Focal Systems, the industry leader in retail automation, today announced it has entered the UK retail market, having joined the British Retail Consortium (BRC) in August and opened its first office in Europe. Focal Systems, which pioneered the “Self Driving Store” Operating System (FocalOS), will use its industry-leading AI technology to help retailers improve margins, increase sustainability, and better serve customers. Already proven with several leading retailers, including Walmart who will have it live in every one of their stores in Canada by the end of 2022, the team will shortly be announcing the launch of multiple partnerships with leading retailers in the UK within the coming months.
This entrance into the UK market comes at a time when retailers need it most. Earlier this year, the number of job vacancies in the UK exploded to a record high of nearly 1.3 million. Meanwhile, recent research found that almost every UK organisation admits their supply chain needs improving, and over half think their supply chain needs significant improvement. Given the UK’s current labour and supply chain crises, Focal Systems has seen huge demand for its technology in the UK market over the past year. Now that COVID restrictions have relaxed, the brand is setting itself up to support UK retailers and help them adopt AI and automation quickly.
“We are honoured to join retailers and grocers of all sizes across the UK and to work in partnership with the BRC to drive innovation for our shared economies,” said Jeremy Pugh, VP GTM, Focal Systems. “Focal’s mission is to automate retail globally. Given the severity of the current labour and supply chain challenges that UK retailers face, there is nobody who needs this technology more. Our partnership with the BRC will enable us to best help the UK retail community overcome these challenges and continue to serve their customers.”
“Artificial intelligence is transforming industries and retailers are still wrapping their minds around how to use it. As Focal has found, when you focus on core tasks, the ROI is so high and can be so powerful,” stated Tony DeNunzio, Chairman for the BRC. “Retailers need to be thinking very hard about AI because they have razor-thin margins. How do I use this new technology? How do I fulfill all the different channels? That’s where Focal works so beautifully because it’s a win, win, win. It’s good for the customers because it increases product availability, it’s good for the retailer because it lowers cost, improves efficiency, and drives profitability, and it’s good for brands because they sell more.”
Focal has raised more than $40M in venture capital funding to date and has scaled its solutions to retailers spanning three continents. Major retailers using Focal Systems have shown a 50x in ROI with the implementation of the technology, making this the most profitable investment in all of retail technology.
