Payments, online marketplaces, ESLs, and loyalty apps: July’s biggest retail technology plays at a glance

RTIH rounds up the stand out retail systems deals, deployments and pilots from July, including Auchan Retail Polska, RELEX Solutions, Adyen, END. Clothing, Tesco, Marketplacer, John Lewis, Schnuck Markets, Instacart, Oak + Fort, Shopify, wagamama, Asda, Co-op, Walmart, Ocado Group, and Kroger.

Auchan Retail Polska

Auchan Retail Polska has selected RELEX Solutions to provide demand and forecasting capabilities.   

It is leveraging the latter’s supply chain and retail planning platform as a vital element of its omnichannel sales strategy.

Based on the latest technologies, including artificial intelligence (AI), this solution allows for comprehensive and fully integrated supply chain management for all distribution channels in which the chain operates.

The RELEX platform optimises both Auchan’s internal processes as well as collaboration with suppliers in key areas such as demand planning, availability and resource planning.

Auchan has implemented RELEX in all the chain’s stores in Poland.

The second phase of the implementation will envisage using the system to support all Auchan warehouses and distribution systems including the newest fully automated e-grocery fulfilment centre built in collaboration with Ocado.

This phase is scheduled for completion in the first quarter of 2025.  

END. Clothing

Adyen has announced a payments partnership with END. Clothing.

The FinTech giant’s technology is aligning both online and offline payments by integrating a unified commerce offering to END. Clothing.

The retailer benefits from a holistic view of its customers, allowing it to identify repeat, loyal shoppers and offer them a tailored user experience. 

To fuel END. Clothing’s global expansion plans, it sought a partner that could offer a reliable and seamless service regardless of the customer’s location. Adyen was chosen because it can process multiple types of payment methods locally.

Tesco

Marketplacer has partnered with Tesco to launch its new online marketplace.

Powered by Marketplacer’s software-as-a-service (SaaS) technology, this offers Tesco customers access to more third-party products online that complement its existing range, with the aim of giving people a one-stop-shop for everything they may need.   

The project, which commenced in June, will continue to expand, with the addition of further third-party sellers, over the months to come. Marketplacer’s platform will enable the supermarket to find and connect products from third party sellers at scale. 

Peter Filcek, Marketplace Director at Tesco, says: “We knew that we wanted to open up access to a wider range of products for Tesco customers; we could see customers were searching for products that we didn't sell, and that we could be front of mind for.”

“It became clear that exploring this advanced technology for industry partnerships would be advantageous for the customer experience and ensure a seamless integration experience for our seller partners.”

Studenac

Croatian retailer Studenac is rolling out electronic shelf labels (ESLs) across its stores.

Studenac, which is owned by a fund managed by Enterprise Investors, a private equity firm in Central and Eastern Europe, has more than tripled its store network in almost six years, expanding throughout the country via a combination of organic growth and acquisitions, and it sees potential for further growth based on its proximity retail concept.

In a LInkedIn post, Ivana Kršić, Head of Innovation at Studenac, said: “A month ago, I was in Omiš (a town and port in the Dalmatia region of Croatia) setting up the ESL prices in the fruit and vegetables section (with the dedicated team, of course, to which I am very grateful).”

“These were the first ESLs at our store network, which we are testing now. Also, I was trying out the mobile thermal printers in person to see how they work.”

She added: “Today (Friday, 19th July), I spent a day in a store in Zagreb, as a part of the initiative From Office to Store and most of my morning went on fulfilling the shelves with fresh fruits and veggies and removing the old ones.”

“I have to notice that my effort wasn't wasted, and the neat and tidy display actually got the attention of the buyers.”

“I am sure that some of you have real studies that can correlate the presentation with sales results, so be free to post them in the comments. I have seen firsthand that it works!”

TerryWhite Chemmart

Australian community pharmacy brand, TerryWhite Chemmart, has announced the launch of a retail media network called ‘TWC Connect’, leveraging Zitcha technology.

The latter’s platform was selected following a competitive pitch and will enable new opportunities in onsite and offsite media channels including Facebook, YouTube and Google, for TerryWhite Chemmart (TWC), with the potential to expand the offering into other channels on the horizon.

TWC’s brand partners will soon be able to use Zitcha’s automated platform to deliver greater segmentation, targeting and personalisation at scale. Closed-loop attribution through the platform also enables greater visibility and performance on advertising spend.

TWC, which has 600 community pharmacies across Australia, has recently upgraded and integrated its Rewards Plus loyalty programme of more than two million members, into the myTWC app.

