Top Things You Missed IN Retail

Lowe’s Cos. Inc. is centralizing its technology development activities in a new “center of excellence.” The home improvement giant has opened a 357,000-sq.-ft. tech hub in the South End section of Charlotte, N.C., close to light rail and other amenities. The company says the new facility is part of its commitment to becoming the most customer-centric omnichannel retailer.

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Marco’s Pizza has selected Medallia to boost market intelligence through Medallia Market Research. The partnership will help Marco’s Pizza better understand consumer buying behaviors through Medallia's market research platform. “To stay ahead of changing market conditions and rising expectations, brands must understand their customers and act quickly,” said Gabe Benavides, Executive Vice President of Sales, Medallia.

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Southeastern Grocers (SEG) is closely aligning its new proprietary online grocery service with its in-store shopping experience — especially in pricing. SEG said Wednesday that the e-grocery shopping and delivery service, which leverages the DoorDash Drive white-label fulfillment platform from DoorDash, is now live at more than 375 Winn-Dixie and Harveys Supermarket stores in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana and Mississippi.

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When Discount Tire unveiled its Atlanta Pit Pass concept store in early October 2022, it officially completed its transformation from a traditional tire retailer into a strong omnichannel leader in the automotive category. Discount Tire worked with retail experience agency ChangeUp to ideate and execute this new store concept, which gives customers a racetrack pit-crew style experience that puts them in the driver’s seat of the shopping journey.

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The nation's travel centers and truck stops are on the move, with new players joining the industry and existing players expanding and innovating at speeds that rival the highway traffic they cater to. "The industry is currently evolving to meet demand for new fueling technologies, such as electric vehicle charging stations, as well as in-store technologies that enhance speed of service," said Tiffany Wlazlowski Neuman, vice president of public affairs for NATSO, the national association representing the travel plaza and truck stop industry.

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Acrelec, a provider QSR technology, will power a global promotional campaign between Burger King and Activision for the release of "Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II," according to a press release. Burger King will use Acrelec self-service kiosks to redesign restaurants in the style of the videogame, which is now live in over 35 countries.

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Just Eat has launched a new partnership with Five Guys, offering nationwide delivery from almost all of its restaurant sites across the UK. Following a rapid rollout, 137 restaurants across the country are now live on the Just Eat platform, with free delivery on orders over £20.

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PMC Retail is working with the world's largest retailer of diamond jewellery on new digital transformation projects and tripled its release speed in the last year.

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Alliance Healthcare Norway, the largest pharmaceutical wholesaler in Norway and part of the AmerisourceBergen Group, will partner with RELEX Solutions, provider of unified supply chain and retail planning solution. RELEX will automate processes and unify the full-range pharmaceutical wholesaler’s supply chain through improved forecasting, replenishment, and space planning.

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Kohl’s has unveiled a one-of-a-kind “concept” store designed to provide a more localized and modern shopping experience. Located in Tacoma, Wash., the 35,000-sq.-ft. store is much smaller than a traditional Kohl’s, which averages about 80,000 sq. ft. and is “too large” for many small markets, the retailer said.

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The Save Mart Cos. has become the latest grocer to tap Amazon for same-day delivery. Save Mart said yesterday that Save Mart banner stores in Lathrop and Ceres, Calif., now offer two-hour grocery delivery via Amazon. Plans call for Save Mart to soon launch Amazon delivery at more stores in California’s Central Valley.

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Taco John’s has deployed a new, unified commerce platform. Striving to deliver consistent, data-driven experiences across multiple channels, Taco John’s is leveraging Qu’s fully integrated product suite – from POS and kitchen display (KDS), to kiosk, drive-thru, and curbside systems.

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Woodman’s Markets is making it easier for its brand partners to manage in-store, out-of-store and online advertising assets. The grocer is moving its bookings, management and reporting processes online thanks to a partnership with omnichannel retail media platform Brandcrush.

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Discount grocer Aldi U.S. and e-commerce solution provider Spryker Systems have been working together to develop a new online food and grocery shopping experience for the U.S. market, offering grocery delivery or curbside pickup. The new digital commerce platform is currently being tested with a select group of U.S. shoppers and is planned to be rolled out nationally in a phased approach.

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Offering shoppers buy-online-pickup-in-store (BOPIS) may seem like a must-have for any omnichannel retailer today, but what does the implementation process entail? RIS catches up with Bi-Mart’s Patrick O’Connell, director of project development, to find out what challenges and benefits the retailer encountered while implementing BOPIS technologies over nine months.

