Co-op and Ikea go big on parcel lockers: here are last week’s biggest retail technology plays at a glance

RTIH rounds up the stand out retail systems deals, launches, deployments and pilots from the past seven days. Including Simbe, Co-op, Royal Mail, Boxbar Tech, Asos, Pret A Manger, FreedomPay, Longchamp, Yocuda, Matalan, Toshiba Global Commerce Solutions, dentsu, VoCoVo, Fenwick, and East of England Co-op.

Ikea

A new service is launching this week at Ikea Rhodes in Sydney, allowing customers to shop and pick up their orders during the early morning or late into the evening.

54 new pick-up lockers have landed in the car park, located near the existing Ikea Click and Collect area.

Customers can pick up their orders all day and into the night, from 3am until midnight. The lockers will be used for orders big and small, with space for everything from must have home furnishing accessories to larger flatpack furniture items.

Customers need to select ‘pick-up locker’ when they place their order online, via the Ikea app, via remote shopping or in-store. Once the option is selected, they are sent an email notification when their order is ready, with a unique pin number they can use to open the locker at any time of their choosing.

The cost is the same as Click & Collect - free for Ikea Family members, or prices starting at $5 for non-members.

DeCicco & Sons Markets

Simbe has partnered with DeCicco & Sons Markets, a family owned grocer in the US, which is bringing its Store Intelligence platform to a new flagship location in Sleepy Hollow, and additional stores in Eastchester and Larchmont.

President John DeCicco Jr. says: “Partnering with Simbe allows us to enhance the shopper experience even further. This technology perfectly complements our vision for the future of grocery retail.”

In a LinkedIn post, Simbe says: “Thank you to the DeCicco family and team for your trust - and to our partners at Aperion by Hussmann for helping bring this vision to life.”

Co-op and Royal Mail

Co-op and Royal Mail have inked a partnership deal to roll-out parcel lockers at the convenience retailer’s stores. The first ones will launch in summer, with plans for lockers at 100 stores.

These will allow people to drop off pre-labelled Royal Mail parcels and returns 24/7. Collection will also be available at the lockers soon.

They provide label printing, meaning customers need to pay for postage online and print the label by scanning a QR code at the locker, or request a QR code if they are returning a purchase. Royal Mail’s prices start from £1.55 online for a small parcel that fits through the letterbox.

Royal Mail launched its own parcel locker network in December to meet growing demand for convenient parcel drop-off and collection options from online shoppers and increasing numbers of people selling on secondhand marketplaces. 

Leeds Pride

Automated self-serve drinks solution specialist Boxbar Tech reports that it will be working with Leeds Pride again this year following a partnership last summer.

Leeds Pride 2025 will take place on Sunday, 20th July.

Each year, a parade kicks off at Millennium Square, winding its way through the city streets and culminating on Lower Briggate by The Calls, where the festivities begin. The parade is not only a celebration of pride and solidarity, but also a significant economic driver, contributing an estimated £3.8 million to the city centre.

Last year saw the biggest ever parade with over 167 organisations in attendance throughout the day. Leeds Pride now attracts people from all over the UK and overseas, whilst still remaining free for all to attend.

In a LinkedIn post, Boxbar Tech said: “For 2025 we are deploying 18 points of sale and 36 serving taps, bringing a total serving capacity of more than 4,300 self-serve pints per hour to the city streets. Cheers to another great Pride weekend in Leeds.”

DPD

Parcel delivery company DPD has inked a deal with Wise to replace its legacy internal driver management system.

The agreement builds on an existing relationship between the two companies and follows the initial implementation phase of the Wise platform. The new contract will see the platform integrated across DPD’s entire UK operations of over 10,000 vehicles.

A key component of the deal is Wise’s Network View functionality, which will centralise onboarding for both direct and indirect resources, manage payments to direct resources and ensure compliance across DPD’s fleet workforce. The platform will eliminate manual processes, improve data accuracy, and provide real-time insight, reducing administrative pressures and increasing operational efficiency.

The Network View product was launched in April, and the roll-out to the network will start this month.

Matalan

Toshiba Global Commerce Solutions reports the expansion of its partnership with Matalan, a UK fashion and homeware value retailer.

The relationship, which began in 2017 with the roll-out of Toshiba’s Point of Sale hardware solutions across Matalan’s store estate, now sees the latter become the first retailer in the United Kingdom to implement the former’s VisualStore Commerce Platform.

The platform's self-enablement features, including a screen designer, promotion tool, and configuration management, allow store teams to make updates without relying on third-party support.

