Automated online returns kiosks and laser etched avocados: RTIH pulls together this week's coolest retail technology plays

RTIH Editor, Scott Thompson, brings you his top ‘future of retail’ systems launches and deployments from the past week, including Amazon Fresh, Tesco, Ikea, Albertsons Companies, Uber Technologies, Lowe’s, Asda, Majestic, Evri, Bath & Body Works, Zapp, and Mastercard.

Bath & Body Works

Bath & Body Works is collaborating with Accenture to modernise, transform and simplify its core digital and technology platforms.

This multi-year initiative is part of the retailer of personal care and home fragrance products’ strategy to elevate the brand and leverage the latest technologies in digital, MarTech, AI and generative AI (gen AI) to drive growth.

“Our collaboration with Accenture is about having a strong technology foundation and scaling the power of digital, data, and AI to deliver new levels of customer experiences, agility and performance,” says Gina Boswell, CEO, Bath & Body Works.

“This will help us accelerate profitable growth by enhancing our operations, elevating our brand and engaging our customers differently through personalised and seamless experiences that keep them coming back.”

Bath & Body Works will also work with Accenture to create new and innovative capabilities like a digital Fragrance Finder, a gen AI powered conversational experience to help customers find the perfect fragrance tailored to their individual preferences.

Starbucks and Grubhub

A partnership has launched to bring Grubhub delivery to Starbucks customers in the US.

Beginning in June, Starbucks Delivery with Grubhub will roll-out to select markets in Pennsylvania, Colorado and Illinois, with national availability anticipated in all 50 states across the US by August.

“Customer demand to get Starbucks delivered continues to increase, as evidenced by double- digit growth in the US delivery business this past quarter, indicating that our customers continue to want convenience in their everyday lives,” says Meg Mathes, Vice President of Digital Experiences at Starbucks.

“Our new partnership with Grubhub will help fuel this growth by increasing availability of Starbucks products to Grubhub’s tens of millions of customers, via a leading delivery provider.”

Amazon Fresh

Amazon Fresh UK has embarked upon an automated returns kiosks (ARK) journey, deploying the technology at its Liverpool Street and Moorgate stores.

In a LinkedIn post, Aline Morais, Program Manager at Amazon, said: “Leading this program has been an incredible experience!”

“The ARK provides a seamless, self-serve method for processing LFBF (label-free-box-free) returns, much like a self-checkout experience. This addition, alongside our self-serve pick-up lockers, allows customers to handle all their pick-up and return missions from any AUKF shop.”

She added: “Developed under the GSF CXO umbrella, the ARK device has already proven its value with over 450 units installed worldwide and 14.3 million returns processed. We're confident this innovation will greatly enhance the shopping experience at Liverpool Street and Moorgate.”

Tesco

Avocado fans will notice some changes when they pick up one of Britain’s most popular salad items at Tesco.

The retailer is testing out the scrapping of barcode stickers currently on extra large avocados and replacing them with a bold laser etching.

At the same time it is also trialling replacing the plastic tray packaging for two of its most popular avocado lines and moving to a cardboard container that is easier to recycle.

Tesco avocado buyer Lisa Gilbey says: “We’re always looking for innovative ways to reduce the environmental impact of our products, and cut down on plastic waste in the home through changes to our packaging.”

“We’re really excited to hear customer feedback on our new laser etched avocados, avoiding the need for a barcode sticker that can easily be forgotten and left on when recycling through household food waste.”

Paradies Lagardère and Amazon

Paradies Lagardère’s new Amazon Just Walk Out technology powered store, The Goods Express, is now open in Toronto Pearson Terminal 1 by gate D22. 

Passengers can access the store once they have passed security.

Teaming up with ARHT Media, the location also features interactive holographic displays.

The Goods Express is the first retail store using Amazon’s Just Walk Out tech in a Canadian airport.

Customers swipe their credit card  or mobile wallet to enter, take the items they wish to purchase, and upon exit, their credit card will automatically be charged for the items purchased, free of any lineups.

