RTIH rounds up the biggest retail technology deals, deployments and pilots from April.

The Walt Disney Company is leveraging Amazon Web Services (AWS) for the global roll-out of its online streaming video services Disney+.

It is using AWS as its preferred public cloud infrastructure provider to expand Disney+ to 59 countries across North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, and Latin America.

Google Cloud and Papa John’s International have announced a new, multi-year commitment involving the latter’s digital and data cloud strategy. 

The company will expand its work with Google to migrate its datacentres to Google Cloud, as it looks to meet a coronavirus powered surge in demand for online ordering and delivery, and boost the customer experience.

Woolworths Group has announced plans for its first automated customer fulfilment centre (CFC) in Auburn, New South Wales as it looks to better serve the online grocery needs of Western Sydney customers.

If approved by the NSW Government, the retailer will build the facility in partnership with Knapp, whose automation technology will help personal shoppers pick and dispatch up to 50,000 deliveries a week. 

Convenience store chain Circle K is expanding its Pay by Plate technology to new markets.

This lets its customers pay for fuel using sign recognition and a mobile app.

Online luxury fashion platform Farfetch has launched a virtual try on of watches tool via its iOS app, in a collaboration with Chopard.

Kroger has introduced its first customer fulfilment centre, powered by the Ocado Smart Platform.

This is the result of an exclusive Kroger and Ocado partnership, signed in 2018. 

The CFC is located in Monroe, OH, a city north of Cincinnati.

Amazon is rolling out biometric technology at its Whole Foods Market stores around Seattle.

Its Amazon One system lets customers associate a credit card with their palm print and then pay by holding their hand over a kiosk.

schuh and New Look have signed up to InPost’s new QR code Instant Returns service.

This follows on from its launch with Missguided.

Australian buy now, pay later venture Zip has partnered with UK-based The Hut Group to provide interest free payments over four instalments to the pureplay’s customers and brands using the THG Ingenuity e-commerce platform.

Zip will be an option at checkout across THG’s sites in the UK, the US, Australia and New Zealand. 

Whole Foods Market has adopted Honeywell’s Solstice N40 (R-448A) refrigerant Stateside as it seeks to reduce refrigerant emissions under the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s GreenChill programme.

The retailer will retrofit its commercial refrigeration systems at more than 100 stores.

Not to be outdone by Amazon and Walmart, The Kroger Co. has teamed with Drone Express, part of TELEGRID Technologies, for a pilot involving grocery delivery via autonomous drones.

US-based The Save Mart Companies has launched a pilot involving the Simbe Robotics autonomous inventory robot Tally.

It will deploy Tally in three Save Mart stores in the Modesto area; two Lucky California stores in Dublin and San Ramon; and two FoodMaxx locations in Modesto and Tracy. 

Chiliz, the blockchain venture behind the Socios.com fan engagement platform, has announced a partnership with Rakuten Europe.

The latter’s customers in Spain, UK and Germany can use Rakuten points to redeem fan tokens.

These are collectible, tradable digital assets that provide owners with benefits including voting rights, VIP rewards, club and sponsor promotions, AR enabled features and super fan recognition on Socios.com.

Marks and Spencer Food is tapping RELEX Solutions technology for an initiative covering forecasting, ordering, and allocation management.

Implementation began in March for M&S Food’s 1,050 stores and 13 distribution centres throughout the UK and Ireland. 

Domino's and Nuro have launched autonomous pizza delivery in Houston. 

Select customers who place a prepaid order on dominos.com on certain days and times from Domino's in Woodland Heights, located at 3209 Houston Ave., can choose to have their pizza delivered by Nuro's R2 robot. 

Boots is set to deploy Yoobic’s task management platform across its 2,500 retail stores.  

The solution is designed specifically for frontline teams. Yoobic provides a mobile application called MyHub, with the platform rolling out across the store network in November. 

Target’s Roundel offshoot has integrated with CitrusAd’s retail media platform, making it easier for advertisers to connect with its digital audience.

From May, brands will have the ability to launch and manage their Target Product Ad campaigns via CitrusAd’s self-serve platform or enlist the support of the company’s managed services team.

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