RTIH Newsletter 16.10.24

Hello everyone,

We’re just a couple of weeks away from the 2024 RTIH Innovation Awards , and excitement is building!

If you haven’t submitted your entries yet, now is the time—don’t miss your chance to showcase your company’s achievements in retail technology. The submission deadline is Friday, 25th October.

In even more exciting news, we’re thrilled to announce that this year’s awards will be hosted by none other than Lucy Porter, a renowned comedian, writer, and actor!

Lucy has graced stages from Edinburgh to Melbourne and has become a familiar face on TV shows like QI, Would I Lie to You?, and Live at the Apollo. Her wit and charm are guaranteed to make the evening unforgettable.

Join us for a night of celebration, recognition, and entertainment as Lucy takes the stage to guide us through the highlights of the retail tech industry. You can find more details about Lucy Porter and the awards here .

Now, let’s dive into this week’s top retail technology stories and stay ahead of the latest innovations:

An expert line up: introducing our star studded judging panel for the 2024 RTIH Innovation Awards

We’re pleased to announce the judging panel for the 2024 RTIH Innovation Awards, including representatives from the likes of Starbucks, Studenac market, C&C Group, Rohlik Group, Boots, Google, EY, IGD, and NBK Retail.

We have brought together a broad spectrum of independent experts, who have experience and insight into different aspects of the retail technology industry.

Retail Technology Startup Stories Interview: Ross Finman , Founder and CEO at Augmodo

RTIH gets the lowdown on Augmodo , which has developed a real-time inventory and task tracker using wearable SmartBadges to create live 3D store maps.

The startup recently raised $5.3 million in seed funding led by Lerer Hippeau , with participation from Dunnhumby Ventures, NewFare Partners and Simple Food Ventures .

Primark notches up a self-service checkouts first in Portugal as retailer opens its 452nd store globally

Primark has opened a new store in Montijo, Portugal, its first in the country to feature self-service checkouts.

In a LinkedIn post, Stephen Regan , Group Board Executive at Primark, dated Friday, 11th October, said: “Wrapping up the week in a very special way by celebrating the opening of our brand new store in Montijo, Portugal. This is a very special moment for the Primark Portugal team as it's the first new store in the Portuguese market in seven years, the 11th store in Portugal, and the 452nd globally.”

Retail technology startup Wayvee Analytics bags $5 million in pre-seed funding as it emerges from stealth

Wayvee Analytics has emerged from stealth with $5 million in pre-seed funding led by Tetrad.vc .

By uniting radio frequency (RF) waves with proprietary artificial intelligence (AI) algorithms, Wayvee’s technology anonymously analyses emotional responses based on physiological signals in real-time, evaluating customer satisfaction score (C-SAT) and key performance metrics for retailers.

"Emotion AI is paving the way for better experiences everywhere. Technology like Wayvee is designed to transform any offline industry where customer experience is key to success, and we’re starting with the largest one: retail,” says CEO and founder Alex Ovcharov .

“We chose to partner with Wayvee because of its unique technology and proactive approach to collaboration, offering real-time data analytics that other solutions couldn't match.,” says Masashi Kameyama , Director of Marketing & Business Development, IROHA International .

Virtualstock tapped as technology platform of choice by Asda to extend supermarket chain’s online product range

UK grocery giant, Asda , is working with Virtualstock as it extends its online product range, across multiple categories.

One of the first sellers to go live on george.com is Decathlon , which will be ranging a selection of sporting equipment, and more sellers are expected to be added in the coming weeks.

"Working with Virtualstock has enabled us to extend our range to customers by onboarding trusted brands such as Decathlon," says Andrew Thompson , Senior Manager eCommerce Portfolio at Asda.

“We are delighted to have partnered with Asda. This is a continuation of an emerging trend to grow online sales through carefully selected partners to create a curated online extended range,” says Ed Bradley , CEO at Virtualstock.

Retail technology innovation of the week: EE brings future of immersive tech to consumers’ fingertips

Retail Technology Innovation of the Week is a series brought to you by RTIH, and sponsored by 3D Cloud , highlighting stand out deployments, launches, and initiatives by retailers and tech suppliers.

this week we’re focusing on EE which this week opened an extended reality (XR) retail playground, giving visitors to its flagship store, the EE Studio, in Westfield, White City, London, the opportunity to try a wide range of augmented reality (AR), virtual reality (VR) and mixed reality (MR) devices side by side.

Asif Aziz OBE , Retail Director at EE, says: “Extended reality is one of the most exciting areas of tech innovation right now, and it really must be seen to be believed. That’s why we’re giving shoppers this unparalleled opportunity to try the latest and greatest devices side-by-side, bringing the future of immersive technology to consumers’ fingertips.”

Dobbie co-founder Daniel Rees slams ‘bad for business’ UK and heads Stateside to pursue American dream

Daniel Rees , co-founder of Demandly , a startup pitched as an AI control centre for e-commerce businesses, has taken to social media to hit out at a ‘bad for business’ UK and praise the US which, he argues, leads in innovation and entrepreneurship with more startup accelerators and venture investment firms than anywhere else in the world.

In a LinkedIn post, dated 14th October, Rees said: “I am leaving the UK for good, and I think other entrepreneurs should too. I'm heading to the US embassy right now to get my O1 Visa stamped.”

All eyes on Aarhus, Denmark as retailer f?tex opens its first autonomous store, powered by AiFI technology

After a soft opening and a series of tests, f?tex, part of Salling Group, has officially opened an unstaffed f?tex Go store in Aarhus, Denmark.

Powered by AiFi Inc. technology, the checkout-free shopping location is open 24/7. This is the retailer’s first venture in to the autonomous stores space.

Morten M?berg , Executive Vice President, Director at f?tex, says: “There are already many customers who have stopped by during the "test week" and the store has received a lot of praise. There is a good reason for this.”

Chryssi Soteriades , Strategic Account Manager at AiFi, says: “Honoured and thrilled to have brought this innovative project to life with f?tex, Salling Group and AiFi technology. The F?tex Go store is now officially live to the public. Such a seamless 24/7 offering of shopping, pioneering in the region. Well done to the whole team.”

Deliveroo agrees on-demand delivery tie up with UK home and garden retailer wilko

Deliveroo and wilko , a home and garden retailer, are teaming up to give customers access to delivery of the latter’s products directly to their doors in as little as 25 minutes.

Initially launching across ten wilko hub locations this month - Edinburgh, Bristol, Nottingham, Bournemouth, Eccles, Manchester, Bedford, Harlow, Plymouth and Leeds - this will be the first time the retailer has offered an on-demand, rapid delivery service.?

Eric French , Chief Operating Officer at Deliveroo, says:?“It’s fantastic to welcome family favourite wilko onto Deliveroo, and to offer their huge range of household essentials for delivery in as little as 25 minutes.”

Alexander Simpkin , Group Chief Executive Officer at CDS Superstores trading as wilko and The Range, comments:?“It’s great to be making wilko so much more accessible to its loyal customer base.?“