Sainsbury's under fire for shocking Argos deal: last week's most read retail technology articles
Check out our most clicked articles from last week, including Asda, Auror, B&M, PMC, Sephora, Village Super Market, Focal Systems, Morrisons, Everseen, and Amazon's Just Walk Out technology.
Former Argos executive Ian Chaplin slams deluded and arrogant Sainsbury's following sale announcement
Last week, Sainsbury's announced it was selling Argos in a deal that will allow the retailer to concentrate on its core grocery business. It expects cash proceeds of at least £120 million from the agreement with Swift Partners, whose shareholders include Richard Pennycook - a former Co-op Group Chief Executive. It stumped up £1.4 billion for the chain back in 2016.
Pennycook said: “What attracted us to Argos is the strength of the business, with a trusted brand, loyal customers and dedicated colleagues. We believe strongly in its future and see real opportunities to invest and build on its progress.”
“Argos's combination - of a strong digital business supported by standalone stores, stores inside Sainsbury’s and Local Fulfilment Centres - gives it a distinctive position in the market and an excellent platform for growth. We hold the senior management in high regard and plan to build on its strengths, bringing additional experience and skills to complement and augment the existing team. We see clear potential to strengthen Argos’s customer proposition, digital capabilities and nationwide reach. We are all making a long-term commitment to the business and look forward to working closely with the team to deliver even more for customers, while maintaining Argos’s strong values.”
It’s a move that has been slammed by Ian Chaplin, former Head of Buying at Argos. In a LinkedIn post, he said: “Still in shock after 24 hours….. not about the long overdue sale of Argos but the words of Simon Roberts below. If ever a statement summed up the deluded arrogance of a company it is this. Simon Roberts, Sainsbury's Chief Executive, said of the decision: Sainsbury's has transformed Argos into a leading multi-channel retailer with millions of customers and thousands of talented colleagues.”
He added: “Every word is the opposite of what they actually did. They bought a leading multi-channel retailer, then through lack of respect and knowledge transformed it into a business that lost share in all categories and lost millions of customers. They let thousands of talented colleagues leave and replaced them with corporate puppets. When trying to create a core range across the two businesses they kept 80% of the Sainsbury’s products and 20% of Argos despite sales and cost price info supporting the opposite.”
Chaplin concluded: “Speaking with suppliers over the years, not one had a positive word to say about Argos under the Sainsbury ownership. To those of us lucky enough to get out in 2018/19 it was painful to watch but totally expected. To those that really needed to keep their jobs in the tough market out there it was insulting watching a business being so badly mismanaged. Hopefully the future will be a bit brighter but one walk around an Argos store today will tell you its probably too late.”
Village Super Market tests out new Focal Systems computer vision powered inventory technology
Focal Systems, an AI powered retail technology company specialising in computer vision and shelf intelligence, has announced Top Stock, a module that gives retailers automatic, hourly visibility into inventory stored above the shelf line, without store associate audits, ladder climbs, or manual scanning.
During a one-month pilot, Village Supermarkets says it achieved:
$24,000 in previously unaccounted for inventory identified and recovered in the first month
75% reduction in weekly audit labour, from four hours to just one hour
Ten hours saved weekly on the night crew
36% reduction in top stock inventory
1% on-shelf availability improvement across test store, on top of an existing Focal driven baseline of 97%, where marginal gains at that level translate to hundreds of thousands in incremental annual sales
Increased day crew replenishment rates and planogram compliance
Morrisons announces roll-out of Everseen computer vision powered Evercheck platform across stores
Morrisons has selected Everseen to deploy its Evercheck solution across 200 of the UK grocery retailer’s stores in an initial roll-out phase. The platform uses real-time computer vision to simplify the self-checkout process.
The move builds on a trial of the technology. On-screen prompts allow shoppers to correct any missed items themselves, with the aim of keeping queues moving. The software integrates with existing systems, freeing store teams to focus on customer service.
Francesca Bezoari, Store Support Office Director at Morrisons, says: “Our new partnership with Everseen enables us to provide the fast and seamless checkout experience our customers want, while simultaneously equipping our colleagues to maintain the exceptional service that Morrisons is known for.”
Joe White, CEO at Everseen, says: “Morrisons recognise that the best AI solutions deliver measurable results without compromising the customer experience. Our Vision AI platform enables Morrisons to improve its satisfaction scores, proving that operational performance and customer service aren't competing priorities. We're proud to bring our experience from deploying across thousands of global checkouts to support Morrisons transformation.”
Ashton Gate taps Amazon Just Walk Out technology to improve matchday experience for supporters
Ashton Gate Stadium, a Bristol-based venue that hosts conferences, events and is home to Bristol City and Bristol Bears, has installed Tap & Go Bars ahead of the 20276/27 season. Bristol Bears becomes the first Gallagher PREM Rugby club to invest in Amazon's Just Walk Out technology, with two Tap & Go bars in the Dolman Concourse and one in the South Stand Concourse.
