The latest from REWE, Trigo, Starship, and Co-op: RTIH’s biggest retail technology news stories of the week
It’s Friday, the weekend is almost upon us, so let’s kick back and reflect on another eventful week for the retail systems space. Here's your briefing on the most important stories from the past five days, including Food Rocket, Alimentation Couche-Tard, Starship Technologies, Co-op, Ikea, REWE, Trigo, and Amazon.
1. Food Rocket and Alimentation Couche-Tard grocery delivery tie up “had disaster written all over it”
Rapid grocery delivery startup Food Rocket is no more, with visitors to its website being greeted with the message, "We are closed. Thanks to everyone who was with us."
“In spite of overall profitability, we ran out of capital while struggling to raise additional funding,” it said.
Last year, Food Rocket announced a $25 million Series A investment round.
It said that this would be used to expand its offering in Chicago and other cities throughout the US, as well as reinforce its AI enabled software and enhance the team.
The lead investor was Alimentation Couche-Tard (ACT), which has more than 14,000 Circle K and Couche-Tard locations in 26 countries and territories, including 7,000+ in the US.
Through the partnership, Food Rocket was working with Circle K to explore ways in which the convenience store chain could extend its brand experience and offerings to customers beyond its physical stores through e-commerce and delivery.
Meanwhile, Food Rocket expected to benefit from Circle K’s size and scale, consumer insights, marketing expertise, procurement network and supply chain efficiencies to expand its offerings into categories beyond grocery, improve its purchasing power, reduce costs and grow profitability.
This was an accident waiting to happen, according to Brittain Ladd, a supply chain consultant and former Amazon executive.
2. Starship Technologies and Co-op bring robot grocery deliveries to Greater Manchester
Starship Technologies has partnered with Trafford Council and the Co-op to bring autonomous grocery deliveries to residents across Sale in Greater Manchester.
Also operating in Milton Keynes, Northampton, Bedford, Cambourne, Cambridge and Leeds, orders are made through the Starship app with groceries picked in local Co-op stores and delivered to customers on-demand.
Chris Conway, eCommerce Director, Co-op, says: “Co-op stores are well placed in the heart of local communities to provide quick, easy and convenient home deliveries - whether a full shop or last minute top-ups.”
“We are committed to exploring new and innovative ways to increase access to our products and services, and delighted to be able to roll-out autonomous robots to provide additional online flexibility and choice in Greater Manchester.”
3. Amazon Just Walk Out technology makes debut at Marymount University’s new checkout-free store
Marymount University has become the first higher education institution in the US to have an on-campus convenience store powered by Amazon’s Just Walk Out tech.
Located in the lobby of Gerard Phelan Hall on Marymount’s main campus in Arlington, Saints 24 opened to the University community for the first time on Friday, 10th March.
Customers use their credit card at the entry gates of Saints 24, grab what they need and the technology automatically detects what is taken from (or returned to) store shelves, creating a virtual shopping cart.
When people have completed their shopping, they can leave the store without stopping to check out, and their credit card will be charged for the items they took.
4. Ikea claims an industry first as it says it is now using 100 drones for stock inventory
One hundred autonomous drones are now operational in Ikea stores - the latest in Ikea Zaventem, Belgium – with owner Ingka Group saying it is the first retailer to use such a solution for stock inventory.
Two years ago, Ingka Group and the Supply Chain Development Team at Inter Ikea Group, together with Verity, a provider of indoor drone systems, started developing a fully autonomous drone solution.
As a result, 100 drones are now at work during non-operational hours, with the aim of improving stock accuracy and securing availability of products for online or physical retailing. This means that co-workers no longer need to manually confirm each pallet.
“We are investing in technology across the board so that our stores can better support customer fulfilment and become true centres for omnichannel retailing,” says Tolga Öncu, Head of Retail at Ingka Group.
“Introducing drones and other advanced tools – such as, for example, robots for picking up goods – is a genuine win-win for everybody. It improves our co-workers’ wellbeing, lowers operational costs, and allows us to become more affordable and convenient for our customers.”
5. REWE picks Cologne as it opens another Trigo powered autonomous store in Germany
REWE has opened its fourth Trigo powered store, situated in Cologne, Germany’s fourth largest city.
Located in the Sülz neighbourhood, this is, at 564 sqm, Trigo’s biggest store to date.
Kai-Uwe Reimers, Head of Research and Innovation, REWE digital, comments: “The bar is rising around customer expectations, customers have less time, cost and effort are getting more important.”
“Computer vision will be the core of the future store. It changes the supermarket workflow by introducing frictionless checkout which solves the biggest customer pain point in the store: standing in line.”
“When we were ready to start with frictionless checkout it was clear that Trigo would be the first to talk to.”
“We screened the market again, we talked to other retailers and in the end, we decided for Trigo because we really believe in the team, we really believe in the solution, and we think it’s the most advanced solution at the moment.”
6. Electrical retailer AO enlists Ocula Technologies to optimise e-commerce performance
UK-based online retailer AO is tapping Ocula Technologies’ Ocula Boost solution.
The AI platform addresses abandoned shopping carts by analysing sites to: identify actions to improve the customer experience, accessibility and performance; rank insights based on predicted value and effort; and ensure teams focus on the right areas.
“Ocula Boost is helping us interpret the data and insights to show that our investments in content and performance are improving the website and ultimately making shopping for electricals even easier for our customers,” says Clare Evans, Head of E-commerce at AO.
“Being selected by AO is testament to our commitment to build the world’s leading e-commerce insight platform. The partnership is a great fit and we are excited about what we can achieve together,” Thomas McKenna, CEO at Ocula.
Continue reading…