Summer 2022 will feature sweltering temperatures and retail innovations in robotics, cloud and fresh technologies.
As always, summer comes and goes enough to make some of us blue. But summer always brings fond memories, and this year includes several noteworthy retail tech implementations.
Here’s how retailers are making waves in the summer of 2022 in robotics, cloud computing, and product freshness automation.
A new definition of “robot shop”
Robotics is retail itself is not a new trend, but in the summer of 2022, a quick service retailer is using robotic automation in a very novel way, Mezli, a fully autonomous Robot Restaurant It resembles a large refrigerated container and opened at the Spark Social food park in San Francisco in August. The high-tech restaurant is described by its founders as “the first of its kind in the world”.
While other automated restaurants have opened in San Francisco and other select locations, Mezli is the first to serve customers customizable hot dishes — without the need for on-site staff, according to its founders. (Staff load pre-prepared ingredients to the site once a day.)
The company says this automated approach can significantly reduce labor costs, which will allow Mezli to offer its menu of Mediterranean grain bowls, side dishes and beverages at significantly lower prices than comparable fast-casual restaurants. In addition to off-the-shelf bowl products, customers using the touchscreen can assemble their own bowls using available ingredients, creating approximately 64,800 possible combinations.
Show Backbone – In the Cloud
In June, global fast fashion retailer H&M Group opened Partner with Google Cloud Leverage the platform’s data analytics capabilities and global enterprises to strive to improve their customer experience and supply chain operations.
This cloud-based enterprise data backbone will include core data platforms, data products, and advanced artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) capabilities. H&M also plans to build a new data grid that will make all types of data and events more easily accessible from multiple sources, including in-store, online and third-party brands and suppliers.
As its enterprise cloud partnership with Google grows, the retailer looks to optimize its internal supply chain. The company also intends to gain the ability to deliver next-generation customer experiences through a variety of physical and data sales channels. In addition, H&M hopes to further develop data science and artificial intelligence capabilities across its global enterprise.
Freshness Above All (Internet of Things)
Grocers are using more and more innovative smart technology to reduce food waste by improving in-store freshness. In July, Wisconsin-based regional grocer Festival Foods announced that it was using Internet of Things (IoT) technology to ensure food safety and minimize shrinkage.
The retailer uses SmartSense’s Bluetooth IoT sensors to automatically and continuously monitor the temperature of coolers, refrigerators and coolers in all of its stores. Festival Foods has placed SmartSense Bluetooth IoT sensors in all refrigerated and frozen product shelf units in all of its stores.
The Bluetooth sensor continuously receives temperature data and transmits it to the gateway, which collects the data and sends it to the centralized SmartSense database. The gateways operate on battery backup and cellular technology, so they can still collect and transmit data in real time even in the event of a power or network outage.
“We can look at the data and see trends and opportunities for improvement,” said Joe Laufenberg, Senior Director, Asset Protection, Festival Foodsin a say Exclusive interview and chain store era“Previously, we didn’t know there was a problem until an employee went out to inspect the product, by which point they could have been damaged. Our process was reactive; now it’s proactive.”