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 Flying Tiger Copenhagen, Asos, Walmart, The Very Group, Instacart, Schnuck Markets, 7-Eleven, John Lewis, Deliveroo, and B&Q.
1. Danish retailer Flying Tiger Copenhagen expands use of Xiatech Xfuze retail technology platform
Flying Tiger Copenhagen has renewed its partnership with Xiatech, the company behind Xfuze, a MACH certified composable integration and data management platform.
The Danish retailer, which operates 900+ stores around the world, will expand its use of Xfuze as part of a digital transformation push
This includes expansion across its network of franchise and owned stores, boosting the way the company uses data, and embedding AI driven analytics and process orchestration throughout the organisation.
The multi-year contract follows four years of a partnership when Flying Tiger Copenhagen selected Xiatech to accelerate the company’s integration and data centric digital transformation programme.
“Xiatech has strengthened our technology foundation substantially, and they will continue to do so as Flying Tiger Copenhagen’s strategic integration partner. We look forward to continuing our successful partnership for years to come,” says Martin Jermiin, CEO, Flying Tiger Copenhagen.
2. Virtual dorm rooms: Emperia powered Walmart Realm experience reinvents back to college shopping
Walmart Realm, Walmart’s immersive commerce experience, is enabling college students to explore and shop five virtual dorm rooms inspired by social trends and curated by their favourite creators.
These trends, inspired by Pinterest Predicts and TikTok, include:
Sanrio curated by @jellybean.celine – a fantastical cotton candy and rainbow escape
Serene Retreat curated by @studymoofin – a cozy and comfortable soft living oasis
Royal curated by @trinityanitahh – serving smart and eclectic with a preppy, regal twist
Y2K curated by @thebeekid – a throwback to trends and products from the early 2000s
LoFi curated by @august (NPC RA) – a gamer’s paradise inspired by neon lights and arcades
Each dorm also includes a mini game, such as Byte-sized Crush in Y2K, surprises, like transporting inside a doll house in Royal, and native social content from the aforementioned creators, including @jellybelly.celine highlighting her curated products in Sanrio.
College students can also find and take advantage of a limited time Walmart+ student offer.
3. Instacart achieves Carrot Tags first as electronic shelf label software launches chainwide at Schnuck Markets
Grocery technology firm, Instacart, and Schnuck Markets, report that the former’s Carrot Tags offering is rolling out chainwide.
Carrot Tags is a software solution that integrates into a retailer’s electronic shelf labels (ESL) hardware to enable incremental functionality, including pick to light capabilities.
Schnucks will be using this across most of its stores allowing Instacart shoppers to activate items from their picking list within the firm’s shopper app for easier and more accurate order fulfilment.
Schnucks first began using Instacart’s Carrot Tags’ pick to light functionality in 2023, and says that it quickly saw success across its pilot stores.
“As our first retail partner to introduce Carrot Tags’ pick to light functionality chainwide, we’re incredibly excited by the telling results of our partnership. Because Schnucks is using pick to light, we’re seeing an increase in found rates, which in turn provides higher order quality and customer satisfaction,” says David McIntosh, VP and GM of Connected Stores at Instacart.
“Schnucks has long served as a leading-edge partner for Instacart, especially when it comes to adopting our Connected Stores technologies like Caper Carts and Eversight. We look forward to building the future of grocery alongside Schnucks for years to come.”