Joachim Pinhammer

Rewe is the first German grocery retail company sending leaflets via WhatsApp. Nationwide, customers can receive special offers of their favourite Rewe store every Sunday via the messenger. Meta business partner 360dialog has delivered the technical implementation.

The market for self-checkout systems is growing by 11 percent worldwide, according to market research company RBR. Biggest growth driver is the Asia-Pacific region. NCR remains the undisputed market leader, but Chinese vendors are catching up.

Spar International signs partnership agreement with VisionR. The Irish start-up is to bring its AI-based customer insights solution to Spar retailers in 48 countries.

Family Mart is equipping 300 stores with Telexistence robots to restock refrigerated shelves with drinks. This is expected to reduce workload by 20 percent.

Aldi Nord is testing two innovative reverse vending systems from Norwegian specialist Tomra. Its system R1 allows customers to put up to 100 PET bottles or cans into the device at once. In the checkout-free Shop & Go store in Utrecht, the discounter is testing direct transfer of the deposit amount into the Aldi app.

Tesco will soon open a second store with Trigo EasyOut technology in London. The shop in Chiswell Street will follow a hybrid concept. Customers will be able to pay at self-checkout as an alternative.

Sephora will rely on Competera Software for the optimisation of its pricing. The perfumery operator is initially implementing the pricing solution in nine countries. This is the prelude to a comprehensive realignment of the company's IT infrastructure.

Amazon announced an improved version of its smart shopping trolley Dash Cart. The new generation holds more items, is lighter and can also be used outdoors. It has first been introduced at a Whole Foods store in Westford, Massachusetts.

As part of a pilot project, Rewe Group in Germany offers shoppers extended information on origin and production stages for selected products of its Rewe Bio private label range. The company is using the F-Trace platform from GS1 Germany for this purpose.

Co-op UK is testing automatic age verification at SCOs in five stores in Manchester. Technology from Diebold Nixdorf and Yoti is expected to increase self-checkout speed and reduce staff intervention.