The past week has witnessed significant technological advancements in the retail industry, with notable players such as Walmart and niche brands like Yours Clothing making noteworthy strides. Here, we outline some of the most intriguing developments in the realm of retail technology.
Walmart gained attention with its introduction of drone delivery, Generative AI powered shopping assistant, and digital shelf labels initiatives. In a successful trial of drone delivery in 2021, the company has now extended the service to cover approximately 75% of the Dallas Fort Worth population, with plans to seamlessly integrate it into the Walmart app for an enhanced customer experience.
Health and wellness retailer Holland & Barrett from the UK has forged a partnership with MRI Software to leverage AI-driven technology for insights into store performance metrics.
Watsons, the flagship health and beauty brand of the AS Watson Group, is investing in the opening and upgrading of over 2,200 O+O stores across 15 markets in Asia, Europe, and the Middle East.
Sam’s Club is empowering its members to contribute to the development of their exclusively private brand, Member’s Mark, through the Member’s Mark Community initiative.
Endeavour’s MixIn, the retail media arm of Australian drinks and hospitality business, has collaborated with Zitcha to facilitate off-site media across Meta’s Managed Partner Ads.
True North Energy has launched a new truerewards loyalty programme and mobile app to enhance the customer journey in their fuel and convenience stores.
Avolta and FinTech firm, utu, are embarking on a pilot at Milan’s Malpensa and Linate Airports with the aim of increasing duty-free shopping opportunities for travellers.
Good Food Holdings is implementing SymphonyAI’s connected retail software to drive informed actions across all aspects of their operations.
Big 5 Sporting Goods is joining FreedomPay’s platform to strengthen commerce security and capabilities in their stores.
Yours Clothing, a UK retailer specializing in fashionable and affordable plus-size clothing, is enhancing its storefronts with digital signage to improve customer engagement and drive footfall.
Prada Group is leveraging Tap to Pay on iPhone in its US and Milan stores to provide a seamless checkout experience for customers.
Giant Eagle’s in-house retail media network, Leap Media Group, has joined the Rippl data and media network to enhance first-party data for regional retailers and provide advertisers with a single access point to shopper profiles and purchase data.
Makip, a Tokyo-based sizing technology specialist, has launched its latest innovation in the UK – FaceChange, allowing online shoppers to virtually try on clothing items by using AI to replace the faces of online models.
DriveU.auto and Serve Robotics have announced the deployment of a connectivity platform for autonomous delivery robots to enhance their performance.
Mastercard has announced the expansion of its global Biometric Checkout Programme in Latin America (LAC), allowing shoppers to pay with their palms at Tienda Inglesa’s Red Expres in Uruguay.
Local fulfilment company, Ship Essential, has opened a downtown LA fulfilment center and signed Madhappy to anchor its West Coast expansion.
AssetFloow, a Portuguese company specializing in behavioral and predictive AI, has announced a collaboration with Wincanton to optimize inventory management and logistics operations.
These developments epitomize the forefront of retail technology, promising to revolutionize the shopping experience for consumers and businesses alike. From streamlined checkout processes to personalized marketing campaigns, the future of retail appears brighter than ever.