Kantar

Kyndryl, a provider of enterprise technology services, has announced the expansion of its partnership with Kantar, a marketing data and analytics company. 

Under this new agreement, Kyndryl will look to modernise Kantar’s digital workplace, deliver security rich services and provide support for Kantar’s Enterprise Digital Solutions, as it navigates ongoing business transformation.

In addition, Kyndryl will design and manage Kantar’s integrated technology transformation across cloud, digital workplace, network and business applications. This will enable it to accelerate the integration of new technology across its fleet of thousands of devices and manage its technology stack with enhanced agility.

Employees will benefit from automation, particularly in its self-help tools to resolve IT issues faster.

Asos

Checkout.com has announced a digital payments partnership with Asos.

Andrew Proctor, Head of Payments at Asos, comments: “Checkout.com is ideally set up to meet an enterprise merchant’s needs for flexibility, while still delivering seamless payments. Our customers are global and always on, every interaction needs to feel effortless, from discovery to delivery, payments is a critical part of that experience.”

Kurt Geiger

NewStore reports that Kurt Geiger is now live on its Omnichannel PoS solution across more than 70 owned stores, outlets, and airport locations in the United Kingdom and the United States.

The roll-out spans the Kurt Geiger and Carvela brands, with the retailer replacing three legacy in-store systems with a mobile-based solution.

Store associates now have the ability to complete transactions and deliver seamless omnichannel experiences, including endless aisle, ship-to-store, and buy online pickup in-store and buy online return in-store, using only an iPhone or iPad.

Longchamp

Luxury brand Longchamp first partnered with Yocuda in 2021 with the latter's digital receipts being rolled out across 135 of the former's stores in 23 countries worldwide, replacing the traditional PDF receipts.

In 2024 alone, Longchamp sent 590,000 digital receipts, achieivng a 73% email open rate and a 5.5% click through rate. This goes beyond a proof of purchase, offering tailored recommendations, brand content, customer language preference and an omnichannel experience, with the aim of strengthening customer relationships post-purchase.

The initiative also reinforces Longchamp’s commitment to sustainability, significantly reducing paper waste and saving 1.4 tonnes of carbon emissions in one year. The digital receipts were integrated into its existing Cegid Y2 Point of Sale system, and the entire integration, from initial access to deployment, was completed within a couple of weeks.

To date, the solution has processed over 2.3 million transactions and delivered over 1.2 million digital receipts globally.

Pret A Manger

FreedomPay has announced a payments partnership with food and coffee retailer Pret A Manger. The collaboration is currently powering Pret in three major markets - the United Kingdom, United States and Hong Kong with further deployments planned in Europe later in 2025.

Chris Matthews, Global Retail Technology Director at Pret A Manger, says; "We are committed to providing a frictionless and enjoyable experience for our customers.”

“Partnering with FreedomPay allows us to leverage their best-in-class technology to ensure secure and reliable payment processing, no matter where our customers are in the world. This partnership is a key ingredient in our recipe for international success, allowing us to focus on what we do best: delivering delicious, freshly made food and organic coffee."

Woodie's

Irish DIY, home and garden retailer, Woodie's, has partnered with Virtualstock with the aim of scaling its online product offering and delivering a richer customer experience.

The collaboration has seen Woodie’s expand its product range by 10% in the first quarter since launching, with a further 10,000 products set to go live in the coming months.

By integrating Virtualstock’s dropshipping and supplier management tools, Woodie’s says it can now onboard suppliers faster and more efficiently, cutting time to market whilst increasing choice. The partnership is central to its ambition to lead in omnichannel retail, offering customers an even wider selection of products both online and in-store.

Customers are seeing the benefits with hundreds more orders processed each month, improved returns via Drop2Shop integration and easier access to new product categories. The returns process is also more convenient, with customers now able to return online purchases via QR code at any of Woodie’s 35+ stores nationwide.

dentsu

dentsu has announced the integration of retail eye tracking data into its media planning tool.

This will bring together the platform’s original data - derived from global surveys - and new eye tracking research conducted by Lumen Research on behalf of the Co-op Media Network.  

Findings from the research challenge conventional wisdom about in-store media’s effectiveness.

For instance, the data reveals that smaller stores provide over twice the opportunity to see certain products, three times the attention and quadruple the brand recall compared to larger counterparts. These insights disrupt the outdated perception that in-store media lacks the impact of major advertising channels such as social media and out-of-home advertising, dentsu claims.