True Fit

True Fit has announced the launch of Fit Hub, its new Generative AI (GenAI) solution that addresses retailers’ online fit challenges. 

This synthesises all available fit and size information from retailers’ product description pages (PDPs), from personal sizing recommendations, product reviews and user generated content (UGC), sales and returns, size charts and product information. 

It then blends these AI generated sizing cues with insight from True Fit’s Fashion Genome, an apparel dataset comprising 82 million shoppers and 29,000 brands.  

This allows Fit Hub to deliver accurate fit recommendations in one place on the retailer’s PDP, removing fit friction and size uncertainty from shoppers’ buying journeys, to improve conversions and loyalty. 

Ikea

Ikea is opening a virtual store on Roblox, marking its first foray into mainstream gaming and also becoming the first brand to launch paid work on the platform.

Going live on 24th June, the Co-Worker Game will allow players to experience working in the retailer’s virtual universe. People will, according to a press release, “be able to live their home furnishing dreams and get paid for it, with a limited number of paid roles available”.

The immersive experience gives players the opportunity to experience Ikea’s approach to careers where, to quote the aforementioned press release, “non-linear career journeys are the norm and lateral moves across departments are commonplace”.

TalkShopLive and Country Music Association

Video commerce and retail media enablement platform TalkShopLive has announced a partnership with the Country Music Association to produce and stream a series of shoppable livestreams at the upcoming CMA Fest.

TalkShopLive and CMA will showcase interviews with country superstars Dolly Parton, Cody Johnson, and Lainey Wilson as they take the CMA Close Up Stage inside at Fan Fair X Music City Center.

The shoppable livestreams will broadcast across multiple destinations including TalkShop.Live, CMAFest.com, and CMA and respective artists Facebook pages. The livestreams will offer official CMA Fest merchandise, music, and products from the talent as well as the opportunity to donate to the CMA Foundation.

Albertsons Companies and Uber Technologies

Albertsons Companies and Uber Technologies have announced a food rescue initiative as part of the 2024 White House Challenge to End Hunger and Build Healthy Communities.

Piloted last year in the Washington, D.C. area, this utilises Uber Direct, Uber’s white label delivery solution, to create a delivery programme to donate surplus food from Albertsons Cos. stores to local non-profit organisations and food banks.

It has now expanded to Boston, Chicago and Denver to reduce food waste and fight food insecurity in these local communities.

JD Sports

Algolia is working with JD Sports on an AI Search solution as part of a move towards boosting the retailer’s online presence and stores worldwide based on an omnichannel, composable approach. 

This is a key component of JD’s overarching modernisation and re-platforming initiative, aimed at transforming its e-commerce sites, bolstering its global omnichannel strategy, and maximising revenue through retail media networks.

A central tenet of JD’s modernisation is an API first approach.

It says that this provides a dynamic framework that allows for swift adaptation and integration of diverse applications and services. Of particular note are the advantages of APIs within a composable strategy that enables JD Sports to create modular, interchangeable components.

This streamlines the development process, and fosters an environment where functionalities can be assembled and reassembled efficiently.  

According to the MACH Alliance, JD will benefit from enhanced time to market, improved scalability, and the ability to stay ahead in a rapidly changing technological landscape,  ultimately contributing to a more resilient and future ready digital infrastructure. 

Zapp

London-based rapid delivery firm, Zapp, is now offering three of the most sought after wines in the world: Domaine de la Romanée-Conti Grands Echezeaux Grand Cru 2009 (£3,499.99), Château Pétrus Pomerol 2000 (£5,499.99), and Chambertin Grand Cru Domaine Armand Rousseau 2009 (£4,499.99).

This marks the first time these wines are available on-demand for delivery in minutes.

Zapp, which saw losses increase from £76 million to £92 million in 2022 as it restructured the business to focus on core markets, lays claim to being one of the largest UK retailers of fine wine and premium spirits, and says that it has tripled its sales in the past year.

