Starring Slip, Harley, Asda, and Takeoff Technologies: 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 Amazon Fresh UK, Adyen, Prada Group, Giant Eagle, Wincanton, AssetFloow, and the 2024 RTIH Innovation Awards.

Slip bags £2.5m in investment from VCs and angels including Asos VP of Customer & Marketing and former John Lewis CTO

Slip, a platform which helps retailers digitise  receipts, has raised a £2.5 million seed round led by Adjuvo and joined by Haatch Ventures, Unbundled VC, the Side by Side Partnership, and a range of angels including Asos’ Executive Vice President of Customer & Marketing, Dan Elton, and former CIO at Frasers and former CTO at John Lewis, Julian Burnett. 

Launched in 2022, Slip’s software has been tapped by retailers including JD Sports and Beyond Retro. 

Its API can integrate with existing systems - thanks to partnerships with providers including Shopify, Klaviyo, Epos Now and Sitoo - with insights from customer activity fed directly into partner CRMs or marketing technology stacks.

Asda hails Harley real-time AI solution as ‘future of how people are going to interact with data’

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.”

Retail technology influencer Brittain Ladd weighs in on Takeoff Technologies Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing

Takeoff Technologies, a provider of e-grocery fulfillent solutions, filed for Chapter 11 on Thursday of last week with a plan to seek buyers for some or all of its assets.

“We are taking this necessary next step after careful consideration and in consultation with management, advisors, and the board. The interest demonstrated by our customers in continuing to do business with us demonstrates the strong need for Takeoff’s products and services in the marketplace,” said John DiDonato, Managing Director at Huron Consulting Group and Chief Restructuring Officer at Takeoff, which was founded in 2016.

“Through this process, our priority is minimising disruption for our valued customers and employees, and the communities they serve, as we continue to engage in discussions with potential buyers to maximise value for our stakeholders.”

“The e-grocery fulfilment solution is an essential service in the food retail industry and our customers are reliant upon our lower-cost-to-serve technology. We extend our deepest gratitude to our employees, customers, partners, and the communities we serve.”

Brittain Ladd, a supply chain consultant and former Amazon executive, has weighed in on the Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing after breaking the story a few weeks ago.

C&C Group CTO Carole Kingsbury adds her expertise to 2024 RTIH Innovation Awards judging panel

We’re pleased to announce the addition of Carole Kingsbury, Chief Technology Officer, C&C Group, to our 2024 RTIH Innovation Awards judging panel.

The awards, sponsored by CADS, 3D Cloud, and Retail Technology Show 2025, 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. 

From publishing to fashion retail, Carole has successfully delivered technology solutions and services for FTSE 100 and FTSE 250 companies.

Whether working as a Technology Consultant, Business Analyst, Programme Manager, or IT Director, her approach has consistently focussed on people, process, data, and technology (in that order).

For the past 16 years of her career, Carole has been privileged to have led teams of various shapes and sizes to achieve delivery of complex business and technology change in the retail sector and has always advocated for cross-functional ways of working and thinking to encourage active collaboration and create a culture of continuous improvement, development, and innovation.

Amazon Fresh UK launches automated returns kiosks at Liverpool Street and Moorgate London stores

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.”

Adyen inks in-store contactless payments partnership deal with luxury fashion giant Prada Group

Adyen has announced a new partnership with Prada Group to innovate the payment experience in-store.

The latter is leveraging Tap to Pay on iPhone in its US and Milan stores with additional markets going live in the near future.

Adyen supports Tap to Pay on iPhone which enables the Group to accept all forms of contactless payments – including contactless credit and debit cards, Apple Pay, and other digital wallets – with no additional hardware or payment terminal needed.

As a result, customers no longer need to queue at a register, and instead can checkout directly with their sales associate in-store.

"We are working on scaling our omnichannel solutions on the platform to connect each sale across all channels. We need to make everything seamless. We believe Adyen is the right partner to help us collect and manage all our payments data efficiently,” says Cristiano Agostini, Prada Group Chief Information Officer.

Wincanton taps AssetFloow technology to optimise inventory management and improve demand forecasting

AssetFloow, a Portuguese company specialising in behaviorial and predictive artificial intelligence, has announced a collaboration with Wincanton, a logistics and supply chain management firm in the UK.

AssetFloow, which was founded in 2021, develops solutions that analyse and predict behaviours and consumption patterns, helping companies make informed decisions and plan with greater accuracy.

Through the tie up, Wincanton will tap AssetFloow's analytics to optimise inventory management, improve demand forecasting, and increase the efficiency of logistics operations.

"We believe that our behaviorial and predictive AI technology will bring a new era of efficiency and predictability to logistics, enabling Wincanton to offer even more reliable and customer centric services," says Katya Ivanova Santos, CEO at AssetFloow.

"This collaboration represents an important step in our mission to provide AI solutions that create real value for businesses.”

US grocery retailer Giant Eagle’s Leap Media Group offshoot gets onboard with Rippl data and media network

Bridg, a division of Cardlytics, reports that Giant Eagle’s Leap Media Group, the regional grocer’s in-house retail media network, has joined the Rippl data and media network – a purpose built collective between regional grocers, convenience stores, and their advertisers.

Powered by Bridg’s cookie less identity resolution technology, Rippl aims to significantly enhance regional retailers’ first-party data and provide advertisers with a single access point to a national footprint of 70 million+ individual shopper profiles (loyalty and non-loyalty) with SKU-level purchase data and enriching attributes..

Using previously unavailable insights, advertisers can now tailor audiences based on actual product preferences, effectively execute single campaigns across multiple retailers, and consistently measure campaign performance across an aggregated landscape that is now the fifth largest provider of grocery and convenience store first-party, verified shopper data in the United States.