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Caleres, home to brands like Famous Footwear, Allen Edmonds, Vionic, and Sam Edelman, is rolling out Dayforce Wallet, Ceridian’s on demand pay solution, to more than 9,000 full- and part-time employees in the United States and Canada.

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Grocerist has worked with Little Red Box on its new Shopify powered online store and digital marketing programme.

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Retailer MAPCO is investing in digital signage for its new-to-industry convenience stores. The Franklin, Tenn.-based chain has partnered with GSP to provide equipment and manage digital sign content at the new stores as they come on-line.

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Tesco has announced an expansion of its GetGo autonomous stores trial, with Chiswell Street Express open from today in central London.

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One of the largest home improvement stores in the US has partnered with Pointr, a mapping and geolocation leader, to provide a digital mapping experience inside their mobile app. This is the largest ever deployment of its kind to enable Store Mode experiences that allow shoppers to interact with the store.

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Walgreens is leveraging artificial intelligence (AI) in both internal- and external-facing areas of its enterprise operations. Chain Store Age recently spoke with Yael Gomez, VP, Global IT, Integration and Intelligent Automation at Walgreens, about how the drugstore giant has been using the Digitate AIOps solution to streamline both vaccine scheduling for customers and managing tech support tickets from its IT department.

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Abercrombie & Fitch and Walgreens are both continuing to enhance their last mile options with new initiatives — alternative pickup locations and guaranteed 30-minute pickup windows, respectively. Abercrombie’s new pickup locations will include select Walgreens stores, as well as FedEx and Office Depot locations, adding approximately 12,000 options nationwide.

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New Zealand supermarket chain Countdown has launched an augmented reality campaign, Countdown Bricks Farm.

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M&S has announced an expansion to its Insider programme with the arrival of five new Insiders – one of which is a virtual persona named Mira (aka Marks & Spencer, Influencer, Reality, Augmented).

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Host Hotels & Resorts, the owners of the Marriott Marquis in Times Square, New York City, has partnered with LG Fulfillment (powered by MDM Commercial) for a digital signage makeover, according to a press release and installation case study, highlighting the growth of digital signage in the hotel sector.

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NASCAR is to open its first concession using Amazon’s Just Walk Out technology and Amazon One offering during NASCAR Championship Weekend.

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Zebra Technologies Corporation today announced that Shoe Sensation simplified store operations, optimized labor forecasting and improved scheduling with Zebra’s Reflexis software solutions. The Reflexis software suite supports Shoe Sensation’s retail transformation initiatives focused on getting the right store associates in the right place at the right time.

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Thorntons and ampm convenience stores selected retail services provider GSP to provide point-of-purchase support to more than 1,350 locations. GSP will provide store-specific kits directly to Thorntons, ampm and ARCO locations from a multiplant network. The kits are designed to support large national marketing programs, the company said.

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With NetSuite, Tropic handles over 100 million transactions a year. It has enabled the company to gain a single view across its business and become more productive by automating finance, supply chain, and inventory management processes.

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Amazon has undertaken an initiative to make its workplaces more accessible and inclusive for its employees who are deaf and hard of hearing. The company has installed sign language video stations in its operations centers in North America and Europe. The screens show a rotating series of videos about sign language topics and words. The video content is designed to help employees learn the basics of sign language for their region and improve communication with their colleagues who are deaf and hard of hearing.

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Amazon intends to achieve a historic first with a same-day fulfillment center in Sacramento, Calif. The e-tail giant is working to make the facility, known as SCA5, the world’s first-ever Zero Carbon Certified fulfillment center or logistics facility by the International Living Future Institute (ILFI).

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Boot Barn is kicking up its volume of e-commerce shipments. The specialty Western wear retailer is implementing custom automation solutions from Packsize and Industrial Procurement Services to transform its boot storage system, save and reallocate labor, and improve throughput. Utilizing multiple packaging platforms from Packsize, Boot Barn now has the capacity to move 1,000 packages every hour from its Wichita, Kan. distribution center.

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Choice Market has unveiled a new format. The Denver-based retailer has opened a location in its new, small-sized (less than 2,000 sq. ft.) “mini-mart” format at The University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus in Denver. Open round the clock, 365 days per year, the new Choice leverages artificial intelligence and vision systems to checkout customers without a cashier.