This stems from its focus on rapid delivery and exclusive products, with over 50% of its beer, wine, and spirits category dedicated to premium items, including Antinori, Gaja, Château Mouton-Rothschild, and Opus One.

Amazon UK

Amazon is now offering grocery deliveries to all its customers, not just those with Prime membership, in eligible cities across the UK.

Shoppers have a range of options including Amazon Fresh, Morrisons, Co-op, and Iceland.

For those shopping at Amazon Fresh, there will be savings for Prime members through Prime Member Deals.

This will launch later in June and will provide exclusive promotions on hundreds of grocery products from Amazon Fresh online and in the 20 Amazon Fresh stores in London and the southeast.

Prime members will receive an additional 10% off Price Cut products in-store, as well as Prime exclusive deals online. There will also be weekly special Prime Member Deals offering as much as 50% off on a rotation of products in-store and online. 

All new customers shopping on Amazon Fresh (both Prime and non-Prime) can receive £15 off their first three orders above £60, valid from 6th June - 31st July.

DriveU.auto and Serve Robotics

DriveU.auto, a provider of connectivity platforms for autonomous vehicles, and Serve Robotics, a provider of autonomous delivery robots, have announced the deployment of the former’s connectivity platform on the latter’s commercially deployed robotic fleet. 

Serve says it will leverage DriveU's platform to enhance the performance of remote monitoring of its autonomous delivery robots, adding to the suite of tools Serve utilises as it works to deploy up to 2,000 robots on the Uber Eats platform.

Serve evaluated DriveU alongside competitive offerings and determined that its platform provides reliable, low latency and uninterrupted connectivity that allows robots to share real-time telemetrics, access cloud computing, and enable remote supervision in edge cases.

It also values DriveU’s native support of the Nvidia Jetson platform, which provides hardware accelerated video encoding and decoding, reduces network bandwidth and latency, and results in better video quality.

Mastercard

Mastercard has announced the expansion of its global Biometric Checkout Programme in Latin America (LAC).

With partners Ingenico, Fulcrum Biometrics, Fujitsu Frontech, and Scanntech, it has launched an in-store biometric payment experience at Tienda Inglesa’s Red Expres in Uruguay.

This is the first Biometric Checkout Programme pilot that allows shoppers to pay with their palms and the second pilot in the LAC region. 

Red Expres shoppers can register their information, payment credentials and biometric on-site and  pay for their goods by placing their hand over a sensor at the payment terminal. The programme allows for faster payment and shorter lines at checkout, and integrates with loyalty programmes.

Lowe’s

Lowe's says it is the first home improvement retailer to offer customers an in-store, Apple Vision Pro powered experience, with a pilot set to launch in three test markets this month.

Customers can try Lowe's Style Studio for Apple Vision Pro firsthand, allowing them to visualise and design their dream kitchens using spatial computing and the help of an associate.

"Lowe's has a history of breaking new ground in our industry, and being the first home improvement retailer to offer an Apple Vision Pro experience in select stores is an exciting step in our omnichannel journey," says Seemantini Godbole, Lowe's Executive Vice President, Chief Digital and Information Officer.

"We believe Apple Vision Pro can enhance in-store kitchen design experiences, empowering our customers to visualise their dream kitchens using advanced spatial computing technology."

Asda

Harley, a London-based company developing a real-time generative AI (GenAI) platform for data driven decision-making, reports a successful proof of concept delivered with Asda.

Harley's platform provides Asda's leadership with live, actionable insights, enabling executives to make quicker and more informed decisions.

Simon Jury, VP of Data & Analytics at Asda, says: "Harley's real-time AI solution is the future of how people are going to interact with data.”

“By integrating into Asda’s data ecosystem, the collaboration unlocks new levels of operational agility through rapid data driven decision-making, setting a new standard within the retail industry."

“Harley’s engine offers rapid insights into your data, helping influence the highest-level decisions within an organisation,” says Alex Banks, Co-Founder and CEO at Harley.

