Joachim Pinhammer

Walmart is deploying a solution jointly developed by technology providers Knapp and Packsize to ship online orders in exactly right-sized packaging. Thus, deliveries can be handled in a more cost-effective and sustainable way.

Edeka Meyer's Frischecenter in Prisdorf near Hamburg offers customers fast and convenient reverse vending. At the Tomra T1 machine, they can deposit PET bottles and beverage cans in one go, directly from their carrier bag into the large opening of the machine.

Edeka Jäger at Stuttgart Airport allows customers to shop autonomously at night. Shoppers then gain access via a Wanzl card access system and pay cashless at self- checkouts from Diebold Nixdorf running POS software from GK. Owner Florian Jäger explained the project to The Retail Optimiser.

Takko Fashion digitalises its store processes with Apps4brands from Act'o-soft. The application runs on mobile devices from manufacturer Zebra Technologies. The rollout in Germany has been completed, and by the end of the year all international stores should also be equipped with the new solution.

dm Drogeriemarkt provides its own ChatGPT variant called dmGPT for employees at the company headquarters. The Retail Optimiser spoke with Andreas Gessner from dm Tech about the AI chatbot, which runs on dm's infrastructure to ensure data sovereignty. The solution is to be expanded step by step for all company divisions.

Edeka Südbayern has implemented 20 so-called SmartShoppers from start-up company KBST in its E-Center in Penzberg, South of Munich. With this, Edeka Group now has more than 2,000 of the manufacturer's intelligent shopping trolleys in use across Germany.

Aldi Nord allows customers to shop at its cashierless store in the Dutch city of Utrecht without the Shop & Go app.The discounter is testing a new feature from technology partner Trigo that also accepts card payments without app.

Aldi Nord and Süd have completed the Europe-wide introduction of reusable fruit and vegetable containers from Ifco. The recyclable load carriers save logistics costs and packaging waste.

Spanish footwear retailer Merkal will expand its use of Nextail's optimisation platform. The retailer has already been deploying the cloud-based solution for demand planning, allocation, replenishment and stock transfers across its more than 200 shops and online business since September 2001.

Carrefour is piloting smart carts from Israeli manufacturer Cust2mate in Sainte Geneviève des Bois, near Paris. The smart trolley allows customers to shop without scanning and waiting at the checkout.