X5 Retail Group, a leading Russian food retailer, has announced the results of its start-up scouting programme conducted jointly with the Spanish Institute for Foreign Trade (ICEX).
The company looked for innovative, technology-based solutions for key areas of the retail business, including logistics, customer experience, in-store operations, and back office functions.
Eleven out of some 30 start-up projects submitted to X5 and ICEX were selected for the final pitch session held in Spain in late September. The finalists were Converfit, Trucksters, Localistico, ZAPIENS, Top Local Manager, Shoppermotion, Niikiis, Prisma, Sales Layer Tech, Seeketing and Neuromobilemarketing.
The jury of X5 and ICEX experts reviewed various solutions, including a product data processing system, a gamification solution for employee training, customer behaviour analysis tools, a platform for managing Google Maps reviews, a virtual assistant, smart logistics solutions for drivers, AI-based marketing tools, and more.
Each of the finalists’ projects were assessed based on their commercial value and the feasibility of implementing them in the next 18 months. Several start-ups were invited to take part in the POC (proof of concept) phase, which includes investments and infrastructure provided by X5.
Jorge Alvar, Director of Infrastructures, Health and ICT of ICEX said: “We were very happy to host the X5 Demo Day. It has been a great opportunity for Spanish retail startups. The X5 Lab team has been very professional, and we are ready to organise more such events for X5 Retail Group in the near future.”
“First and foremost, we expect that new solutions will help streamline our existing processes, maximise efficiency, and cut running costs. For us, this basically means automation of most of the processes in our stores, warehouses, and back office functions. At this stage of this international exercise, we wanted to evaluate the potential of Spanish start-ups and their strengths and identify the solutions that can be adapted to our needs,” said Denis Levchenko, Head of Innovation Scouting at X5 Retail Group, commenting on the results.
RPA Perspective X5 continues to develop its international scouting programme, with the ongoing selection of technology start-ups in Israel, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. Similar projects will be run by the Company before the end of the year in the CIS, Asia and Europe, including Singapore, China, Spain and Italy. X5’s scouting foray into international innovative markets will help bring the latest insights from tech start-ups to the Russian retail industry.
X5 Retail Group Nis a leading Russian food retailer and the company operates several retail formats: the chain of proximity stores under the Pyaterochka brand, the supermarket chain under the Perekrestok brand and the hypermarket chain under the Karusel brand.
As of 30 June 2019, X5 had 15,260 company-operated stores. It has the leading market position in both Moscow and St Petersburg and a significant presence in the European part of Russia. Its store base includes 14,385 Pyaterochka proximity stores, 785 Perekrestok supermarkets and 90 Karusel hypermarkets. The company operates 42 distribution centres and 3,952 company-owned trucks across the Russian Federation.
