Anomalie, a made-to-order e-Commerce bridal retailer, has launched a revamped DressBuilder platform that lets shoppers create sketches of their ideal dress in minutes. DressBuilder includes four billion permutations for possible wedding dresses, created by leveraging the collective knowledge of expert dressmakers, stylists, technical designers and data scientists. Dresses come in any size (from 00 through 30+) or shape (including petite, curvy, athletic or tall).

Customers answer a few simple questions to create the sketch, schedule a call with an Anomalie stylist to finalize the design and receive sample fabric in the mail to ensure their order is exactly what they’re looking for.

As part of The Vitamin Shoppe’s launch of its Innovation stores, the retailer has sought to reach one of its primary goals: to help “demystify” the wellness space and re-establish the direction of its brick-and-mortar footprint. In addition to incorporating on-demand digital product guides and access to an “Only Me” personalized supplement service, The Vitamin Shoppe has implemented an interactive digital kiosk from Vengo designed to engage consumers and trial new products, enabling the retailer to offer an in-store product sampling option.

“Vengo sampling is one more element of our mission to provide personalized education and guidance to our consumers, while also providing us the opportunity to incubate new brands and be first-to-market with innovative products,” said Sharon Leite, CEO of The Vitamin Shoppe in an interview with Retail TouchPoints.

Ahold Delhaize USA is piloting a checkout-free store concept with the trial of its “lunchbox” technology at its Retail Business Services (RBS) office in Quincy, Mass. The technology appears to function similarly to the “Just Walk Out” technology at Amazon Go, in that shoppers can grab fresh foods, snacks and beverages within the space.

Once registered within a mobile app, “shoppers simply scan in, shop and walk out,” according to Paul Scorza, EVP, IT and CIO for Retail Business Services.

Loblaws is building an automated picking facility in one of its Real Canadian Superstore locations in Toronto, converting 12,000 square feet of space to test an online order fulfillment area for its PC Express click-and-collect grocery service.

Launching in 2020, the technology will support PC Express online orders in select stores located close to the automated picking facility. Takeoff Technologies developed the hyperlocal fulfillment center, which is designed to function at a fraction of the speed and cost of manual picking processes by picking orders of up to 60 items in just a few minutes.

Walmart has made its voice ordering service available through a Siri Shortcut in partnership with Apple. After shoppers have paired their accounts, they will now be able to add items directly to their Walmart Online Grocery cart. Customers can build their basket by simply saying “Add to Walmart” and listing the products they want.

The service was created to emphasize speed and convenience. For example, customers who place their order in their cars can pick it up on the way home or have it delivered to their doors. However, shoppers who aren’t in a rush are free to add items to their cart over the course of several hours or days, using whatever Apple device or combination of devices they prefer.

Premium clothing retailer Tommy Hilfiger is implementing 3D design technology into all global apparel design teams at its headquarters in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. The commitment builds on the retailer’s goal of digitizing its end-to-end value chain. Leveraging 3D design solutions can help the retailer uncover the potential for sample reductions, time and cost savings and greater sustainability.

La-Z-Boy has adopted augmented reality (AR), 3D product configuration and 3D room planning solutions for its brick-and-mortar and online stores, in partnership with Marxent. Additionally, the furniture retailer has just installed virtual reality (VR) solutions for its store associates and professional designers.

Marxent 3D Cloud powers the La-Z-Boy 360 Product Viewer with 3D Product Configurator, which is designed to allow consumers to customize and explore products with 360 Product Spins. The shoppers can use the viewer to visit the product page of the chair style that they prefer, then add or change upholstery selections and details in real time before adding the final configured product to the cart.

The Food City supermarket chain will test a solution powered by blockchain that is designed to provide better lines of sight into ethical sourcing and environmental compliance of the seafood sold in its stores. Topco Associates LLC, a U.S. food cooperative, will be testing the Wholechain traceability system from Envisible at its member grocery chains, beginning with Food City. The Envisible system is powered by Mastercard’s blockchain-based Provenance Solution.

“Using Envisible Wholechain, powered by Mastercard, our grocers will be able to stock shelves with confidence and also be able to pinpoint issues in the food chain during any unfortunate events such as recalls,” said Dan Glei, EVP, Merchandising and Marketing at Food City in a statement.

Sobeys is bringing an “intelligent” shopping cart to its Canadian grocery stores with the launch of the Sobeys Smart Cart, a technology-enhanced shopping cart designed to improve in-store checkout lineups. The Sobeys location in Oakville, Ontario will roll out 10 of the new smart carts as part of a pilot project, with plans for the carts to be more readily available in mid-November following a staff training period.

The Vitamin Shoppe has opened an innovation store in Edgewater, N.J. that incorporates on-demand digital product guides, enhanced mobile POS checkout and the new Only Me personalized health assessment and subscription service, among other features. The retailer plans to open five additional similar-format stores through January 2020.

The shop was created inside an existing 3,185-square-foot store that was redesigned for this purpose. It combines retail and education through technology such as a complimentary body composition analysis station and a supplement sampling machine. Shoppers also can receive free nutritionist consultations through the retailer’s loyalty program, and browse specialized sections like CBD Central and Keto HQ.