In addition, major TWC brand partners such as Bayer, L’Oreal and Unilever are already existing users of Zitcha’s platform.

John Lewis

John Lewis has announced a suite of new retail media capabilities, with the aim of helping brands connect with customers shopping on johnlewis.com.

The move will allow brands to create and manage their own campaigns, including via banner ads and sponsored product listings.

It also offers users a dashboard showing exactly how their campaigns are performing, how customers are engaging, and how many sales are coming through.

Brands can maintain always on campaigns, and quickly adapt to seasonal trends and sales peaks such as Back to School and Black Friday.

In addition, thanks to real-time data and performance metrics, they can measure the impact of their initiatives right down to the individual product level and search terms.

The options have been delivered in partnership with Epsilon, the advertising and marketing technology company which recently launched a similar offer for Waitrose.

They can also be helpful for customers looking to explore new brands that are relevant to their search and browse activity.

All ads are reviewed by John Lewis’ in-house team to make sure they are suitable, beneficial and relevant for customers.

Schnuck Markets and Instacart

Grocery technology firm, Instacart, and Schnuck Markets, report that the former’s Carrot Tags offering is rolling out chainwide.

Carrot Tags is a software solution that integrates into a retailer’s electronic shelf labels (ESL) hardware to enable incremental functionality, including pick to light capabilities.

Schnucks will be using this across most of its stores allowing Instacart shoppers to activate items from their picking list within the firm’s shopper app for easier and more accurate order fulfilment.

Schnucks first began using Instacart’s Carrot Tags’ pick to light functionality in 2023, and says that it quickly saw success across its pilot stores.

“As our first retail partner to introduce Carrot Tags’ pick to light functionality chainwide, we’re incredibly excited by the telling results of our partnership. Because Schnucks is using pick to light, we’re seeing an increase in found rates, which in turn provides higher order quality and customer satisfaction,” says David McIntosh, VP and GM of Connected Stores at Instacart.

“Schnucks has long served as a leading-edge partner for Instacart, especially when it comes to adopting our Connected Stores technologies like Caper Carts and Eversight. We look forward to building the future of grocery alongside Schnucks for years to come.”

East of England Co-op

Trust Retail reports that it is implementing its Inventory and Stock Management solution across the East of England Co-operative’s (East of England Co-op) food stores.

East of England Co-op is the largest independent retailer in the eastern England region spanning communities across Essex, Suffolk, Norfolk, and Cambridgeshire.

It sought to upgrade its stock and inventory management system and so turned to Trust Retail for a project that included its newest store outside Chelmsford station.

This caters to over 12,300 commuters daily and was praised on TikTok as “the UK’s coolest Co-op.” The new Trust Retail system will streamline order management, provide real-time inventory visibility, and optimise operations.

The stock and inventory management technology will integrate with the existing Trust Retail EPoS used across store checkouts.

Key benefits will include reductions in manual processes, increased efficiencies in utilisation of store/headquarter resources, accurate real-time inventory tracking, streamlined order management, enhanced visibility, and improved integrations. 

It will also be critical to helping the retailer continue its commitment to less wastage and continued efforts to keep edible food in the food chain.

Last year, the regional co-operative reported it had saved the equivalent of more than 25,882 meals from going to waste, avoiding 69,881.4kg of CO2e emissions.

Oak + Fort

Oak + Fort and its 40+ retail stores in the US and Canada are now powered by Shopify and Shopify PoS.

The retailer partnered with EY to build this out.

In a post on X, Harley Finkelstein, Shopify President, said: “This is a big deal. Oak + Fort wanted a unified solution so they could bring their entire business under one roof to work together seamlessly and help fuel their expansion.”

He added: “Shopify was the obvious choice and they partnered with EY to build it out. We are the best unified commerce solution on the planet. That’s why the biggest brands are coming to us.”

Ocado Group and Kroger

Ocado Group reports that Kroger has placed an order for a range of new automated technologies to roll-out in customer fulfilment centres (CFCs) across its network.

Kroger will implement Ocado's latest 'Re:imagined' technologies across multiple CFCs in its live network, as well as future CFCs. These include On-Grid Robotic Pick (OGRP) and Automated Frameload (AFL).

"We are delivering a step-change in warehouse automation and new levels of efficiency to our partners as global supply chains are under significant pressure to manage higher volumes and greater complexity, as well as challenges in labour cost and availability,” says Tim Steiner, CEO at Ocado Group.

