It’s official, kids say YouTube is cooler than Netflix: 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 Mattel, Instacart, Amazon Fresh, GoWit, Hugo Boss, Userled, JD Sports, Woolworths Supermarkets, and One iota.

Toy giant Mattel appoints industry veteran Sai Koorapati Senior Vice President and Chief Technology Officer

Toy and family entertainment company, Mattel, reports that Sai Koorapati has been appointed Senior Vice President and Chief Technology Officer.

Anthony DiSilvestro, CFO at Mattel, says: “We are thrilled to welcome Sai to our leadership team at Mattel.”

“He brings to our company a strong track record leading digital transformations and proven experience across enterprise applications, customer facing systems, and cybersecurity tools.”

“We look forward to the benefit of Sai’s expertise navigating complex technological landscapes and empowering innovation at Mattel.”

In his role, Koorapati oversees all aspects of Mattel’s technology innovation and implementation, including shared platforms, software and hardware development, artificial intelligence (AI), and connected product design and creation.

He also leads Mattel’s online security and privacy.

Instacart gets digital as it becomes first grocery technology company to join Ibotta Performance Network

Ibotta, which provides digital promotions and performance marketing solutions for CPG brands, and Instacart, a grocery technology company in North America, have announced a partnership to provide the latter’s customers with access to the former’s catalogue of digital coupons.

By joining the Ibotta Performance Network (IPN), Instacart is looking to deliver more coupons that are timely and relevant to its consumers, helping consumers save money on their everyday purchases.

Going forward, Ibotta will be Instacart's preferred third-party coupon provider across all eligible categories of items on its mobile app and website.

For CPG brands, this new partnership aims to create an enhanced opportunity to reach consumers across Instacart’s marketplace of more than 1,500 retail banners with a footprint of more than 85,000 stores across North America.

In addition, CPG brands can continue to leverage Instacart’s retail media network to drive product discovery and incremental sales by connecting to consumers who are directly at the point of purchase.

YouTube aces 100 Coolest Brands for Kids & Teens report as food and drink companies dominate top 20

YouTube has leapfrogged Netflix to regain its number one crown in the 100 Coolest Brands for Kids & Teens according to a study of 21,000 youngsters, unveiled today by Beano Brain, the specialist kids and family insights agency.

Brands rooted in storytelling and offering depth and breadth of content  - YouTube, Netflix, Nintendo and Disney (9) - all earn places in the top ten.

Food and drink firms dominate the list, accounting for 50% of the top 20 with McDonalds (3), Oreo (7), Pringles (8), Skittles (12), Coca Cola (14), KFC (15), Domino’s Pizza (16), Fanta (17), Cadbury’s (19) and M&Ms (20).

Kids value these products in themselves, but also because they are very closely associated with treats and fun family time.

Social media apps saw their popularity slip with all the major brands dropping down the chart, including TikTok (-7 at 28), Whatsapp (-8 at 38), Snapchat (-3 at 40) and Instagram (-11 at 66)

Once judged as naff and ugly, lightweight shoe brand Crocs was this year’s biggest riser (up 35 places to number 49 ). Meanwhile, Toynk’s Squishmallow plushies, part of the popular collectible plush toy brand, made an impressive leap of 29 places to break into the top 20, landing at number 18.

LEGO just nudged into the top ten at number ten, replacing Coca Cola (down 4 to 14) and helped by collaborations with the likes of Minecraft (30).

Retail media advertising specialist GoWit bags $1.3 million in funding to drive expansion across Europe and MENA

AdTech firm GoWit has secured $1.3 million in funding to help drive expansion across Europe and MENA.

Headquartered in Delaware, USA, GoWit works with marketplaces and retailers - including Kingfisher - to offer digital and physical advertising spaces to brands.

In turn, those brands, such as Nespresso and Reckitt, benefit from high impact ad formats displayed across onsite, off-site and in-store channels.

In this investment round, it received support from existing investors Formus Capital (based in the USA), APY Ventures, and Mindvest, while welcoming DCP as a new backer.

It follows a $1 million investment announced last year, which has helped the company to grow its teams in the UK, France, the Netherlands, and the Middle East.

JD Sports Israel teams with WeDev Technologies on complex and rewarding launch of new in-store digital kiosks

JD Sports Israel has launched new digital kiosks in its stores.