“This collaboration underscores our shared commitment to redefining retail excellence, proving that the right data at the right time can be a game-changer in how businesses respond to market dynamics.”

“We look forward to working alongside Asda, where I’m confident data driven insights become the cornerstone of competitive advantage in this fast changing sector.”

Majestic

UK wine retailer, Majestic, has announced a partnership with on-demand courier specialists Gophr.

The nationwide tie-up, which has been trialled in regions including London, Carlisle, Shrewsbury and Yeovil, will allow customers to benefit from rapid same-day deliveries, while supporting Majestic’s existing network of more than 220 delivery vans.

Customers placing large orders of wines, beers and spirits in Majestic stores can request for their baskets to be delivered to their homes within hours, via Gophr’s fleet of couriers operating across the UK.

Those ordering online will continue to have the option of Majestic’s same-day Click and Collect or next-day delivery options.

Evri

UK parcel delivery company, Evri, has announced a £1 million investment in its artificial intelligence (AI) strategy.

The focus here is on driving enhancements in customer service, including smarter use of data, enhancing parcel security and optimising workforce productivity, while in the future Evri will also explore and test the use of augmented reality headsets for couriers.

Barclays Center

Barclays Center, home of the Brooklyn Nets and New York Liberty, has relaunched one of its five Zippin powered stores.

The Grab & Go store on the arena’s main concourse is now the Brooklyn Boardwalk.

This reopened to guests beginning with the New York Liberty’s home opener on Saturday, 18th May.

Unique to Brooklyn Boardwalk are new counters for guests to purchase fresh, hot popcorn - the only Zippin powered store in the arena to sell popcorn in addition to beverages.

BSE Global, parent company of Barclays Center, managed and executed the project, including the installation of Zippin equipment for the popcorn counters. Zippin offered consultation, remote support and system testing prior to go-live.

“This project showcases the ease and flexibility of installing our technology. Retailers can reset, redesign, or even relocate their Zippin stores to maximise their return on investment,” says Krishna Motukuri, CEO and Co-founder at Zippin.

“It’s what makes us unique, our continued focus on simplifying installations, expanding our platform flexibility, and reducing the total cost of ownership for our customers.”

Walmart

Walmart is expanding its InHome delivery service to an additional ten million US households, including those in California.

This will also be available to customers in Boston, Detroit, Minneapolis and Philadelphia, bringing the total scale of InHome to more than 50 markets covering over 45 million homes.

“The expansion of InHome comes at the perfect time for families in San Bernardino who are embarking on the busy summer season and are looking for faster, more convenient ways to complete those everyday chores,” says Haley McShane, General Manager of InHome, Walmart U.S.

“We understand that customers are busy and want to make sure that they can have a seamless shopping experience that fits their needs.”

S&S Activewear

S&S Activewear (S&S), an apparel distributor, has announced the expansion of its partnership with Körber Supply Chain and the deployment of Geekplus robotics solutions at three warehouse sites across the Americas.

"Innovation is a core tenet of our decades long history in the apparel industry. Advancing our warehouse operations with Körber and Geekplus’s robotics and automation expertise has been a natural and impactful evolution in our technology journey,” says Brian Beale, CTO at S&S.

“Our customers deserve a seamless experience from order to fulfilment and we’re excited about the increased efficiencies we’re already seeing through our collaboration with Körber."

Gander and C-Store Collective

Tech firm Gander has announced a new service partnership agreement with C-Store Collective, which operates in the convenience and forecourt sector.

Gander’s platform was created to reduce food waste and transform the spending habits of shoppers.

Launched in 2019, it has since expanded across the UK and Australia with more plans in place for ongoing roll-out.

The tech integrates directly with retailers’ PoS, which has enabled its retailers to automatically display to shoppers in real-time, all reduced to clear food on the shelves within their local store.

A proprietary analytics platform, Ganderlytics, enables companies to access and probe their data on all aspects of wastage at store, area, or head office level.

The platform provides insight into reduced to clear stock, wastage, store compliance, redistribution, and customer engagement.