The Coresight Research team is attending NRF 2022: Retail’s Big Show in New York City, US, from January 16 to 18. The event, hosted by the National Retail Federation (NRF) brings together retail technology innovators, industry experts, brands and retailers. This report is the first in a three-part series in which we present innovative technology startups that showcased their solutions at the event.

NRF 2022: Innovative Technology Startups, Part One—Coresight Research Insights

Digibee Digibee, based in Brazil, provides a low-code, cloud-based integration platform that assists users in transitioning from a legacy system to a sophisticated one. The company’s goal is to solve complex IT problems across the transition by executing three stages. Firstly, it builds a Hybrid Integration platform that enables the “flow of integration,” with pre-configured connectors and custom libraries. Secondly, the platform provides a robust environment for running the integration, with “heightened security and constant availability,” according to Digibee. Finally, the platform monitors all transactions, and its customizable dashboard ensures that the user can manage their integrations in detail. According to Digibee, the entire process takes about 45 days. FindMine FindMine offers a content creation engine using machine learning, which supports brands’ and retailers’ personalization strategies. The platform enables retailers to preserve their brand style and point of view while allowing consumers to mix and match product sets to build outfits, furniture/décor sets and makeup sets in infinite combinations using a retailer’s product catalog. [caption id="attachment_139551" align="aligncenter" width="699"] Source: Company website[/caption]   Hanshow Technology Hanshow Technology, based in Zhejiang, China, made its first appearance at Retail’s Big Show this year, having entered the US market in 2021. Hanshow already operates in about 50 countries in Europe and Asia. The company’s SPatrol Robot is designed to implement “the digitization of retail shelving,” displaying data and providing analytics capabilities in real time. Powered by Hanshow’s digital store solutions, the robot synchronizes data and information it collects with shelf labels to improve shelf planogram management. [caption id="attachment_139552" align="aligncenter" width="700"] Hanshow Technology’s SPatrol Robot
Source: Coresight Research [/caption]   Locus Locus offers a technology solution to help retailers handle the overwhelming volumes of e-commerce orders at their warehouses. LocusBots work collaboratively and safely alongside warehouse associates to improve worker productivity and efficiency. With LocusBots, warehouse workers can be assigned zones, reducing the amount of walking distance they must cover within a warehouse. Workers log picked items into the LocusBot via its touchscreen for improved inventory visibility and tracking. The LocusBot then carries the package to the next step in the process within the warehouse, and ultimately to the delivery truck, all while the worker can continue picking and placing packages on other LocusBots. [caption id="attachment_139553" align="aligncenter" width="439"] Source: Coresight Research[/caption]   OnQ  OnQ is a retail display company that brings innovation to the in-store shopping experience. At NRF 2022, OnQ rolled out its Converge Display Control, which allows shoppers to control interactive content on any connected TV through their smartphones, providing a contactless, customer-driven, in-store shopping experience. The company also showcased its Slide & Learn interactive sliding screen, which automatically provides information on each product it passes, providing an interactive customer-driven shopping experience. OnQ displayed the product of its collaboration with Madison Reed––an interactive digital switch panel called Matchmaker. Through the digital switch panel, customers can tap their way through a series of questions to be matched with their personalized hair color. [caption id="attachment_139554" align="aligncenter" width="638"] OnQ and Madison Reed’s Matchmaker solution
Source: Coresight Research [/caption]   Nfinite Nfinite provides computer-generated 3D imagery. Nfinite’s solution replaces in-person photoshoots and allows for infinite and interactive combinations of online images. Through Nfinite, customers can customize and visualize products, and retailers are able to make updates to online product displays—for example, they can remove out-of-stock items in a given set to manage shoppers’ expectations. [caption id="attachment_139555" align="aligncenter" width="673"] Source: Company website[/caption]   ParcelLab ParcelLab’s Operations Experience Management platform integrates a variety of different data systems to control branded messages to customers after a purchase is made and throughout the delivery process. The platform provides a two-way line of communication between retailers and customers. Retailers are able to manage customer expectations during the delivery process by sending real-time updates on the status of their packages from the time they are scanned out of a warehouse, to when they are placed into a delivery truck and are out for delivery. ParcelLab’s solution allows retailers to redirect consumers back to their website through branded status updates, resulting in a low-cost sales channel for retailers. On the consumer side, customers are able to hold both carriers and retailers accountable for any delays in delivery, as well as communicate with either the retailer or carrier regarding the delivery process. [caption id="attachment_139556" align="aligncenter" width="591"] Source: Coresight Research[/caption]   Relex Relex provides retail optimization software that is built upon cloud technology. The solution has a number of key functions, according to the company:

• It supports demand planning by engaging merchandising, supply chains and retail operations, and uses machine learning to capture the impact of all relevant demand drivers for demand forecasting.
• It helps increase sales and margins as well as reduce costs, as users can use data-driven processes to make informed decisions with respect to space, promotion, markdown and assortment planning.
• The software provides supply analytics that includes weather patterns and information and replacement automation. The software optimizes inventory, capacity and resources across all operations.

[caption id="attachment_139557" align="aligncenter" width="700"] Source: Company website [/caption]   Surepoint Surepoint provides Product Life Management (PLM) software that brings together communications and logistical information, from product development to sales, to engage internal and external parties in a single, centralized system. Surepoint enables users to engage their third-party partners directly through its platform. The company says Surepoint can slash the product cycle in half—to 60 days from an average of 120 days. Surepoint improves data transparency by converging all data on a single platform, which is particularly important amid current supply chain challenges. [caption id="attachment_139558" align="aligncenter" width="700"] Source: Company website[/caption]