RTIH Innovation Awards: Most innovative UK retailer

RTIH is pleased to announce the shortlists for its first ever Innovation Awards.

There are seven categories in all. We have already revealed the shortlists for Bricks and Mortar Innovation, Supply Chain Innovation and Payments Innovation. And today it’s time to lift the lid on the Most Innovative UK Retailer category.

Runners and riders as follows:

Tesco

2019 highlights include working with Starship Technologies on a robot/food delivery initiative in Milton Keynes and making an undisclosed investment in Trigo Vision’s frictionless shopping platform.

Sainsbury’s

Nominated for its commercial and technology teams, in partnership with Accenture, building machine learning technology solutions on the Google Cloud Platform to spot shopper trends and adjust inventory accordingly. And tapping its SmartShop technology for the launch of its first ‘no cash, no cards’ mobile self-checkout store.

Marks and Spencer

In the running for making Mehdi Hosseini its first ever head of data science as part of its drive to become a digital-first business and announcing an omnichannel payments partnership with Ingenico.

John Lewis Partnership

This year, John Lewis & Partners has launched a pilot at its Oxford store focusing on ways in which the retailer and its customers can reduce their impact on the planet.

Elsewhere, John Lewis Partnership joined forces with the Small Robot Company, strategic design consultancy Method and various UK robotics companies and industry bodies to create a blueprint for human robot interaction.

The Co-op

Shortlisted for its eco-friendly pop-ups and increasing in-store task completion by more than a third just five months after launching mobile system MyWork across its 3,750 stores and 70, 000+ store colleagues.

It’s now over to our judges who will decide the winner, to be announced during December.

Judging panel as follows:

Hayley Meenan-Wilkin, Web Trading Management, Ocado.com

Christine Bardwell, Global Strategy Lead, Oracle

Martin Newman, Founder, The Customer First Group

Toby Pickard, Head of Insight - Innovation & Futures, IGD

Natalie Berg, Retail Analyst, Author & Founder, NBK Retail

Tiffany Lung, Retail Analyst

Nadine Neatrour, Independent Consultant

The other three categories will be announced throughout the week. If you would like to be an Innovation Awards sponsor, please email scott.thompson@retailtechinnovationhub.com