Starring Raspberry AI, Bambuser, and Reshop: our biggest retail technology articles on LinkedIn right now

We’re big fans of LinkedIn and are busy building an amazing community of retail tech enthusiasts on the social media platform. As we get ready to cross the 20,000 followers mark, these are the articles that are currently on their radars, including Zara, Instacart, LS Retail, WSS, Aptos, Nomitri, Retail247, Walmart, John Lewis, Lidl, and WorkL.

Fashion focused generative AI platform Raspberry AI lands $24 million in Series A funding led by a16z

Raspberry AI, a generative AI platform for fashion creatives working with Under Armour, MCM Worldwide, Gruppo Teddy and Li & Fung, has secured $24 million in Series A funding led by Andreessen Horowitz (a16z).

Existing investors Greycroft, Correlation Ventures and MVP Ventures also participated in the round, along with angel investors including Gokul Rajaram and Ken Pilot.

Raspberry AI will use the cash to accelerate its product development and add engineering, sales and marketing talent to its team.

The company provides an AI image generation platform that helps retail brands in understanding consumer demand and creating highly sought after designs and marketing assets in minutes. The platform enables brands to create full mood boards, lifestyle photography, product photography and technical drawings through text prompts.

“Over the past five years, the combination of fleeting social media trend cycles, the on-demand economy, consumers’ insatiable appetite for newness and the rise of fast fashion has fundamentally changed the way consumers shop,” says Cheryl Liu, CEO and Founder at Raspberry AI.

“As a result, brands and manufacturers are being challenged to change the way they design and develop products. We’re excited to partner with these visionary investors to empower fashion creatives ranging from designers to product developers to marketers with next-generation tools that allow them to create and market best selling products more quickly, efficiently and sustainably.”

Three technology strategies to help charity shops meet consumer demand

A growing number of consumers are turning to charity shops instead of traditional retail stores, driven by a desire to shop more sustainably and save money. According to the 2024 Charity Shops survey conducted by Civil Society Media, this shift is reshaping the retail landscape, with charity shops enjoying a surge in popularity.

And it’s not just in-store sales benefiting from this trend. The Charity Retail Association’s latest Quarter Market Analysis report highlights a 21.2% rise in online sales for charity shops, reflecting their increasing appeal across all shopping channels.

As consumer demand grows, charity shops must adopt modern technologies in place to support their customers and keep sales high.

Here are three proven tech strategies charity shops should implement to meet these challenges head-on.

Bambuser enters China as it works with fashion retailer Zara on livestream and video commerce strategy

Bambuser has announced ts first launch in China with a dedicated platform for Zara that integrates livestream shopping and video commerce across its e-commerce channels.

The partnership is timed with the launch of Zara’s ‘Chinese New Year’ collection, which was launched on 9th January, and is available for purchase through shoppable livestreams.

In China, 54.7% of consumers shop through livestreams, according to the 53rd Statistical Report on China’s Internet Development. Bambuser’s platform enables brands to integrate shoppable videos and livestreams across their online channels.

“China is the dominant market for live shopping, which is traditionally run on marketplaces and third party platforms. However, brands are increasingly shifting toward direct-to-consumer (D2C) strategies to offer the same engaging live video shopping experiences on their own platform," says Maryam Ghahremani, CEO at Bambuser.

“Zara is one such brand embracing this shift, and our expansion into this market is empowering Zara and other brands on their D2C journey, enabling them to deliver seamless, high quality livestreams directly to their audiences in every channel.”

Refund tech firm Reshop brings in Afterpay Co-Founder Anthony Eisen as CEO and bags $17m in funding

Reshop, a startup that focuses on the refund process for both consumers and retailers, has announced Anthony Eisen as its CEO, as well as a $17 million fundraise.

Eisen most recently served as Co-Founder and Co-CEO at FinTech firm Afterpay, which he launched alongside Nick Molnar in 2014 and listed on the ASX in May 2016.

The $17 million fundraise, meanwhile, features investments from Matrix Partners, Sound Ventures (a venture capital firm co-founded by Ashton Kutcher and Guy Oseary), Woodson Capital, and Touch Ventures. As Reshop continues to expand its network of partner retailers (which currently includes Alo Yoga, Steve Madden, Dolce Vita, and Cara Cara), the cash will be used to accelerate go-to-market and scale.

"With Afterpay, our mission has always been to power an economy in which everyone wins, and that holds true with Reshop as well," says Eisen.

