
O'Brien has over 20 years of enterprise sales experience in the Australian technology industry. They will focus on business development in their respective markets and report directly to Chief Revenue Officer Craig Galvin.
"Marc and Mick are incredible leaders with strong histories of building long-lasting client relationships and growing sales teams that consistently exceed targets and outperform year after year," says Galvin.
"We are excited to welcome them both to the team to grow Rokt's presence in these critical global markets."
Pio plug and play warehouse robotics system launches in the US with first customers including Sunday Swagger
Pio, a plug and play automated warehouse system leveraging cube storage technology by AutoStore, is now available to all small and midsize e-commerce businesses (SMBs) in the United States.
AutoStore is a warehouse automation company with over 1,500 installations worldwide for the likes of Macy’s, Ikea, and Puma.
Its proprietary cube storage technology is said to offer the densest product and inventory storage solution on the market.
AutoStore says it created Pio as part of its mission to make cube storage technology accessible to all.
Now, Pio’s P100 automated warehouse system has launched in the US with five new customers: Privada Cigar Club, Sunday Swagger, Souko, Barnes 4WD, and AI Stone.
Italian job for autonomous store technology firm Sensei as Conad opens Grab and Go store in Trento
Sensei, a Portugal-based provider of autonomous store technology, has announced a deal in the Italian market with the opening of the country’s second autonomous supermarket.
Located in the historic centre of Trento, Conad’s new neighbourhood store TuDay Prendi & Vai promises a faster and more convenient shopping experience without the need to queue or scan products.
Sensei, which has autonomous stores across Europe and South America, has teamed up with the DAO cooperative that manages Conad in the provinces of Trento, Bolzano, Vicenza and Verona.
The opening comes six months after the launch of a first store, located in Verona, for the same client. This has so far pulled in more than 90,000 people.
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.”
Comment: retailers must tread cautiously as they embrace artificial intelligence amidst digital transformation pushes
Customers’ wallets are under severe pressure and price is now at the forefront of most buying decisions.
Therefore, retailers are looking again at their digital transformation efforts to reduce cost, inefficiencies and improve customer engagement. Fortunately, over the last 18 months we have seen significant new tools to support these efforts in the shape of the rise of AI and LLMs.
At the forefront of this transformation are AI powered systems equipped with advanced natural language processing (NLP) capabilities.
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.
Continue reading…