Annette Böhm

For the 16th time, EHI Retail Institute this week announced the winners of the Retail Technology Awards Reta. The eight-member international jury of the award includes Retail Optimiser editors Björn Weber and Joachim Pinhammer as well as the publisher of the British trade magazine Retail Technology, Miya Knights.

SES Imagotag plans to acquire French start-up In-the-Memory, founded by former Emnos directors Maxime Brunet and Alexis Mau. Both companies recently signed a letter of intent. With this move, SES Imagotag is sharpening its expertise in data management and analytics of in-store data.

Retail company Georg Jos. Kaes has opened its first V-mini store without staffed checkouts in Kaufbeuren. For this purpose, DRS AG has further developed its POS software solution to be used on self-checkouts, which can also be used as attended checkouts if required. The hardware concept of the checkout comes from Wanzl.

Norwegian DIY retailer Maxbo has signed a contract with StrongPoint to roll out Electronic Shelf Price Labels (ESLs) from Pricer across its stores. The DIY retailer, which is part of Løvenskiold Handel, will start the installation in the first quarter of 2023 and plans to have it completed by the end of 2024.

This week, Edeka Südwest opened a combination of its Italophile deli concept Sapori d'Italia with a fully automated 24/7 store in Offenburg. Knapp robotics picks everyday items in the back of the vending area and makes them available to customers at a counter.

Polish convenience store leader Żabka is rapidly pushing ahead with the expansion of cashierless stores. While large retail chains such as Aldi Nord and Süd, Carrefour, Edeka's Netto, Tesco and Rewe are testing checkout-free stores at individual locations in Europe, Żabka Group has already opened fifty stores of its AI-based banner line Żabka Nono in Poland.

Coupons are a proven marketing tool for grocery retailers to boost sales and retain customers. But they are still far from being a sure bet. Swiss Coop shows how it can be done profitably: through intelligent personalisation of offers. Through several touchpoints, the Swiss-based retailer provides an online shop adapted to the personal interests of their customers and personalises the…

dm Drogeriemarkt is currently testing self-checkouts from Pan Oston in four selected stores in Germany. At the self-checkouts, customers can only pay with credit or giro cards. The Karlsruhe-based company confirmed to Retail Optimser that around 100 more dm stores in Germany will also be equipped with self-checkouts this summer.

Tegut has launched its new smartphone-based loyalty programme Tebonus this week. It replaces the regional grocery company's previous customer card Gute Karte. In the new loyalty app, customers can choose which products they want to score the most points with, thus providing the grocery retailer with valuable insights for shaping its assortment.

In the converted ServiceStore DB of Swiss retailer Valora at Düsseldorf's central station, customers can now shop around the clock, seven days a week. During normal business hours, staff from the retail company are present during the day, while the store runs completely autonomously at night. During times without staff presence, shoppers gain access to the hybrid store via the…