Amazon

Danish Salling Group is testing digital shopping trolleys from the New Zealand start-up Imagr in five stores of its discount banner operation Netto. The retail company is the first in Europe which uses the solution of this provider. The vision recognition-based identification of the products is linked in real time with shoppers’ smartphones.

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.

In the Upper Franconian village of Pettstadt, Rewe Markt GmbH is piloting Josefs Nahkauf Box, a retail format with around 700 items for daily needs. On an area of 39 square metres, customers can independently scan goods at a self-checkout from 4POS and pay by debit or credit card seven days a week, around the clock.

Sainsbury's has become the first European retailer to rely on Amazon’s Just Walk Out technology. The British supermarket operator opened a cashierless convenience store in London using the competitor's solution.

US-based product master data platform Salsify is taking over its French competitor Alkemics. The companies did not comment on the terms of the takeover. Both offer cloud-based platforms for collaboration between retailers and their suppliers and are each registered as data pools of the Global Data Synchronisation Network (GDSN).

Kroger is testing smart shopping carts from New York start-up Caper. Retailers around the world are increasingly testing computerised shopping carts, from a wide variety of providers.

In partnership with delivery service Inabuggy, McEwan Fine Foods in Toronto, Canada offers customers a virtual shopping experience in 3D.

Whether they like it or not: German grocery retailers cannot avoid e-commerce. Amazon is not letting up. For the likes of Edeka, Rewe and Schwarz Group, it is worth looking at the French market. Through innovative concepts and investments into technology, companies such as Groupe Casino and E.Leclerc are confidently securing their business against Amazon.

North American convenience store operator Circle K plans to transform a Phoenix store into an Amazon Go style just-walk-out shop using technology from Standard Cognition.

The world's first Amazon Fresh supermarket has opened: A short tour provides insights into Amazon's food strategy.