Date
8 February 2022
Tags
MC CHALLENGES TECHNOLOGICAL STARTUPS TO INNOVATE IN RETAIL
In order to promote innovation in the retail sector, MC Sonae is challenging national and international startups to test solutions in a real environment, in the 3rd edition of ‘Disrupt Retail – Call for Technology by MC Sonae’.
MC is accepting applications until March 6th at https://disruptretail.mc.sonae.pt/ and the chosen projects will be announced in April, the date from which they will start collaborating with the company.
The company is looking for solutions that significantly impact the retail value chain, highlighting the ‘store of the future’, e-commerce, new ways of working, health and wellness services, consumer experience and the digital universe.
Among the technologies valued in the ‘Disrupt Retail – Call for Technology by MC Sonae’ initiative are artificial intelligence, virtual and augmented reality, Internet of Things, robotics and blockchain.
In the 2nd edition of ‘Disrupt Retail – Call for Technology by MC Sonae’, in 2020, 136 applications were submitted from 20 different countries and 5 concepts were tested. The ‘goodbag’ (Austria) was one of the tested concepts, which consists of shopping bags with an exclusive design made from 100% organic cotton, which incorporate a mini-chip that helps the planet each time they are reused. Another example was the test carried out with ‘Threedium’ (United Kingdom), where the automation of generating 3D models from 2D photographs was put to the test, making it possible to improve customer experiences on digital channels.
The selected startups have exclusive mentoring support from MC’s experts in technology and retail and also have the possibility of seeing their projects implemented in an ecosystem of over 3 million families, distributed by about 1,000 stores of various brands.
Miguel Moreira, Administrator of BIT, MC’s information systems branch, says that “we privilege innovation and believe in cooperation and co-creation as important sources to devise new solutions and do more, and better, for our customers, employees and partners. With Disrupt Retail we want to challenge and help startups implement their pilot projects in real context, designing the future of retail, together.”
In addition to startups, the program is also accessible to research and development centres, as well as companies and agencies that present solutions that are mature enough to be tested.
MC is accepting applications until March 6th at https://disruptretail.mc.sonae.pt/ and the chosen projects will be announced in April, the date from which they will start collaborating with the company.
The company is looking for solutions that significantly impact the retail value chain, highlighting the ‘store of the future’, e-commerce, new ways of working, health and wellness services, consumer experience and the digital universe.
Among the technologies valued in the ‘Disrupt Retail – Call for Technology by MC Sonae’ initiative are artificial intelligence, virtual and augmented reality, Internet of Things, robotics and blockchain.
In the 2nd edition of ‘Disrupt Retail – Call for Technology by MC Sonae’, in 2020, 136 applications were submitted from 20 different countries and 5 concepts were tested. The ‘goodbag’ (Austria) was one of the tested concepts, which consists of shopping bags with an exclusive design made from 100% organic cotton, which incorporate a mini-chip that helps the planet each time they are reused. Another example was the test carried out with ‘Threedium’ (United Kingdom), where the automation of generating 3D models from 2D photographs was put to the test, making it possible to improve customer experiences on digital channels.
The selected startups have exclusive mentoring support from MC’s experts in technology and retail and also have the possibility of seeing their projects implemented in an ecosystem of over 3 million families, distributed by about 1,000 stores of various brands.
Miguel Moreira, Administrator of BIT, MC’s information systems branch, says that “we privilege innovation and believe in cooperation and co-creation as important sources to devise new solutions and do more, and better, for our customers, employees and partners. With Disrupt Retail we want to challenge and help startups implement their pilot projects in real context, designing the future of retail, together.”
In addition to startups, the program is also accessible to research and development centres, as well as companies and agencies that present solutions that are mature enough to be tested.
