RTIH Editor, Scott Thompson, brings you his top ‘future of retail’ systems launches and deployments from the past week, including electric powered deliveries in South London, autonomous micro stores in Belgium, and, in Croatia, digital tools that use data to improve margins, streamline the supply chain and enable better, faster decisions on where to build new stores.
Amazon UK
Croydon is among the first Amazon locations in the UK to use electric cargo bikes, building on launches in Wembley, Southwark, Shoreditch, Manchester and Glasgow.
Electric cargo bikes and on-foot deliveries are now operational from hubs in more than 20 cities across the UK and Europe.
“We’re excited to open the new micromobility hub at our Croydon delivery station as part of our commitment to our customers and our sustainability goals,” says James Partridge, Amazon Croydon Delivery Station Manager.
“This new hub will help us to reduce the number of vehicles on the roads around Croydon while also bringing more electric powered deliveries to our customers in South London.”
Studenac
Studenac, Croatia’s largest retailer by number of stores, has deployed a series of digital tools that use data to improve margins, streamline the supply chain and enable better, faster decisions on where to build new outlets.
The Location Analysis Tool (LAT), the flagship project from the Studenac Digital Centre of Excellence, helps managers select new store locations based on data including demographics, transportation links and the presence of competitors in any given geographical area.
The LAT uses algorithms to help select high potential locations, streamlining the investment committee’s decision-making process and accelerating the pace at which new stores can be approved and opened.
The company sees room to open as many as 2,500 new outlets across Croatia using this format.
Studenac has tripled its store network to more than 1,200 since it was acquired five years ago by Central European private equity fund Enterprise Investors. It plans to add 120 organically this year and speed up the pace in 2024 and beyond.
M&S
Marks & Spencer has donated 70 million meals to local charities with food redistribution partner Neighbourly.
Since the launch of the partnership in 2015, M&S has been working with Neighbourly to redistribute surplus food from store, which is too good to waste, to more than 3,000 local charities and community organisations.
To date, the tie up has supported over 4.5 million individuals, with meal donations supporting families in need, young people and those with disabilities. It has prevented over 30,000 tonnes of good quality food from going to waste.
This contributes to M&S’ ‘target of 100% of edible surplus food to be redistributed by 2025, as part of its ‘Plan A’ roadmap to net zero.
Alex Freudmann, Managing Director at M&S Food, comments: “Doing the right thing for the people and communities we serve has always been important to M&S, and that’s one of the reasons we launched our partnership with Neighbourly back in 2015.”
“I’m delighted that we have surpassed the milestone of 70 million meals donated because its enabled us not only to tackle food waste in our stores but also ensure our delicious food, which is too good to waste, can support those in need when they need it most. I want to thank our incredible store colleagues for their ongoing efforts to make this partnership such a success.”
Doing the right thing for the people & communities we serve has always been important to M&S. We’ve donated 70 million meals in surplus food to over 3,000 local charities & community organisations through our long-standing partner @nbrly.
Find out more 👉 https://t.co/YY3WjTaRsS pic.twitter.com/vcNuYPLgIt— M&S News (@MandSnews) December 12, 2023
Carrefour Belgium
Carrefour Belgium has this week opened its smallest store in Belgium, measuring just 18 sqm.
Carrefour BuyBye is located at the retailer’s Belgian headquarters in Zaventem (near Brussels).
The autonomous store consists of a series of refrigerated vending machines where customers can purchase lunch, snacks, cold drinks and fruit.
Shoppers need to download the Carrefour Buybye app, create an account and add a payment method before they can use the app to open the machines, take out products and check-out.
Initially, this will be open Monday to Friday from 7am to 10pm to start with, but from January it will be available seven days a week.
It is the result of a collaboration with startup Reckon AI, which specialises in micro-stores equipped with artificial intelligence. Plans are afoot to roll-out the concept to Carrefour Belgium’s existing physical stores.
Armani Group
ON has announced a strategic partnership with the Armani Group.
Following a launch with AX Armani Exchange, Armani Exchange – Canada, Armani Exchange – UK, Emporio Armani and EA7 Emporio Armani.
In the first six months after implementing the ON platform, A
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