In a LinkedIn post, Hay Dick, Head of E-commerce at JD Sports Israel, said: “After months of hard work, collaboration, and countless hours of work, our digital kiosks are now available in JD Sports physical stores.”

“This project has been one of the most complex and rewarding experiences I’ve worked on, alongside our incredible development partners at WeDev Technologies, together we’ve crafted a solution that enhances the in-store shopping experience in a big way.”

He added: “Ever walked into a store and couldn’t find the product you wanted in the right size, colour, or model? Our new kiosk is here to solve that problem.”

“It's directly connected to our e-commerce website, providing real-time access to our entire inventory. Now, if the product you’re looking for isn’t on the shelf, you can easily locate it through the kiosk and even place an order on the spot and get it right to your door.”

Dick concluded: “This project is a testament to the power of innovation and collaboration. I’m incredibly proud of the work our team has done to bring this to life, and I can’t wait to see how it transforms the shopping experience for our customers offline and online.”

“Here’s to making shopping easier, more efficient, and more enjoyable.”

Woolworths Supermarkets works with Hanshow on launch of smart carts pilot at Sydney, Australia store

Woolworths Supermarkets is piloting a scan-as-you-go trolley system at a store in Sydney, marking a first for the Australian market.

The technology, developed in collaboration with Hanshow, enables shoppers to scan groceries at their trolley using the Everyday Rewards card and a touchscreen device.

Customers still have to pay at the checkout, but further down the line they might be able to swipe their cards and pay at their trolley.

If the trial is successful, Woolworths says it would look at expanding the smart carts to all Australian stories.

Hugo Boss partners with One iota on launch of smart fitting room at flagship store in Düsseldorf, Germany

Hugo Boss has gone live with a smart fitting room in its new flagship Boss store in Düsseldorf, Germany, which has around 1,000 square metres of sales space, spread over two floors.

It worked with One iota on the project, integrating the solution into eight of 17 fitting rooms in the store for the first time.

This is a screen that reads items taken in via RFID, displays the items (and other items that may go with it) and allows customers to select different size/colour variants if required.

This triggers a request to an iPad app for a store member to pick the item and take it to the nominated dressing room number.

Online marketplace Vinted sparks outrage among sellers as it ushers in new postage option changes

Vinted, an online marketplace for secondhand clothes, has recently implemented changes that have upset many of its sellers. The platform has altered its settings so sellers can no longer deactivate specific postage options.

Before this change, sellers had the flexibility to select preferred postage options when listing an item for sale.

For instance, a seller could choose to avoid using Yodel and opt for InPost and Royal Mail instead.

Now, the choice of postage provider is solely at the buyer's discretion, a shift that has caused significant discontent among the seller community.

The change has led to a surge of complaints on social media platforms, with users expressing frustration and confusion.

Userled announces £4 million pre-seed funding round to bring AI generative marketing to B2B firms

Userled, a startup focused on how B2B companies create and manage personalised marketing campaigns at scale, has raised £4 million in a pre-seed funding round led by LocalGlobe, with participation from Dig Ventures.

The funding will be used to continue hiring talent to build MarTech products.

Founded in 2023 by CEO Yann Sarfati (Revive, former sales lead at Salesforce and Incident.io) and CTO Tristan Saunders (Revive, tech lead at American Express and lead software engineer at nate), Userled is a no-code interface and AI powered platform automating the rapid creation and distribution of tailored, branded marketing campaigns.

Another week another revamped store launch as Amazon Fresh Aldgate gets new payment options and updated look

Amazon is continuing an overhaul of its Amazon Fresh stores in the UK, with the reopening of its Aldgate, London location on Monday.

These stores originally launched as checkout-free offerings, powered by the US online retail giant’s Just Walk Out technology.

But the focus is now on adding more payment options, such as self-service checkouts.

In a LinkedIn post, Thomas Monaghan, EU Head of Construction & Design at Amazon, said: “Another week and another revamped store launch.”

“Aldgate reopened its doors this morning with an improved flow, new payment options and an updated look and feel. An exciting and challenging period for the team, I'm looking forward to seeing the customer reaction. Thanks again to all involved, great work as always.”