Carrefour

The grocery retail industry sees an massive increase in number of companies offering self-scanning with mobile devices. According to a study by Retail Banking Research (RBR), retailers already offer their customers in 32,000 sales outlets worldwide to scan items as they shop. In 80 percent of those stores, shoppers can scan with their own smartphones.

The consolidation on the market of Product Information Management (PIM) solution providers goes on. After Salsify acquired Alkemics with effect of last week, Syndigo now takes over Riversand. Syndigo is – as its competitor Salsify – a registered data pool of the Global Data Synchronisation Network (GDSN) in the US.

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).

Dutch start-up Wundermart is equipping its unattended convenience stores with computer vision technology from AiFi. The AI-based solution Oasis from the US specialist enables customers to shop without the need to scan the goods.

Tests in some stores and even framework agreements with technology suppliers are not yet proof that electronic labels will soon be seen in all stores. Retailers will only achieve a rapid ROI if they use the labels to react more dynamically to market developments with intelligent price optimisation solutions, to optimise in-store processes or to offer customers significant additional benefits.

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.