The atmosphere was excellent last night at Dr Thompson’s Seifenfabrik in Düsseldorf: Top IT managers from Edeka Group, Tegut, Rewe Group, Schwarz Group, Douglas, Benetton and many more had every reason to celebrate with their technology providers. Yesterday, EHI Retail Institute honoured the winners of the Retail Technology Awards Reta for the 17th time as part of Eurocis 2024. The eight-member international jury for the award includes The Retail Optimiser editors Björn Weber and Joachim Pinhammer as well as the editor of the British magazine Retail Technology, Miya Knights.
Eintracht Frankfurt with Payfree
Eintracht Frankfurt has opened the German Bundesliga’s first cashierless fan shop in 2022. In the 30 square metre store, which is open on home match days in the immediate vicinity of the stadium, fans can pay quickly and contactlessly by card or smartphone. The RFID-tagged fan merchandise is simply swiped through a U-shaped scanner.
Edeka’s Netto with Wanzl
Shopping trolleys at Edeka’s Netto in the Bavarian towns of Burglengenfeld and Sünching can be unlocked either with a coin as a deposit using an app and NFC technology as before. The Retail Optimiser reported. The Hybridloc electronic deposit lock is integrated into Wanzl’s EvoGrip handle system.
Tegut with Autonomo and Snabble
Tegut has taken its unmanned Teo mini-store concept to a new level on the grounds of TU Darmstadt. With Autonomo, the Fulda-based grocery retailer is trialling scanless Grab & Go technology on the existing Snabble platform for the first time. Tegut was also the first company in Germany to introduce Tap & Go at Teo: it offers the same seamless shopping experience without the need for an app to enter the store.
Rewe Group with Flip
Rewe Group has introduced an app for its employees that enables direct communication between store staff as well as managers, their teams and the head offices throughout Germany. This improves the retailer’s multi-shift operations in particular. In addition, the app offers Rewe employees access to news and information, a learning platform and digital shift schedules.
Schwarz IT with Things Board
With the IoT Schwarz platform, Schwarz Group is tackling the complexity of the variety of technical equipment in food retail outlets. Schwarz IT relies on the Things Board platform from the provider of the same name, which standardises technologies and use cases in over 13,000 stores in 32 countries. This gives each store customised and authorised access to its data.
Würth with an in-house development
Würth has developed the voice and chat assistant Pico, which speeds up important sales processes. The digital assistant processes user enquiries in real time and provides information and documents via voice or chat. Pico is therefore able to take over simple, repetitive tasks for field and office staff – around the clock.
Douglas with Komsa Services and Samsung
With the introduction of smartphones as all-in-one devices, Douglas enables its employees to carry out a variety of store processes flexibly. They do not have to leave the sales floor a single time. The devices simplify the internal organisation in the stores and create a seamless 360-degree customer experience.
E-Center Warnow with Captana
E-Center Warnow Park, northern Germany’s largest Edeka store, has introduced Captana’s shelf-edge camera solution to increase operational efficiency. Independent Edeka retailer Stephan Cunäus has increased shelf availability at E-Center Warnow Park in Rostock by three per cent with the help of VusionGroup subsidiary Captana. The Retail Optimiser reported. In combination with cameras and electronic shelf labels (ESLs), the system provides the required transparency across part of the e-centre’s range of around 110,000 SKUs. Captana also helps the retailer to optimise processes and staff deployment and increase customer satisfaction.
Leroy Merlin with Hanshow
Leroy Merlin aims to bridge the gap between the digital and physical worlds to make it easier for customers to navigate and find products in its DIY stores. In addition to installing state-of-the-art electronic tags, Leroy Merlin implemented features such as up-to-date pricing information linked to the e-commerce website and customer reviews to better support shoppers.
Benetton with Cegid
Fashion company Benetton has implemented Cegid Retail’s cloud-native POS and unified commerce platform to create a seamless omnichannel shopping experience. Benetton is using the solution globally to unify sales channels, optimise inventory and personalise interaction with the brand.
Edeka Südwest with Liquam, Avenit, Blackforestbytes and Maexware Solutions
Edeka Südwest has developed a shop ecosystem that covers various multichannel e-commerce activities for independent retailers. The system includes click & collect, delivery to end consumers, 24/7 stores and a drive-in. The aim is to streamline processes and ensure flexibility and efficiency across various e-commerce models for independent Edeka retailers.
Markant with Adesso
Markant has created a European B2B platform with which numerous processes between upstream suppliers, the consumer goods industry and retailers along the value chain can be bundled, centrally regulated and optimally managed. The platform offers a standardised user interface. Platform partners can also offer their own services on the platform and thereby generate revenue.
Colruyt with Colruyt Group Smart Technics
Colruyt has introduced an AI-based checkout system at its Lowest Prices store in Halle, Belgium, which can automatically scan products as employees move them from one shopping trolley to another. The Retail Optimiser reported. The system is claimed to increase the efficiency of the checkout process by up to a fifth. It consists of a camera and two large LED lights installed above the checkout area. Cameras automatically recognise 85 percent of the goods. Fruit and vegetables cannot be captured by the system.
dm Drogeriemarkt and dm Tech with Ubica Robotics
The autonomous shelf-scanning robots from Ubica Robotics use cameras and sensors as well as classic and AI-based image processing algorithms to create comprehensive digital twins of dm stores. Gaps in shelf availability are recognised automatically and the need for manual stock checks is reduced. The data collected is continuously analysed to improve shelf replenishment, optimise stock management and offer customers a better shopping experience.
Kaufland with BSS Bohnenberg
Kaufland has introduced an automatic picking system that depalletises boxes from pallets in a semi-automatic process. The system relieves employees by pulling and pushing instead of lifting to move the boxes. Introducing the system makes retail workstations significantly more ergonomic. The solution ensures an optimised pallet structure and reduces downtime due to breakage or spoilage to a minimum.