Draught Pravha, Thatchers Gold and Guinness - using new multi-dispense units for fresher pints - cans of Guinness 0.0, Clear Head Alcohol Free IPA, wine, soft drinks, snacks, hot dogs, pasties and pies will be available for supporters to purchase.
Ashton Gate Stadium Chief Operating Officer Ross Wormald says: “We are delighted to partner with Amazon to introduce Tap & Go Bars. As a sports and entertainment venue, which was rebuilt to allow us to be forward-thinking, this innovation will improve fans’ matchday experience. The feedback from the respective supporter groups was really useful in helping us shape how this would look and we are excited to have this technology in place ahead of the new seasons.”
Asda announces pilot across London stores of Auror crime reporting and intelligence technology
Asda is rolling out Auror, a crime reporting and intelligence platform. It says that a ten-week pilot in 30 London stores demonstrated the value of having a faster, more effective way to report incidents and identify repeat offenders in real-time.
According to the UK grocery retailer, the trial resulted in: more than £100,000 of products recovered and returned to shelves; 55% increase in crime prevention rates; 80% reduction in incident reporting time, from around 25 minutes to under five; improved identification of repeat and cross retailer offenders.
David Lepley, Chief Operating Officer at Asda, says: “Rolling out Auror across our estate will further strengthen our ability to prevent and tackle retail crime. The results from our London pilot demonstrated the value of having a faster and more effective way to report incidents and identify repeat offenders in real-time. By working more closely with police and retailers through a shared intelligence network, we can focus our efforts where they will have the greatest impact and help to tackle retail crime.”
Mark Gleeson, General Manager UK and Europe at Auror, comments: “We’re delighted to welcome Asda to our strong network of like-minded retailers who are all committed to keeping frontline retail colleagues safe and taking on retail crime together. It’s fantastic to see retailers like Asda unite to take a stand against the top 10% of offenders causing 70% of retail crime and take back UK’s high streets. Auror has made it 80% faster to record crime for Asda colleagues and early pilot results saw the team identify dozens of prolific repeat offenders, with the majority known to offend at stores owned by other retail brands within the Auror network. This is why the network effect is key to getting on top of this problem.”
“Retailers are working more effectively with police than ever before through digital collaboration. This is helping them surface the true scale of offending, understand and respond to risk across their estates, and focus their precious resources on those repeats, organised, and violent offenders - creating safer stores for all.”
B&M wraps PoS roll-out across 790+ UK stores in partnership with PMC
Value retailer, B&M, has partnered with PMC to deploy a Point of Sale (PoS) solution spanning across its entire estate. Operating one of the UK’s largest value retail estates, it has replaced its legacy PoS solution with new hardware and updated software. It also wanted to enhance in-store experiences as part of the refresh, adding new capabilities including faster transaction speeds, improved customer-focused functionality and reduced till friction.
Having worked together for over seven years across managed service IT provision, B&M opted to run with PMC and its PoS partner Flooid on this project. Full scale, post-pilot deployment started in January and is due to be completed in August.
David Laithwaite, Implementation Services Manager at B&M, comments: "PMC have proven experience with delivering PoS solutions. Their collaboration and seamless coordination with our other service provider and B&M staff have been exemplary. The synergy in communication and a joined-up working approach across the board has significantly enhanced our operational efficiency, enabling remarkable progress with this project.”
Sara Coverdale talks Asda Project Future retail technology separation project as she departs retailer
Sara Coverdale has announced her departure from Asda, where she spent the past four years, most recently serving as Enterprise Architect. She will next take on the role of Head of Engineering and Architecture at supply chain specialist Optilon.
In a LinkedIn post, she said: "After just over five years at Asda, it’s time to say farewell. It’s been a real privilege to work with so many talented and dedicated people, not only our colleagues, but many amazing partners as well."
She added: "I’m a big believer in the power of living outside your comfort zone and taking on big challenges (come on, that’s where the fun is!). When I joined four years ago to support the architecture for Project Future, I couldn't imagine a challenge much bigger for Asda Tech than building an entire supermarket IT landscape pretty much from scratch. I’m so proud and grateful to have been part of the team that took this on, not to mention our other big programmes."
"But times they are a-changing. This is one of the most exciting periods I’ve ever seen in the industry, and with so many geopolitical changes in the past few years, it’s also one of the most challenging times for our supply chains. So after a quick breather on Saturday, I’ll be hopping on a plane to Stockholm to start my next adventure as Head of Engineering and Architecture with independent supply chain partner Optilon, helping companies cut through the complexity to create efficient, intelligent supply chains."
Secret Shopper: inside Sephora Carnaby Street, where viral beauty, expert staff and smart technology meet
Sephora’s first UK boutique may have a smaller footprint, but its Carnaby Street store delivers one of the retailer’s strongest experiences yet, combining Beauty Scan technology, social media led merchandising and sought-after brands including Rhode, Haus Labs, REFY and Danessa Myricks Beauty.
