But all I found was sausage rolls and ATMs: 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 Greggs, Monzo, Vista Technology Support, Shopify, The Range, Asda, EE, The Perfume Shop, Accenture, and GlassesUSA.com.

Greggs and Monzo team on sausage roll ATM in Newcastle: check out 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 Bambuser, Trigo, Simbe, Wing, DoorDash, Walmart, Evigence, Retail Insight, Amazon, Metaverse Group, and Super League.

Vista Technology Support acquires Irish retail technology support company Store Computer Technology

Vista Technology Support has announced the acquisition of Store Computer Technology (SCT) for an undisclosed sum.

Vista says that the move further expands its retail and hospitality support capabilities in Ireland and Europe and will strengthen its position as a leading independent retail IT services provider.

SCT was established in 1994 by John Hogan.

It has grown substantially over three decades and now provides IT service desk, in-store technology maintenance and technology refresh projects to some of the most well known Irish and international retail and hospitality brands.

With its head office, service desk, staging centre and warehouses based in Dublin, forward stock locations and field service engineers located throughout Ireland and Northern Ireland, SCT is well established and provides a tried and trusted service support model to over 7,000 retail and hospitality locations throughout the country.

Vista’s M&A activity was led by Lucy Mayer, Vista’s Commercial Director. She has extensive experience in M&A and corporate finance, having previously held senior positions at PWC and Development Bank of Wales.

2024 RTIH Innovation Awards open for entries, winners announced at London event in November

The sixth edition of the RTIH Innovation Awards is now open for entries.

The awards, sponsored by CADS, 3D Cloud, and Retail Technology Show 2025, celebrate global tech innovation in a fast moving omnichannel world, with winners being announced during a glittering ceremony at RIBA’s 66 Portland Place HQ in Central London on Thursday, 21st November.

Key 2024 dates

Friday, 25th October: Award entry deadline 

Tuesday, 29th October: 2024 shortlist revealed

30th October-6th November: Judging days

Thursday, 21st November: Winners announced at the 2024 RTIH Innovation Awards ceremony, to be held at RIBA’s 66 Portland Place HQ.

Entry forms can be downloaded both here

Microsoft Chief Technology Officer Kevin Scott added to e-commerce giant Shopify’s board of directors

Microsoft CTO Kevin Scott has joined Shopify’s board of directors.

Shopify President Harley Finkelstein, said: “Kevin is a titan of innovation. His fingerprints are all over the best teams in tech and some of the best products. He’s a leader in emerging tech and the future of AI.”

“He is a natural fit to help us make commerce better for everyone.Kevin has built a career mastering the art of taking the future, pulling it forward, and building technology that benefits everyone.”

Whilst CEO Tobi Lutke described Scott as “one of the most eminent thinkers in technology.”

Asda wraps roll-out of online groceries picking solution Store Assist as retailer works on new digital landscape

Asda has completed the roll-out of its new online groceries picking solution, Store Assist, across its estate.

In a LinkedIn post, Kevin Besford, Senior Director - Retail Future, Asda, said: “This achievement reflects brilliant collaboration across the Retail, Tech, E-commerce and the Online Store Assist teams.”

“Thank you for your dedication and hard work! Their expertise has been instrumental as we continue to shape our brand new Asda digital landscape.”

He added: “I want to express my sincere thanks to all our store colleagues who worked tirelessly during this period of change, serving our customers with unwavering commitment. Thanks to everyone involved in the Asda Store Assist programme, a massive cross-functional effort covering 534 stores.”

Besford noted the following key achievements:

534 business readiness visits

30 retail engagement sessions

Over 10,000 devices updated

21 individual deployments, peaking at 125 stores per week

Over 26,000 colleagues newly trained

Store mapping accuracy of 99.4%

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, last 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.  

GlassesUSA.com launches Pairfect Match AI technology to deliver personalised online customer experience

GlassesUSA.com, an eyewear retailer in the United States, has announced the launch of its Pairfect Match AI technology.

This provides tailored recommendations for each consumer, matching them with the exact product that fits their needs and preferences.

It builds upon the company’s introduction of a Live Try-On augmented reality virtual mirror and a Prescription Scanner app, which allows users to extract an RX from their existing lenses.

Sweet smell of success: AS Watson Group's The Perfume Shop brings in Scurri as delivery management partner

Specialist fragrance retailer, The Perfume Shop (TPS), says that it has seen “out on time” shipment rates across the UK and Ireland hit 99.2% and also implemented “ship from store” following the appointment of Scurri as its delivery management partner.

TPS is the UK’s largest specialist fragrance retailer with 209 stores in UK&I as well as an e-commerce offering. It is part of health and beauty giant AS Watson Group.

Having invested £2.5 million in warehouse automation technology at its Dunstable warehouse, it appointed Scurri to optimise its delivery management. 

Prior to this, delivery management issues were escalated to management on a regular basis - forcing TPS personnel to step in and solve unwanted delivery problems. 

Additionally, lack of system reliability was also a challenge, particularly during Peak, and while TPS were able to shield customers from these issues, it often came at significant efficiency costs within the warehouse.

A year in the making: The Range goes on recruitment drive as UK omnichannel retailer opens new warehouse

Home and leisure retailer The Range has opened a new warehouse that spans 1.17 million square ft.

This is located in Stowmarket and will provide 1,600 jobs to the local community.

A year in the making, it will serve both The Range and wilko.com customers across the South, South East, East of England and the East Midlands.

The Range said: “The warehouse is complete with an on-site gym and canteen. Plus, to help ease our employee's commute there’s a bus, bike racks and electric vehicle charging stations available.”

“Recruitment is currently underway for a variety of jobs, including forklift truck drivers, order picking, loading and dispatching, HR, health and safety, catering staff and drivers.”

Professional services firm Accenture boosts retail technology transformation capabilities with Logic acquisition

Accenture has entered into an agreement to acquire Logic, which works with retailers to drive customer loyalty, boost revenue and increase agility through the use of technology.

Completion of the deal is subject to customary closing conditions, including receipt of regulatory approvals. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

With capabilities in merchandising, stores, digital, analytics and cloud, the acquisition will enhance Accenture’s ability to drive technology transformations for retail clients globally.

Logic will bring approximately 800 professionals with specialised skills in retail focused technical strategies to Accenture Technology. Founded in 1997 and headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota, it has offices in 11 countries that serve more than 150 retail clients worldwide.