MC TEAMS UP WITH LEADING INTERNATIONAL RETAILERS TO CHALLENGE TECH START-UPS
To promote innovation in the retail sector, MC has teamed up with the ‘EDEKA’, ‘Żabka’ and ‘Shufersal’ international retail groups to challenge tech start-ups to present innovative solutions aimed at improving the retail sector. The 4th edition of the ‘Disrupt Retail - Call for Technology’ programme promises to take retail to the next level.
Market leaders in their respective countries, the retailers are accepting applications until February 4th at https://disruptretail.tech/. Collaboration with the companies will begin in March 2024.
Start-ups will be able to benefit from exclusive mentoring from sector experts from the four retail companies and will be able to see their proposals implemented in an ecosystem that covers millions of families, in thousands of stores, nationally and internationally.
Together, the retailers represent an ecosystem of around 22,000 stores, 500,000 associates and 80 billion euros in revenue.
For Pedro Côrte-Real, director of BIT, MC’s information systems area, “innovation, cooperation and co-creation are fundamental to conceiving new solutions and reaching the next level in retail, for the benefit of our customers, employees and partners . With the 4th edition of ‘Disrupt Retail’, and together with our partners ‘EDEKA’, ‘Żabka’ and ‘Shufersal’, we want to challenge and help start-ups to implement their pilot projects in a real context, jointly designing the future of retail.”
In this 4th edition, retailers are looking for solutions with a special focus on three main areas: in-store operations, focusing on processes, increasing employee productivity and improving the overall customer experience; retail media; and data & customer knowledge, to explore, analyse and convert this data into actions.
These four retailers are experienced in collaborating with start-ups and are looking to establish deep relationships, to explore new technologies. Examples of this are the successful collaborations between ‘EDEKA’ and ‘Captana (SES-Imagotag)’, ‘Shufersal ‘and ‘Shopic’, and ‘MC’ and ‘Automaise’.
ABOUT MC
MC is leader in the food retail market in Portugal, with a set of distinct business segments, which offer a varied range of high quality products at the best prices: ‘Continente’, ‘Continente Modelo’, ‘Continente Bom Dia’, ‘Meu Super’, ‘Bagga’, ‘Go Natural’ , ‘Note!’, ‘ZU’, ‘Wells’ and ‘Dr. Well's’.
ABOUT EDEKA
EDEKA Digital GmbH, EDDI for short, is the IT subsidiary of the EDEKA Group and represents the national IT competence centre. With more than 600 employees in Hamburg, Mannheim, Berlin and Cluj-Napoca (Romania) they develop, implement and support EDEKA’s digital business processes at the three commercial levels (retail, wholesale and EDEKA headquarters).
Furthermore, EDEKA Digital is the central driver of innovation and transformation of innovative IT products and services, to significantly advance the EDEKA group’s IT strategy.
ABOUT ŻABKA
The Żabka Group is the ultimate convenience ecosystem that aims to make people’s lives easier. It accompanies consumers at all times of the day, freeing up their time through the possibility of convenient grocery shopping, having a hot meal on the go, sending an order, withdrawing money or taking advantage of a dietary catering service, with delivery. They are one of the most recognized brands in Poland, with more than 3 million customers using their services daily.
ABOUT SHUFERSAL
Shufersal, Israel’s retail leader since 1958, operates more than 400 stores across the country, offering convenience, quality and value. Their unwavering commitment to innovation drives in-store and online shopping, from groceries to electronics. With cutting-edge technology, sustainable practices and customer-centred solutions, Shufersal is pioneering innovation in retail, redefining the shopping experience.