VoCoVo and BlueStar

VoCoVo, an  in-store team communications specialist, has announced a partnership with BlueStar, a global distributor of B2B electronics for retail and other industries.

The collaboration opens UK-based VoCoVo to BlueStar’s network of resellers and warehouses across North America, including the USA and Canada, while equipping the distributor with its solution in an up and coming market segment. 

BlueStar’s partner network will provide various value added services for VoCoVo’s products, including custom configuration, targeted marketing support, and technical assistance.

Cotswold Outdoor Group

Cotswold Outdoor Group, a British company behind high street brands Cotswold Outdoor, Runners Need and Snow + Rock, has announced the launch of its new retail media network, Cotswold Outdoor Group Media Portal, in partnership with Zitcha.

Brands using Cotswold Outdoor Group Media Portal, which is built on Zitcha’s platform, will benefit from a fully integrated retail media network - combining in-store digital screens and brand elevations, onsite opportunities such as website banners and sponsored product listings, and offsite campaigns across Meta and YouTube.

Peter Tyson

Audio-visual retailer Peter Tyson reports a 53% year-on-year revenue uplift after an omnichannel revamp with e-commerce partner Visualsoft. What began as a simple affiliate migration grew into a wide ranging transformation across paid search, SEO, email, social and CRO – with the following results:

• 53% uplift in total revenue

• 125% increase in paid search revenue

• Klaviyo attributed revenue up from 20% to 26% in just two quarters 

The family run business, which was founded in 1966, wanted to bring the same service it’s known for in-store into the online world.

This started with a streamlined migration of its affiliate programme from AWIN to Partnerize - a move that brought greater efficiency, more control, and clearer insights into spend and performance.

Rob Woolley, Commercial Director at Peter Tyson, says: “Partnering with Visualsoft as our sole digital marketing agency has significantly boosted our marketing efforts and supported our growth targets. Their expert teams, regular touchpoints, and dedicated account managers provide valuable insights and recommendations, making them feel like an extension of our in-house team rather than an external agency.”

Fenwick

British retailer Fenwick has worked with Woolman to go live on Shopify Plus.

In a LinkedIn post, Mikko Rekola, Chief Evangelist at Woolman, said: "Special thank you to our enterprise ecosystem partners Klaviyo, Gorgias and Nosto for your ongoing support.”

“With over 140 years of heritage, Fenwick is a household name in British retail, renowned for its luxury offering and high touch customer service. To stay competitive in today’s fast paced digital landscape, Fenwick has embarked on a major transformation- replatforming its e-commerce operations to Shopify Plus."

DHL eCommerce UK

DHL eCommerce UK has partnered with HubBox in a bid to make it easy for retailers to offer out-of-home deliveries and enhance the shopper experience with international orders. 

The tie up will enable retailers to integrate HubBox’s Pickup at Checkout software, allowing consumers to choose from thousands of DHL Parcel Pickup points across the UK and Europe.

Stuart Hill, CEO, DHL eCommerce UK, says: “It’s so important that retailers are able to respond to what consumers are looking for when it comes to delivery and right now, convenience is the thing that matters most to shoppers. This partnership allows retailers to offer even more convenient delivery options through a really simple plug-and-play solution.” 

GLOWiD

Sweden-based GLOWiD, a provider of Korean products as well as skincare inspired cosmetics, says that a partnership with delivery platform, nShift, has enabled it to optimise its warehouse operations.

This has reduced shipping errors and saved thousands of euros through efficiency gains.

GLOWiD’s previous delivery management provider did not integrate with Shopify, so the team had to process deliveries manually. This put extreme time constraints on the warehouse and increased the risk of human error.

East of England Co-op

East of England Co-op last week (4th June) opened a new food store in Ipswich train station.

“Hugely significant new store opening this week for East of England Co-op - cutting edge technology and a great location in perfect harmony,” says Rob Smith, Technology Officer at East of England Co-op.

Ashley Hollingsworth, Operating Model Manager, adds: “Extremely excited about the launch of our concept store - a huge step forward in efficiency. From eSELs and headsets to self-service only tills, cashless and officeless operations, and not forgetting our new digital processes, we’re proudly advancing on our paperless journey.”

“This milestone has involved cross-functional collaboration across multiple departments. Thank you all for your incredible support in delivering what will soon be our most efficient food store to date.”

Mumzworld

GoWit has announced a partnership with the Middle East’s largest online parent, baby and child retailer Mumzworld. 

GoWit will support Mumzworld with its omnichannel retail media solutions as it plans to amplify the retailer’s online presence, increasing advertising monetisation and driving incremental revenue growth.