“This marks another exciting milestone in our partnership with Kroger. Our current CFCs are already helping to deliver a game-changing quality of service to their customers across the USA.”

“We are excited for these latest technologies to further enhance that proposition, as well as the efficiency of Kroger's operations in live and future CFCs.”

wagamama

wagamama, a British restaurant chain, serving Asian food based on Japanese cuisine, has launched a new loyalty app called soul club.

Customers will earn a hanko stamp each time they visit a wagamama restaurant and spend £12. After three stamps, they receive a free side and after six stamps, a free main with no minimum spend.

When people first sign up, they will also get a free stamp and a free side of edamame beans. When it's their birthday, they get entered into a prize draw where they could win a £1,000 gift card.

It’s also possible to gain access to various extras on the app including recipes, cooking videos, secret menu items, and access to supper clubs.

After four visits in one year, users will receive invites to supper clubs to cooking classes with wagamama collaborators. After eight visits in one year, they get VIP Status, which includes the opportunity to win premium monthly merch drops, such as hoodies and cookbooks.

Flying Tiger Copenhagen

Flying Tiger Copenhagen has renewed its partnership with Xiatech, the company behind Xfuze, a MACH certified composable integration and data management platform.

The Danish retailer, which operates 900+ stores around the world, will expand its use of Xfuze as part of a digital transformation push 

This includes expansion across its network of franchise and owned stores, boosting the way the company uses data, and embedding AI driven analytics and process orchestration throughout the organisation. 

The multi-year contract follows four years of a partnership when Flying Tiger Copenhagen selected Xiatech to accelerate the company’s integration and data centric digital transformation programme. 

“Xiatech has strengthened our technology foundation substantially, and they will continue to do so as Flying Tiger Copenhagen’s strategic integration partner. We look forward to continuing our successful partnership for years to come,” says Martin Jermiin, CEO, Flying Tiger Copenhagen.

Asda

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.”

Co-op and Walmart Commerce Technologies

Co-op is gearing up to work with Walmart Commerce Technologies, implementing its online fulfilment technology, Store Assist, to enhance the convenience retailer’s colleague and customer experience and support quick commerce growth ambitions.

The Store Assist app allows retailers to manage pickup, third-party marketplace, ship-from-store, and last mile delivery orders all in one place.

According to those involved, a streamlined omnichannel fulfilment workflow will enhance in-store processes and operations, remove the need for colleagues to switch between quick commerce apps or different devices, and allows for faster delivery times.

Store Assist technology will have a focus on: ease of use; scalability; specialised and tailored use to meet the diverse demands of grocery fulfilment and, a unified platform to simplify systems as online orders are picked fresh in the local Co-op store, and delivered quickly and conveniently in the community.

The UVESCO Group

Spanish grocery retailer, The UVESCO Group, has selected RELEX Solutions to optimise and unify its supply chain.

The UVESCO Group is well known for its BM and Super Amara supermarket chains, and has 331 stores in Spain, seven distribution centres, and more than 16,000 SKUs.  

It recognised the need to evolve its supply chain strategy and selected RELEX for a range of AI enabled forecasting and replenishment capabilities, to optimise inventory management, supply chain planning, and demand forecasting.

“We believe we’ve made the right choice by trusting RELEX as our technology enabler and advisor as we make the leap from manual supply chain processes to a more sophisticated approach to managing fresh products from store to store,”  says Miguel Carrero, Chief Technology Officer at the UVESCO Group. 

“This strategic move is crucial for supporting our rapid regional growth, while enhancing our operational excellence and providing superior customer service levels.”

7-Eleven

7-Eleven has upgraded its first stores to use the Grabango checkout-free system. 

These stores are all located in Australia and represent a new continent for US-based Grabango.

7-Eleven Australia announced last year that it was partnering with the company to develop My 7-Eleven App Pay and Go 2.0.

The Grabango technology uses AI to enable customers the choice to skip the register, without the need to scan purchases using their device.

7-Eleven Australia General Manager -Technology and Strategy, Stephen Eyears, said at the time: “Our current My 7-Eleven App Pay and Go feature lets consumers scan their items, or fill their vehicle at the pump, and complete their transaction on their phone without the need to queue at the register.”

“The enhancement the team is working with Grabango to develop will make it even more convenient for our customers who choose to pay with the Pay and Go feature as they won’t need to scan merchandise items individually.”

“This Australian first partnership with Grabango follows on from our launch of Australia’s first cashless and cardless convenience store in 2019, and the national roll-out of pay and go solutions into all of our stores nationally earlier this year.”