Including Studenac, Currys, and FreedomPay: check out our biggest retail technology articles on LinkedIn this week
We’re big fans of LinkedIn and are busy building an amazing community of retail tech enthusiasts on the social media platform. As we head towards the 20,000 followers mark, these are the articles that are currently on their radars, including LS Retail, EE, Coldcart, Centra, Regatta, One iota, and Brightpearl by Sage.
Croatian food retailer Studenac delivers on global expansion strategy with deal to buy Slovenian firm Kea
Croatian food retailer Studenac has agreed to acquire Slovenia’s Kea.
Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
The acquisition of Kea, which operates 31 stores, is subject to approval from Slovenian competition regulators.
With a presence in and around Maribor, Slovenia’s second largest city, and an average store size of 250 square metres, Kea had revenue of almost €50 million last year.
“After rolling out our unique proximity retail concept across Croatia, with significant growth still ahead of us on our home turf, it’s time for Studenac to go international,” says Studenac CEO Michał Seńczuk.
“Our proximity model is tailor-made to deliver what Slovenian shoppers want, and the market is ripe for consolidation. We are determined to become the leading retail chain in our region, putting down roots in local communities the same way we’ve done here at home.”
Aptos company LS Retail and FinTech firm FreedomPay agree partnership to deliver unified payments worldwide
LS Retail, an Aptos company, has partnered with FreedomPay.
Over 100,000+ retail, restaurant, pharmacy, forecourt, and hospitality businesses use LS Retail software solutions to manage their entire operation.
LS Central is its retail management system that extends Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central ERP with industry specific functionality. The solution enables businesses to run back office operations, sales, financials, inventory, e-commerce, customer loyalty, and more on a single platform.
LS Pay is an electronic fund transfer (EFT) software solution that enables businesses using LS Central to have a choice when it comes to selecting a payment service provider (PSP) with out-of-the-box support for several PSPs in multiple regions.
FreedomPay’s platform combines security, identity, payments, loyalty, and business intelligence into one solution, enabling businesses to offer a hyper-personalised purchasing experience for their customers while ensuring the highest level of safety and compliance across all channels.
Due to this new partnership, businesses running their operations on LS Retail software will be able to connect not only to FreedomPay, but also to any of the PSPs that leverage the white labeled FreedomPay technology stack.
EE opens Experience store in Westfield, Stratford City following launch of flagship Studio location in Westfield, White City
Actor, comedian and rapper, Michael Dapaah, aka Big Shaq, this week made a special appearance at the opening of EE’s latest Experience store in Westfield Stratford City.
Dapaah, who started out creating comedy on his phone, cut the ribbon and welcomed customers into the new space.
The Experience store is the next of its kind to open in London, following the launch of EE’s flagship Studio in Westfield London last June.
It will showcase some of the latest and greatest immersive technology which has been specially designed to help guide customers through their connected lives across four key areas – home, work, learn and game – featured in dedicated Experience Zones and a Tech Home area.
Coldcart bags $6.5 million in funding to grow its installed base of perishable shippers and logistics providers
Coldcart, a platform for frozen and refrigerated parcel logistics, has closed an oversubscribed $6.5 million seed financing.
The round was led by Collide Capital and includes previous convertible note investments led by Material. Great North Ventures, Behind Genius Ventures, Feld Ventures, Alumni Ventures, and Service Provider Capital also participated.
With this new funding, Coldcart plans to grow its installed base of perishable shippers and logistics providers.
It was founded by CEO Jason Park, who previously started and scaled Allstate Identity Protection from zero to $100 million ARR, and Blue Apron founder and former CEO Matt Salzberg.
Early backers include founders, C-level, and senior executives from Marley Spoon, Home Chef, Y Combinator, and Bain & Company.
Swedish sports safety specialist POC launches DTC online flagship store in partnership with Centra
POC, a Swedish manufacturer of helmets, protection, eyewear and apparel for cycling and skiing, has launched a flagship direct-to-consumer (DTC) online store, localised to sell in various global markets, in partnership with Centra.
POC products are available through a network of wholesale partners worldwide, ranging from general and specialist sports, cycling and winter sport retailers to international retailers.
Wanting to offer an information rich, immersive and seamless customer experience across all its touchpoints, it realised a process of digital transformation was necessary to create a DTC channel.
To support this transition, POC selected Centra, because of its rapid multi-market scalability as well as its ability to serve POC’s global market from one site and on one centralised system.
Partnering with digital product agency, Umain, to develop the site frontend, the new flagship site, which serves 35 countries in four languages and supports 13 currencies, launched in June.
British clothing brand Regatta taps One iota retail technology for launch of in-store staff mobile app
One iota’s in-store staff mobile app has gone live at Regatta’s stores across Ireland, using Adyen’s omnichannel payment solutions.
In a LinkedIn post, Chris Brooks, CEO at One iota, said: “A lot of hard work from all involved and another piece of Regatta’s omnichannel strategy falling into place to further elevate their customer experience.”
“The teams are now into the final stages of the next in-store app and experience, due to land in stores in the very near future.”
Brightpearl by Sage research: beleaguered retailers spend 300 hours a year fighting day-to-day work admin
A new study from Brightpearl by Sage, who polled over 1,000 businesses, found that on average, retailers are spending an average of 5.7 hours weekly, 24 hours and 38.6 minutes monthly, and approximately 296 hours and 3.2 minutes annually on these tasks.
On average, they’ll wade through hundreds of admin tasks a month – with the study highlighting that working with spreadsheets, managing invoices and billing, analysing sales reports, and stock replenishment are amongst the most despised manual jobs.
Of those polled, 66% of businesses say their work admin is increasing.
The burden has gotten so bad, that seven in ten respondents admit they feel ‘totally overwhelmed’ by the amount of work admin they have to do.
And for 67%, the knock-on effect of mounting admin means taking work home for the weekend because they can’t stay on top of it. It has proven to be such an issue for 29% of retail employees that they have resorted to taking annual leave in the hope of catching up.
Currys preps makeover for 50 stores as customers demand blended in-store and online omnichannel model
Currys, a UK omnichannel electricals retailer, has announced new investments in its store portfolio.
It says that the blended in-store and online omnichannel model continues to be important to its customers, with two-thirds using stores to make their purchases.
50 of Currys largest locations will undergo a makeover which will see the inclusion of new categories, seasonal showcases, and a focus on reinvigorating megastore entrance space.
New categories include health and beauty, pet tech, portable power, and fitness – in line with customer needs and the latest trends. Seasonal ranges will include the launch of categories such as BBQs and gardening equipment in summer, back to school tech and supplies in the autumn, and new gifting ranges and services in winter.
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