Nov 14, 2023

Technology Vendor of the Year (Rest of World) shortlist as follows: This category celebrates companies that have developed innovative technologies and worked with retailers to transform the customer experience or back-end operations or both. Akeneo With the frenetic hype surrounding AI, retailers want to understand how best to tap AI and ML capabilities to improve data quality and accuracy within their PIM systems to drive operation efficiencies while unlocking sales. Akeneo took a pragmatic approach leveraging AI for PX. It already provided direct access to more than 20 AI apps in its App Store. These apps focus on three steps in the process of activating product experiences: 1) Product data collection and cleansing; 2) Product information enrichment; and 3) Product content translation. Of its app partners, Unifai stood out as the most adopted and differentiated solution. Akeneo strategically acquired Unifai, a AI platform for data collection, cleansing, categorisation and enrichment, revolutionising its Product Cloud offer and infusing AI and ML technology to further elevate PX for brands, manufacturers, retailers and distributors globally Bambuser Bambuser’s SaaS platform is trusted by some of the world’s biggest retailers and brands - LVMH, Louis Vuitton, Clarins, adidas, Dior, Clinique, Shiseido, Fendi, IKEA, Estee Lauder, Hugo Boss - to drive sales, unprecedented customer engagement, and reduced returns. Customers can achieve 4x higher engagement than Instagram; 3x longer session time and 10x higher conversion than traditional e-commerce. Easy as plug-and-play, Bambuser’s high quality interactive, video commerce platform can be embedded into any e-commerce site. Paired with personalised support, it enables retailers and brands to easily and successfully launch video commerce, creating authentic and engaging interactions, while propelling sales. BigCommerce BigCommerce simplifies enterprise e-commerce. Its e-commerce platform drives growth and performance for brands and retailers by combining the best of SaaS with the flexibility and openness of API enabled composability to provide enterprise-grade functionality, customisation and flexibility. BigCommerce’s composable commerce capabilities empower merchants to diversify their tech stacks to meet their business needs and deliver incredible customer experience. Recent examples include MKM Building Supplies, the UK’s largest independent builder's merchant, re-launched its site on BigCommerce and achieved impressive results, and Bensons For Beds, a British retailer specialising in mattresses and furniture online and in-store, transforming its digital presence to drive sales conversion. Firework The interaction between product experts and consumers has always been core to the bricks and mortar shopping experience. Drawing upon the power of video, Firework revolutionises how consumers interact with store associates and brand reps online with its suite of commerce tools, including: personalised dialogue within shoppable videos powered by AI, digital showrooms, and one-to-one virtual showroom across retail and brand owned omnichannel assets. Firework is creating the next generation of front-end human interaction, experience layers, and first-party shopper data capture capabilities across the globally connected open web. Goodays Goodays is Europe’s leading customer experience management platform. Founded in 2012, its vision is to make commerce better for everyone, helping brands deliver personal customer experiences at scale without losing the human touch. Goodays is used in 32 countries by over 150 of Europe’s biggest companies, including New Look, Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield, Carrefour and Dominos. Its platform is embedded in over 70,000 business locations and used daily across the business, from customer facing teams through to CX and Insights professionals and CEOs. It equips them with the tools to deliver better for customers, increasing NPS scores, customer satisfaction and loyalty as a result. Lily AI Lily AI is a female founded retail AI solution that bridges the gap between merchant-speak and consumer-speak to drive growth, operational efficiency, and customer satisfaction for retailers and brands. Its suite of proprietary AI technologies (computer vision, natural language processing, machine learning, and vertical specific large language models) automatically assign consumer centric product attributes to a retailer’s product catalogue and inject this language of the customer across the retail value chain. Interoperable with leading retail platforms, Lily AI maximises existing tech investments to deliver upwards of nine-figure revenue lift through improved product attribution, enhanced discovery, and sharper forecasting and allocation planning. MikMak In the ever competitive world of e-commerce, multi-channel brands need a single platform for enablement and analytics. MikMak provides just that: a unified way of leveraging media and shopper data to help brands such as Unilever, Kelloggs, and Mars, sell online and understand how their marketing impacts sales and the effectiveness of campaigns across channels In June 2023, it launched the latest version of its e-commerce acceleration platform: MikMak 3.0. Following the acquisition of Swaven, an e-commerce enablement software company across EMEA, APAC and LATAM in February, MikMak now provides multi-channel brands with enhanced end-to-end analytics and consumers with multi-retailer checkout. parcelLab parcelLab is the only global enterprise post-purchase software provider, enabling brands to increase top-line revenue, decrease operational cost, and optimise customer experience in an unprecedented way. The platform empowers brands to transform mundane operational touchpoints into the most differentiated and personalised experience, creating unique moments of pure joy for their customers. parcelLab is committed to driving innovation that helps clients stay on the cutting edge of industry trends through value-add customer touchpoints that drive sustained growth. Increased customer satisfaction through tailor-made digital touchpoints is the key to building sustained customer loyalty in a shifting digital age of retail. Perfect Corp. Perfect Corp. is a leading beauty tech solutions provider, and lays claim to be the most comprehensive and advanced portfolio of AI and AR-powered virtual try-on and AI skin analysis solutions for retailers available on the market today. Perfect Corp.’s mission is to solve consumer pain points and enhance the retail journey through the power of AI + AR digital innovations. With this goal in mind, it set out to develop the most advanced AI powered skin analysis solution which could be easily integrated into the retail journey, allowing shoppers to understand their skin and allowing retailers to offer shoppers personalised skincare product advice. ShipEngine ShipEngine is a multi-carrier shipping platform that provides best-in-class shipping functionality directly to e-commerce stores, logistics and warehouse providers, system integrators, e-commerce application integrators, and new application developers. Built specifically for developers, ShipEngine's robust set of shipping APIs enable developers to build custom workflows within their own platforms and streamline the e-commerce fulfilment process with real-time label generation, rate quoting, parcel tracking, and address validation. The company supports carriers across the United States, Europe, Canada, and Australia, including USPS, FedEx, DHL, and DPD. It is a member of the Auctane family of companies and is headquartered in Austin, Texas. Simbe Robotics Simbe Robotics provides a solution for optimising retail business operations. Its technology platform combines cutting-edge robotics and AI in a single platform. This comprehensive business intelligence solution unlocks real-time insight into inventory conditions, giving store associates and managers the knowledge they need to manage stock efficiently and effectively. By streamlining front and back of house workflows, reducing overstock and out-of-stock rates, and mitigating pricing errors, Simbe enhances the shopping experience for customers and allows employees to focus on high level, engaging work, all while protecting retailers’ bottom line. Toshiba Global Commerce Solutions Toshiba Global Commerce Solutions works with retail clients driving digital transformation to achieve brilliant commerce outcomes that enrich customer experiences inside and outside the store. Its strategic investments and cutting-edge technologies deliver fully connected and adaptable retail experiences, supporting some of the most successful retail brands worldwide, making Toshiba number one in worldwide electronic Point of Sale system installations and number two in worldwide self-checkout installations. Toshiba accelerates retailer digital transformation across the retail experience from checkout, self-service solutions, mobile PoS with secure payment, and the frictionless retail future fuelled by AI and computer vision. Featured