"The refunds space is ripe for disruption and in need of a solution that benefits both retailers and consumers, which is what we're providing with Reshop. I'm proud of the progress the team has already made since launching earlier this year and am excited to help shape the next chapter in their journey."

Retail247 enlists industry veterans as technology firm announces formation of new advisory board

Retail247, known for its PIM (Origin), stock platform (Archean) and retail consultancy services, has announced the formation of a new advisory board.

This includes Andy King who has served as CEO at Evans Cycles, Dobbies Garden Centres, and Notcutts Garden Centres. Additionally, he has held NED roles at several prominent businesses including Topps Tiles and Bannatyne Health Clubs.

Also onboard is Andrew Staff, currently Managing Director at Forbidden Planet. Staff has held senior roles such as Chairman, Managing Director, Non-Executive Director, CFO, and COO across a wide variety of industries.

Instacart agrees Caper Carts tie up with DUMAC Business Systems and TRUNO Retail Technology Solutions

Instacart has announced new partnerships with two Point of Sale (PoS) providers: DUMAC Business Systems, and TRUNO Retail Technology Solutions. The pair will offer Caper Carts - Instacart’s AI powered smart carts - to their grocer networks, providing end-to-end PoS integration from sales through to implementation.

Caper Carts let customers automatically scan items as they shop, track spending for budget management, and access discounts directly on the cart. DUMAC and TRUNO provide a turnkey service, including Caper Cart referrals, implementation, maintenance, and ongoing technical support.

“Grocers are the backbone of communities across the US, and we’re committed to getting them the tools and technology they need to succeed,” says Nick Nickitas, General Manager of Local Independent Grocery at Instacart.

"By teaming up with established PoS leaders like DUMAC and TRUNO, we're making it easier than ever for grocers of all sizes to partner with Instacart, unlocking a modern shopping experience with Caper Carts while serving their communities.”

GK Software buys Nomitri with founders Trinh Le-Fiedler and Max Fiedler remaining in managing positions

GK Software, a provider of commerce solutions for retailers, has acquired Nomitri, a Berlin-based AI self-checkout technology startup.

It says that the transaction will expand its commerce capabilities with out of the box SCO (self-checkout) and store operations solutions to expand the company’s global portfolio of retail customers.

Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Nomitri will continue to exist as a wholly owned subsidiary of the GK Software Group. Founders Trinh Le-Fiedler and Max Fiedler (pictured below) will remain in managing positions. The Nomitri solutions will be presented as a new product suite within GK’s product portfolio under the name ‘GK Vision’.

WSS stores go live on Aptos ONE PoS with more locations set to adopt retail technology solution in 2025

WSS has deployed Aptos ONE PoS across its store operations and customer engagement strategies. Dozens of WSS stores went live on it immediately prior to the holiday shopping period, with the remainder set to adopt the solution in early 2025.

Based in Gardena, California, WSS is a subsidiary of Foot Locker and operates more than 140 stores nationwide.

“We are a visionary organisation, and our technology investments reflect that,” says Sarah Derba, Senior Director, Information Technology, at WSS. “Modern software architectures are important to us, and so is field performance. When evaluating PoS systems, we put a lot of consideration into questions like ‘how is this going to perform in the field?’ and ‘is this going to make the job easier and better for our employees?’”

“Now that we’re live with Aptos ONE, we’re seeing firsthand the positive impact that it has on employee and customer satisfaction and the overall energy in our stores,” Derba adds. “WSS employees can ring up transactions, add loyalty points, access real-time inventory and customer data, complete omnichannel orders, and much more – all from a single, mobile-first device.”

“What has impressed us the most has been the speed and ease of serving customers, and the speed and ease to configure, update and deploy the application. Aptos ONE proves that enterprise grade PoS applications can be fast and easy to use while still offering deep functionality. Our adoption of Aptos ONE has been fantastic.”

British clothing retailer Boden chooses ZigZag to take over its online returns process worldwide

Boden has switched to ZigZag to manage its global returns.

Colin Dawes, Head of Logistics at Boden, comments: "We switched to ZigZag as our returns provider not only to make savings across our supply chain, but more importantly to improve our customer's returns experience with technical and data driven excellence.”

“It’s been an eye opener for us in understanding how our customer base differs from the rest of the market. We want our returns policy to be a true reflection of what our customers need and now we have another layer of visibility to inform our approach."

Thumbs up for Walmart, John Lewis and Lidl as WorkL showcases the happiest workplaces globally

The World’s Happiest Workplaces 2025 List has been published today by employee experience platform, WorkL.

The happiest workplaces in retail include: