Tense times in the grocery retail technology space: RTIH's rounds up its most read articles from last week
Check out the articles on this here website that caught your fancy last week, including Guitar Center, RELEX Solutions, Instacart, Marks and Spencer, Tesco F&F, InPost, Asos, AutoStore, OnePointOne, and Whole Foods Market.
Guitar Center boosts allocation and store replenishment planning processes with RELEX Solutions tech
Guitar Center, a retailer of musical instruments, accessories, and lessons, has chosen RELEX Solutions to strengthen its allocation and store replenishment planning processes.
Its tech will support Guitar Center’s network of more than 300 stores and multiple distribution centres across North America, with the aim of enabling improved product availability while reducing inventory levels across 7,000+ SKUs.
By leveraging RELEX for AI driven replenishment capabilities, Guitar Center aims to improve product availability, ensuring the right products are accessible in all stores. This initiative addresses challenges with previous disparate systems that led to excess inventory and stockouts, enabling Guitar Center to align their inventory more effectively with customer demand.
The RELEX platform will provide real-time visibility into inventory levels, allowing for more accurate and timely store replenishment decisions. This will help minimise stockouts and overstock situations, ensuring that customers can always find the products they need. Additionally, the automation of replenishment processes will free up staff to focus on more strategic tasks.
Here's why the departure of Instacart CEO Fidji Simo is a symptom of deeper tensions in grocery retail technology
In an email to employees, she said: “Let me start by saying this was an incredibly hard decision because I love this company. We are operating incredibly well as our last earnings results have shown. Our strategy is working and this team is top notch, which makes it very hard to leave.”
“At the same time, you all know my passion for AI generally and in particular for the potential it has to cure diseases - the ability to lead such an important part of our collective future was a hard opportunity to pass up. I only feel comfortable doing this because Instacart is on an excellent track and in great hands with a stellar management team.”
The departure is a symptom of deeper tensions in grocery technology, says David Croushore, Director - Retail at AlixPartners. Despite strong growth in e-commerce across the sector, Instacart faces a crossroads, he argues.
In a LinkedIn post, he said: "Instacart's business model might be its greatest limitation. It acts as a middleman, yet grocery chains increasingly view it as competition for customer loyalty and data. This friction challenges long-term partnerships. At some point, Instacart may decide to become a retailer itself. Why should partners take the risk?"
He added: "With tight grocery margins, scaling delivery without eroding profitability is a high wire act. The frequency and aggressiveness of promotions keeps ramping up as Instacart and its rivals chase growth at the expense of unit economics. As consumer confidence wanes, expect even more pressure on margins in this vertical."
"Instacart's core business is grocery delivery, but they've lately expanded into areas spanning in-store tech to retail media. As competitors like DoorDash and Uber capture share of their core market, Instacart must decide what it wants to be when it grows up."
He concluded: "A shakeup at the top suggests the company needs to pivot, fast. But which direction should the new leadership go? Instacart’s future will hinge on answering one question: Can it remain a tech enabler for grocers while competing for the same end customer?"
Marks and Spencer advises customer caution as retailer provides update on devastating cyber attack
Jayne Wall, who looks after customer service at M&S. has emailed customers with an update on the cyber attack that happened some three weeks ago and has left the retailer struggling to get services back to normal, with online orders still suspended and many store shelves empty.
In the email, she says: “I am sure that you will have seen in the news that we have been dealing with a cyber incident and I wanted to write to you about what this means for you. To proactively manage the incident, we immediately took steps to protect our systems and engaged leading cyber security experts. We also reported the incident to relevant government authorities and law enforcement, who we continue to work closely with.”
She adds: “Unfortunately, the nature of the incident means that some personal customer data has been taken, but there is no evidence that it has been shared. The personal data could include contact details, date of birth and online order history. However, importantly, the data doe not include useable card or payment details, and it also does not include any account passwords.”
Customers, she stresses, do not need to take any action, but they might receive emails, calls or texts claiming to be from M&S when they are not, so caution is the order of the day. “Remember that we will never contact you and ask you to provide us with personal account information, like usernames, and we will never ask you to give us your password,” Wall states.
Wall concludes: “To give you extra peace of mind, next time you visit or login to your M&S.com account on our website or app, you will also be prompted to reset your password. We sincerely apologise for any inconvenience caused to you and all of our customers. Thank you so much for shopping with us and for your support, we never take it for granted.”
AutoStore OnePointOne robotic vertical farm taps automated cubic storage, supplying Whole Foods Market stores
AutoStore and OnePointOne have unveiled what is pitched as the world’s first robotic vertical farm. Utilising automated cubic storage, this is supplying select Whole Foods Market stores with leafy greens and herbs.
At Opollo Farm, robots move crops through a precision controlled environment, adjusting their position to deliver a balance of water and nutrients. The result is harvest ready greens in 15 days - about half the time of traditional farming - and grown just miles from where they're consumed.
Opollo Farm is designed to tackle some of the biggest challenges in agriculture today: labour shortages, supply chain disruptions, water scarcity, and the demand for fresher, locally grown food.
