The Retail Technology Show – ReThink ReCap

28th April 22

Simon and Sue have just returned from the Retail Technology Show – the flagship event that brings together Europe’s most forward-thinking retailers and leading tech innovators. Thousands of senior retail professionals attended the show which was held over two days at London’s Olympia on 26th and 27th April.

It was the first time many retailers were able to meet face-to-face at a large event. It was great to be part of the show and see retailers out in force looking at the latest solutions for their business challenges. It was so good, we have already booked our stand for 2023!

We caught up with many of the retailers we work with – it is always great to hear about the operational changes and improvements they are making as a result of the ReThink studies and insights. Making changes can be difficult when there are so many operational priorities to juggle, so we love to hear how our work has helped support and shape the changes they are delivering

Our highlights of the show (apart from our own ReTime apps) that are going to be crucial in supporting retailers in this world of rising costs, labour shortages and general uncertainty, were:

VoCoVo

VoCoVo offers headsets that help teams in large stores work efficiently and reduce walking time instore. With VoCoVo, your team can receive calls, handle customer queries and communicate securely – all from one device.

We love the way the VoCoVo team is driving innovation in this area and looking at going beyond the current use of headsets to integrate with task management systems and enable remote authorisation of self-checkout transactions of age-restricted items, for example.

Scandit

Scandit bypass the use of handheld terminals to let colleagues use their own devices to scan from barcodes, text and IDs. A different way to access digital process efficiencies in price checking, stock management, click and collect order retrieval and more.

It was the first time we have seen the product live and appreciate how it could be a useful solution for some retailers.

Herbert

Herbert – Electronic Shelf Edge Labels (ESEL). Implement price changes at the touch of a computer button at head office, with the ability to change product and promotional information too.

In our view, a game-changer from a labour saving and promotional integrity and participation point of view. Plus lots of other benefits around the core business case.

Just Walk Out

Just Walk Out – this technology allows shoppers to enter a store, grab what they want and get going. Other retailers can use this technology which was developed by Amazon and is used in the Amazon Go stores.

The cost of ownership is currently high but is expected to drop as the tech evolves and is used by more retailers.

Conversations over the two days at the show centred around building and developing a business case. Typical questions were:

• “How do I know how many hours this new tech will save?”
• “Is the return on investment real?”
• “The business case seems high in terms of labour savings – can you help me quantify this?”
• “Resource levels feel tight in stores currently due to sickness and vacancies – can we really take any more hours out?”
• “I don’t have a current understanding of productivity measurement/metrics in my business – where do I start?”

You don’t have to wait until next year’s Retail Technology Show to speak with us. If you’d like a conversation about boosting the productivity of your stores, call Simon on 07983 427670 or contact us on our website.