Including Boden, adidas, and MediaMarktSaturn: last week’s biggest retail technology plays at a glance

RTIH rounds up the stand out retail systems deals, launches, deployments and pilots from the past seven days. Including First Insight, Amazon Buy with Prime, Ikea, Sparkfly, HEYTEA, Petbarn, Yogurtland, NCR Voyix, Officeworks, Australian Venue Co., Walmart, and RELEX Solutions.

Walmart

Helios Artificial Intelligence, a specialist in supply chain resilience for the agri-food industry, has been named a winner of Walmart's 11th Annual Open Call and has signed a deal to provide its climate risk and price forecasting software for the US retail giant.

“Walmart is leading the way when it comes to leveraging artificial intelligence to strengthen its supply chain,” says Francisco Martin-Rayo, Co-founder and CEO at Helios. “Our winning the open call is not only a great testament to our technology, but also proof that there are urgent needs from procurement teams to climate proof their supply chains - especially those at the most globalised levels."

AVC

Hospitality operator Australian Venue Co. (AVC) has announced three new technology partnerships to enhance the operations and commercial capabilities of its retail media network, AVC experience+.

With 15 million consumers visiting its 238 venues annually and access to an additional six million first-party customer profiles, brands can leverage AVC Experience+ to deliver highly targeted, data driven campaigns that engage audiences both in-venue and across digital channels with unmatched precision.

AVC has partnered with Zitcha, Mercato, and Perion (formerly Hivestack) to unify and digitise key aspects of its retail media operation.

It has engaged Zitcha as its technology partner to streamline and unify off-site inventory management, planning, buying, and campaign operations. This will enable a self-service model, making it easier for advertisers to activate and manage campaigns efficiently.

Mercato has been selected as the exclusive provider of in-venue bar screens and is undertaking a nationwide rollout of screens, set to be completed by the end of February.

With its programmatic capabilities, Perion will unlock additional commercial opportunities by connecting AVCs in-venue screens to broader digital ecosystems. This integration provides access to more advertisers looking to engage audiences in in a hyperlocal, social environment, and allows advertisers to reach and track audiences through the entire consumer journey. 

“The addition of these partners marks a pivotal step forward for AVC experience+, transforming it into a fully digitised, self-service retail media network that guarantees a great experience for both our advertising partners and patrons,” says Uno de Waal, Head of Retail Media at AVC. “Our advertisers can now plan and execute campaigns more effectively, tapping into both our in-venue customers and online audiences with unmatched precision.”

Officeworks

Officeworks is expanding its retail media offering with the addition of digital screens in 170 of its stores in Australia.

The roll-out follows a trial in key stores and builds on an offering which offers the opportunity for partners to access a range of owned and paid media advertising. Officeworks’ screen network will display a combination of branded and supplier content on new digital screens positioned throughout the store.

Officeworks General Manager of Customer and Online Jessica Richmond says: “Reflecting our commitment to making bigger things happen, this evolution of our retail media network will provide our customers with an improved in-store experience and give brand partners the opportunity to connect with them at scale. We’ve seen a strong response from supplier to our current retail media offering so we're excited to now give them and new brand partners access to digital screens across our store network nationally."

reo, powered by oOh!media will deliver and manage the in-store screen network, including hardware, software and services, under a multi-year agreement. 

Boden

Boden, a UK-based online apparel retailer, is leveraging First Insight’s AI powered decision intelligence to integrate real-time consumer demand signals into product, merchandising, and pricing strategies.

Through an expanded partnership with the company, Boden says it is ensuring that every design, pricing, and inventory decision is aligned with what consumers actually want, not just what past sales data suggests. Following an initial engagement, it is now deploying First Insight’s predictive analytics and proprietary Value Score across womenswear, swimwear, accessories, and childrenswear.

"Boden has always been about delivering fashion our customers love - bold, joyful designs that make them feel great," said Katherine Danneberg Mattey, Chief Commercial Officer at Boden. "But getting it right every time isn’t easy. First Insight’s AI helps us truly think like our customers, ensuring every product, every price, and every decision aligns with what they really want. This partnership is helping us move faster, bet bigger on winners, and stay true to what makes us special."

Amazon and adidas

Amazon reports that its Buy with Prime service, a direct-to-customer (DTC) offering, will soon include adidas.

Starting this Spring, shoppers can discover Prime eligible items on adidas.com and the adidas app and add them to their cart as usual.