InPost launches next-day UK nationwide locker delivery in partnership with online fashion retailer Asos
InPost UK has launched what is pitched as the UK’s first nationwide next-day delivery service to lockers, in partnership with Asos.
The service, available exclusively to the online fashion retailer’s customers, offers next-day collection from InPost’s network of lockers and parcel shops for the first time. Shoppers will be able to select these lockers at checkout as their primary OOH delivery option. This is available to all Asos customers, and is free of charge for Premier customers.
The launch follows a series of moves by InPost to accelerate its growth and enhance its infrastructure in the UK, the Polish firm’s fastest growing market. In April, InPost announced the acquisition of UK parcel delivery firm Yodel, enabling the company to step into the position of the third largest agnostic logistics player in the country.
Secret Shopper: F&F finally goes back online as Tesco nails the fashion but fumbles the website experience
Anyone who knows me in real life, the person behind RTIH’s Secret Shopper alias, knows I am unapologetically obsessed with F&F at Tesco.
Their clothing range has come into its own over the past year or so, quietly stepping up its game and becoming one of the most stylish high street offerings out there. And while you used to have to wade through supermarket aisles to get your hands on a blazer or linen co-ord, everything changed this week. That’s right: F&F is finally back online.
I’ve been championing this moment for ages. The clothes have that polished, Zara inspired vibe but with Tesco price points. There’s clearly been a strategic push behind this elevation, likely thanks to their 2022 Group Managing Director for Home and Clothing hire - Katja Ahola Klamkin. And while F&F was available online many moons ago, it disappeared from digital shelves and remained in-store only for years, until now.
Naturally, as your loyal retail scout, I cleared my schedule, fired up my laptop, and hit the site on day one. But while the launch was exciting, the experience wasn’t all smooth sailing. As much as I love F&F, I’m here to give you the good, the bad, and the glitchy.
Tesco IT team hard at work as customers experience issues with accessing website and mobile app
Tesco customers were unable to access the grocery giant’s app and website on Friday, with people taking to social media to complain about problems with changing orders, checking-out, and with accessing their Clubcards.
Sample comment: “If I'm unable to check out because your app is down (again), will the delivery driver turn up on my doorstep with just a bunch of bananas? How do I cancel the order?”
Responding to customers on X and noting that its IT team was hard at work on getting things back to normal, Tesco said: “We are currently experiencing technical issues with our app and website, these issues are currently being investigated and we would ask you to try again later.”
Vinted Go hits parcel lockers milestone in France, Belgium, and Netherlands, with Spain and Portugal up next
Vinted Go, the shipping brand of Vinted, an online consumer-to-consumer marketplace for buying, selling, and exchanging new or secondhand items, reports that it now has 10,000+ parcel lockers across France, Belgium and the Netherlands.
In a LinkedIn post, Arnoldas Kevalaitis, Network Director at Vinted Go, said: "Three years ago, we deployed the very first locker in Paris. Today, we have ±10,000 locations across France, Belgium, and the Netherlands. Our partners are already seeing the value - millions of Vinted users visiting their stores every day."
He added: "Next up: Spain and Portugal - where we’re now looking for new partners to host Vinted Go lockers. We’re going live in Spain in just a few weeks, and Portugal later this year - but we’re looking for partners starting today."
Matt Taylor joins cyber security specialist NCC Group as CTO of Global Managed Services and VP of SecDevOps
Matt Taylor has been appointed CTO of Global Managed Services and VP of SecDevOps by NCC Group, a cyber threats specialist that advises global technology, manufacturers, financial institutions, critical national infrastructure providers, retailers and governments on the best way to keep businesses, software and personal data safe.
Taylor joins from EY where he served as Partner, Technology Strategy and Transformation Leader.
In a LinkedIn post, he said: “It's a privilege to step into this role at a time when the cyber landscape is evolving so rapidly. I'm excited to build on NCC Group's world class capabilities, agility and commitment to innovation, especially in AI and ML.”
“Thank you Kevin Brown (COO at NCC Group), my awesome team and everyone who has supported me on this new journey. From day one, I've been surrounded by brilliant, collaborative professionals who care about doing meaningful work for a more secure digital future. I'm grateful you've helped me hit the ground running. Looking forward to the road ahead!”
Neil Sutton departs NCR Voyix to take on Chief Revenue Officer role at vision AI specialist Everseen
Neil Sutton has joined Everseen, whose visual AI solutions help retailers minimise shrink, streamline operations and deliver a better CX, as Chief Revenue Officer.
He was previously CRO at NCR Voyix.
In a LinkedIn post, he said: "I have known Alan O'Herlihy (Founder and CEO at Everseen) for a few years now and have always been impressed by his entrepreneurship. I am looking forward to this wonderful opportunity to learn, and contribute to the company’s success.”
“Everseen is a market leader in vision AI, trusted by 11 of the top 20 global retailers. Through AI we enable retailers to gain millions of dollars benefit every week."
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