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Mars, Inc. is launching a loyalty experience, giving consumers a way to earn rewards every time they purchase eligible Mars products. The company has partnered with loyalty platform Fetch, which works directly with CPG brands to reward consumers via a consolidated, streamlined app.

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Labor shortages and economic uncertainty have made managing out-of-stocks an important challenge for grocers to consider. Out-of-stocks are costing North American food retailers 5.9% of their total retail sales—better than their global peers, but still leaving billions of dollars on the table, according to IHL Group’s Grocery Out-of-Stocks—Big Problems, Key Solutions.

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Internet of Things (IoT) sensing technology automates compliance with regulations regarding environmentally sensitive products. Chain Store Age recently spoke with Summer Kerley, VP of clinical services and business development for Rite Aid Corp., and Victor Vercammen, VP of risk and chief compliance officer of Giant Eagle Inc., about the benefits that IoT sensing solutions can provide pharmacy and grocery retailers.

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Independent fuel distributor Sunoco LP is working with Carat from Fiserv to optimize its commerce model and unify consumer experiences at the convenience stores, independent dealers and retail locations Sunoco serves across the country.

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ChargeNet Stations in partnership with Taco Bell franchisee Diversified Restaurant Group (DRG), opened its first ultra-fast charging stations at a South San Francisco Taco Bell earlier this month. ChargeNet Stations is using its innovative software technology, pairing solar energy and energy storage with Tritium’s fast EV chargers at quick-serve restaurants across California.

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Walmart is adding even more enhancements to its digital shopping experiences ahead of the busy holiday season. Following a set of improvements announced this past month, Walmart is now also investing in new capabilities such as augmented reality (AR), Buy Now, and a virtual shopping queue.

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Asian food delivery platform, HungryPanda, has announced a partnership with Ant Group’s Alipay+ offering.

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Brooks has selected Illumio Core to reduce its risk from cyberattacks like ransomware. “Illumio is a strategic technology in our work to protect the business against ransomware, which is a top priority not only for my team, but the company overall. Ransomware attacks can have a major impact on retail brands – they can limit our availability, halt operations, and damage our trust with customers.” says Ryan Fried, Senior Security Engineer at Brooks.

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ExxonMobil and Uber entered a multiyear partnership to give back to drivers filling up at Exxon and Mobil locations. With the new Uber Pro Card, Uber drivers and couriers who fill up at any of the 12,000 Exxon and Mobil stations in the United States will get 3 percent cash back from Exxon in addition to Uber Pro Card’s 2 percent to 6 percent cash back offering. The card's offering depends on driver status.

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Just Eat and Lincolnshire Co-Op in the UK have partnered to offer on-demand grocery delivery.

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Interface Systems today announced that MOD Pizza has chosen Interface to implement a comprehensive upgrade of physical security infrastructure for more than 420 of its company-owned restaurants. By consolidating physical security operations with Interface, MOD Pizza has improved security while reducing false alarm costs by over 95% and monthly subscription costs by over 15%.

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Office Depot is enabling an uninterrupted flow of real-time data across its enterprise. The specialty office products retailer, a subsidiary of The ODP Corp., is partnering with real-time data connectivity and integration solutions CData to modernize its data infrastructure in the cloud without eliminating its existing analytics processes.

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Saks and TerraCycle have unveiled the Saks Beauty Recycling program. The new program introduces a new, convenient solution for customers to give empty beauty containers a second life through Saks.com and at Saks Fifth Avenue stores across the U.S.

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Unilever will have 95% of its business operations in the cloud by the end of this year, according to CEO Alan Jope, who pointed to the accomplishment as an example of early progress within its new organizational structure.

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United Natural Foods, Inc. (NYSE: UNFI) (“UNFI”) today announced a new agreement with Cornerstone for Natural to bring their Smart Shelf Tag program to UNFI’s suppliers and retailers. Smart Shelf Tags contain ELi QR Codes, an enhanced, more secure version of a QR code, which can be scanned to provide shoppers with additional product information and rich digital content on their mobile phones without requiring an app. Smart Shelf Tags are an innovative and versatile program for suppliers and retailers to engage and educate consumers while they’re shopping in-store.

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Walmart is offering new functionality on its e-commerce site as the holiday peak approaches. The discount giant is providing an in-house-developed virtual queuing experience that is designed to keep customers’ places in line for the highest-demand items during its Black Friday events.

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