During checkout, they will see an option to log into their Amazon account and verify their Prime membership.

Once confirmed, they’ll finish checkout using one of adidas' various payment options. After the purchase is made, Amazon fulfills all Prime eligible items in the order. Post-purchase, Prime members can view, manage, and track their Buy with Prime orders from their Amazon account on Amazon.com, or their adidas order confirmation email.

“Expanding Buy with Prime to adidas.com and the adidas app is like lacing up a fresh pair of sneakers, it just feels right,” says Peter Larsen, Vice President of Buy with Prime and Amazon Multi-Channel Fulfillment. “We’re excited to give Prime members the added convenience of using the shopping benefits they already know and love on adidas.com and the adidas app.”

Ikea

Ikea has announced several new features on its mobile app. It says that the enhancements will create a more seamless, personalised, and inspiring shopping journey.

The Ikea Kreativ 3D experience aims to take the guesswork out of buying furniture by previewing items in a space or rotating them in 3D to see all angles.

Other new tools include:

Customers can scan and shop as they move through the store, skipping queues and enjoying more time for a post-shopping coffee.

The mobile wallet feature enables faster, more secure transactions.

Orders, updates, cancellations and returns can be managed in one place, streamlining the process and saving time.

People can enjoy shorter waiting times when ordering at the Ikea restaurant and bistro though the app.

They can now view their local store page, check quieter times, and access exclusive local offers.

Customers can now get notified when cool stuff is happening at an Ikea store nearby. They will get the latest information on events, offers, new collections and back in-store notifications.

All purchase details, including receipts and order history, are stored in the app for easy access.

Sparkfly

Sparkfly reports that it onboarded 12 new enterprise customers in 2024, expanding its portfolio to over 100 brands across more than 18,000 locations.

New customers include Costa Vida, Piada, Cici’s Pizza, Fogo de Chão, California Fish Grill, bartaco, Benihana, Tex’s Chicken & Burgers, Miller’s Ale House, Eggs Up Grill, and Flanigan’s.

“Now more than ever, consumers are demanding greater value from their retail, QSR, and other food service experiences - and our growth is reflective of the trust our customers have in our ability to enhance those experiences and drive revenue,” says Catherine Tabor, Founder and CEO at Sparkfly.

“We are committed to transparency, partnerships, innovation, and customer success, driven by our focus on establishing meaningful relationships, improving and expanding our integrated partner network, and enhancing our platform capabilities. All centred around our core competencies – Offer Management, Loyalty, Digital Wallet, and Middleware integrations – ensuring we deliver the scalable and feature rich experiences our customers demand to maintain a competitive advantage.”

MediaMarktSaturn

MediaMarktSaturn is integrating parcel shops in almost all 400 Media Markt and Saturn markets in Germany.

After a pilot project in around 50 markets, customers can now pick up and send parcels from DPD Germany and GLS Germany. In February, 30 more stores will be equipped.

"For us, close cooperation with retailers is an essential part of our journey to more parcel drop-off and acceptance points and thus more convenience for senders and recipients. As a leading electronics retailer with a strong brand, extensive market network and high customer frequency, MediaMarktSaturn is an extremely attractive partner," says Jens Haberecht, Group Manager Parcelshop at DPD Germany.

HEYTEA

Checkout.com has announced a partnership with HEYTEA.

Customers can now place orders through the brand's app with the checkout process powered by Checkout.com's technology. By enabling a buy-online-pickup-in-store (BOPIS) model, this integration aims to cut queuing times and enhance convenience.

Founded in 2012 and headquartered in Shenzhen, HEYTEA is known for its signature drinks like cheese cloud tea and fruit tea, which have often become viral on social media platforms. It operates over 4,300 stores and has been expanding its footprint internationally in markets such as the UK, US, Australia, Canada, and Malaysia.

An official spokesperson comments: "Checkout.com's modular technology helps us adapt easily to consumer expectations across diverse markets, providing an exceptional payment experience to our global customers. Their scalable, agile, and fast approach aligns perfectly with our global ambitions.”

The O2 and SumUp

FinTech big hitter SumUp has been appointed the official payment processor for live  entertainment, leisure, and retail destination, The O2. The multi-year deal, brokered by AEG Global Partnerships, covers supply of payment processing on-site (including SumUp’s Point of Sale solutions as well as self-service kiosk) and sponsorship of payment processing across the London venue.

