Staying ahead of the technology curve means strengthening your competitive advantage. That is why we give you data-driven innovation insights into the retail industry. This time, you get to discover 5 hand-picked startups developing solutions that will impact your company post-COVID.
Global Startup Heat Map: 5 Top Post-Covid Retail Solutions
The 5 post-COVID solutions you will explore below are chosen based on our data-driven startup scouting approach, taking into account factors such as location, founding year, and relevance of technology, among others. This analysis is based on the Big Data & Artificial Intelligence (AI)-powered StartUs Insights Discovery Platform, covering over 1.3 million startups & scaleups globally.
The Global Startup Heat Map below highlights the 5 post-COVID solutions our Innovation Researchers curated for this report. Moreover, you get insights into regions that observe a high startup activity and the global geographic distribution of the 4.072 companies we analyzed for this specific topic.
Ignito builds a Digital Inventory Management solution
During the COVID-19 pandemic, consumers have adopted new shopping habits, and as a result, retailers face challenges to adapt to new consumer behavior. Some retailers are experiencing a fall in demand while others have seen an increase in demand. To meet changes in consumer demand, retailers leverage artificial intelligence-based digital inventory management and analytics tools to adjust their business based on precise and frequently-updated sales data and forecasts.
The Australian startup Ignito builds a digital enrichment platform that leverages AI to bind retail operations with customer experiences. The startup enables Wi-Fi analytics, in-depth reporting, digital inventory management, and live dashboarding, which retailers then use to identify peak shopping times and perform real-time analysis. The solution does not require any special integration, allowing retailers to improve customer experiences quickly.
Qsmash develops an AI-based Check-Out Solution
With the outbreak of the pandemic, consumers expect retailers to address their health and well-being concerns to ensure social distancing and contactless shopping experiences. Moreover, retailers are anyway obliged to follow local COVID-specific regulations for retail capacity and occupancy. As a result, retailers have quickly made modifications that enable shoppers to checkout with no physical interaction and minimal exposure.
The UK-based startup Qsmash offers a deep learning-based check-out solution that allows shoppers to scan and pay through a smartphone application. This eliminates the use of payment machines and long queues from retail environments and enables customers to browse, interact, shop, and share experiences without physical interaction. The startup’s solution allows shops to increase customer flow with lesser retail space and staff and enables safe and fast shopping during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Cognize offers a Cognitive Awareness Platform
As stores begin to reopen after the mitigation of restrictions caused by the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, retailers rethink their business strategies and prepare to welcome their customers back. To enable a safe shopping experience, social distancing measures are further strengthened with retail solutions that adhere to health guidelines and also help predict and optimize crowd flow.
The US-based startup Cognize provides cognitive awareness solutions for health and safety which simplifies managing large groups of people in retail environments. The startup develops a situational awareness platform that integrates multi-sensor fusion data with cognitive learning to give retail companies contextual recommendations to improve customer experiences and reduce costs. The solution supports compliance with COVID-19 guidelines and enables retailers to continuously monitor and detect critical health and safety situations.
Delivery Solutions provides a Click & Collect Solution
As customers move their shopping online, the click and collect model is gaining popularity. It solves the challenge of social distancing and enables safe and secure shopping. Consumers make purchases online and pick up their orders from a nearby physical location when it suits them. This solution gives flexibility to the consumers and, together with delivery solutions, enables retailers to maintain and boost sales.
The US-based startup Delivery Solutions provides retailers with Software-as-a-Service (SaaS)-based solutions to offer their customers click and collect, curbside pickup, and same-day delivery options. The local delivery solutions interact with eCommerce properties, order and warehouse management systems, and point of sale systems. The white label solution enables retailers to maintain brand integrity, collect customer data and provide a safe and convenient shopping experience.
Shape offers a 3D Commerce Solution
With more consumers buying online, brands and retailers turn to new forms of eCommerce marketing. 3D eCommerce apps and websites based on augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) models gain popularity as retailers aim to engage customers and improve the shopping experience. Such solutions provide customers with a virtual representation of products and interactive experiences while enhancing social distancing and enabling safe shopping.
Canadian startup Shape provides 3D and AR software services to transform the retail eCommerce experience. The startup bridges the gap between physical and digital sales channels by facilitating internal collaboration. It leverages 3D technology to enable retailers to grow sales, improve operations, collaborate and virtualize experiences. The startup’s AR-on-the-web solution is useful for advertising in mobile apps to place products and brand experiences anywhere. Shape’s photorealistic models and production pipelines enable retail companies to grow sales and virtualize experiences.
Discover all Retail Startups
To keep you up-to-date on the latest technology and emerging solutions, we provide you with actionable innovation intelligence – quickly and exhaustively. You can download our free Retail Innovation Report and discover new business opportunities or save your time & let us look into your areas of interest. We provide you with an exhaustive overview of new startups, scaleups & emerging technologies that matter to you.