The deal will see it dovetail with American Express, the preferred method of payment at The O2 (Amex customers receive benefits like exclusive concession offers with American Express cards and access to the American Express Lounge).

Located on the Greenwich peninsula across the river from Canary Wharf, The O2 has welcomed over 100 million visitors since opening in 2007, and hosts over 200 events a year from the biggest names in music, sport, comedy and entertainment. It is set to host a UK exclusive residency with Usher, who will be bringing his tour to the venue for ten nights in April, as well as standout shows from the likes of Billie Eilish and Katy Perry.

Petbarn

Petbarn has announced the launch of a retail media network giving brand partners exclusive access to  shoppers through the PetAds platform.

The retailer has partnered with reo, powered by oOh!media on this, and lays claim to the first comprehensive and scalable platform for pet media in Australia.

Leveraging insights from Petbarn’s 2.9 million members of its Friends for Life loyalty programme, brands can deliver targeted and personalised campaigns, while closed-loop reporting offers measurable sales outcomes and visibility on return on advertising spend.

Reo will manage end-to-end service delivery including onsite, off-site and in-store retail media solutions, as well as sales representation with a dedicated team. It will also install and manage Petbarn’s in-store screen network across its chain of stores nationally.

Lucas Barry, Chief Executive Officer, Greencross Pet Wellness Company, says: “We’re always looking for innovative ways to help brands provide closer touchpoints to enhance the Petbarn shopping experience of our 2.9 million loyal customers. PetAds will deliver best-in-class media products, while allowing us to focus on what we do best - caring for pets and delivering on our mission of making the world a happier place through the love of pets.”

EcoVista and Limited Space

EcoVista, a specialist in large format LED and digital signage displays, has partnered with retail media firm Limited Space on an upgrade project at East Kilbride shopping centre, Scotland’s largest undercover shopping and leisure destination. 

The project is part of Limited Space's Orbit network - pitched as the UK’s most extensive large format digital signage network within malls - designed to modernise advertising assets, enhance visual engagement and elevate the shopper experience.

The upgrade includes a combination of digital kiosks and a large format LED display, integrated into the centre’s architecture. To meet sustainability goals, the installation used recycled materials and locally manufactured components.

RELEX Solutions

RELEX Solutions is laying claim to a new approach to category reviews with RELEX Space for Category Management. Built within a cloud native interface, this enables retailers to optimise merchandising plans to deliver the right products at the right time and place.

Automating and optimising planogram updates using artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML), this reduces time-consuming manual processes and enables retailers to reflect current sales trends, customer preferences, and seasonal variations.

RELEX Space for Category Management also fosters cross-functional collaboration, allowing supply chain and merchandising teams to plan and develop the category management strategy, and make decisions seamlessly.  

“Retailers often struggle with the sheer volume of sales, inventory, and customer behaviour data required for effective category management and space planning. Couple that with needing to determine optimal shelf space allocation for each category to maximise sales and profitability, and you have a complex challenge to solve," says Tommi Ylinen, Chief Product Officer at RELEX Solutions.

“Our new capabilities address these challenges through a unified approach, which helps to improve inventory and on-shelf availability through data driven decision-making, while boosting sales and meeting consumer demand.”  

Yogurtland

Yogurtland, a self-serve frozen yogurt specialist with 205 sites across the United States, has chosen NCR Voyix as its PoS provider.

Under the agreement, Yogurtland will deploy Aloha Cloud PoS across its stores, supported by a back of house application and the NCR Voyix commerce platform.

“Yogurtland’s decision to partner with NCR Voyix was driven by our shared vision for delivering stable, intuitive and high growth solutions that meet the evolving need of today’s businesses,” says Benny Tadele, President, Restaurants at NCR Voyix. “With our enterprise grade commerce platform and proven expertise, Yogurtland can streamline operations, enhance the customer journey, and harness data to make smarter and faster business decisions.”

CHEFS CULINAR

German wholesale food distributor, CHEFS CULINAR, has deployed Descartes Systems Group's last mile delivery solution. The route planning technology allows its employees to automate and optimise the route planning associated with deliveries, to support meeting on-time commitments to customers.

This includes optimising regular fixed deliveries for clients, and managing any ad-hoc deliveries that may be required. For CHEFS CULINAR this resulted in a reduction in total mileage and delivery times; improvements in delivery density; and savings in time, fuel and costs associated with deliveries, both from an planning and execution perspective.