Turning stores into automated fulfillment engines: last week's most read retail technology articles
Check out our most clicked retail technology articles from last week, including Walmart, Symbotic, Tesco, Marketplacer, Mirakl, Pricer, Shopify, Vestiaire Collective, Kingfisher, and the 2025 RTIH Innovation Awards.
Walmart agreement with Symbotic marks 'one of the most ambitious moves in retail automation'
The company said it would use its AI enabled robotics platform to improve operations at the US retail giant's pickup and delivery centres.
Walmart is funding the development programme and will pay Symbotic $520 million, including $230 million at closing, for the new agreement that includes an initial order to cover hundreds of stores.
It's one of the most ambitious moves in retail automation to date, according to Brittain Ladd, a supply chain consultant and former Amazon executive.
In a LinkedIn post, he said: "There is a lot of misinformation floating around regarding Symbotic and its micro-fulfillment centre project with Walmart. To clarify the status of the project, I contacted Charlie Anderson, VP of Investor Relations at Symbotic. Charlie was extremely helpful in providing me with the facts."
"At stake: reshaping how online orders are fulfilled, how inventory is managed, and how Walmart uses its biggest advantage - its 4,700 US stores within ten miles of 90% of Americans. By turning stores into automated fulfillment engines, Walmart can promise faster delivery and cheaper pickup while leveraging existing store inventory."
"Symbotic’s new next-generation storage structure will increase density, reduce installation times, and support micro-fulfillment as well as distribution centres and perishables. Rick Cohen, Symbotic’s CEO, confirmed that prototype installs of the Gen-2 platform will begin in early 2026."
"Agreed upon KPIs must be achieved for additional installations to happen. Online grocery fulfillment will only be profitable through automation."
2025 RTIH Innovation Awards: finalists revealed, winners to be announced this month
We're pleased to present the finalists and shortlists for the 2025 RTIH Innovation Awards, sponsored by Vista Technology Support, STRATACACHE, 3D Cloud, EdTech Innovation Hub, and Retail Technology Show.
We received a record number of entries this year and many fantastic examples of the continued resilience and dynamism of the retail space during hugely challenging times.
Congratulations to all those who made it through the initial submission process!
It’s now over to our judging panel who will decide the winners to be announced at the 2025 RTIH Innovation Awards ceremony, taking place at The HAC in Central London.
The event will be held on Thursday, 16th October and consist of a drinks reception, three course meal, and awards ceremony presided over by award winning comedian, actress and writer Tiff Stevenson.
Book your place at the 2025 RTIH Innovation Awards ceremony on Thursday, 16th October here.
2025 RTIH Innovation Awards: finalists revealed, winners to be announced next week at an event in Central London @AwardsRtih #RTIHAwards25 #retailtech https://t.co/X3e7NmDIe9
— Retail Technology Innovation Hub (@RTIH_RetailTech) October 6, 2025
Tesco Marketplace bins Marketplacer technology and makes move to rival platform Mirakl
Last year, we reported that Marketplacer had partnered with Tesco to launch its new online marketplace.
Peter Filcek, Marketplace Director at Tesco, said at the time: “We knew that we wanted to open up access to a wider range of products for Tesco customers; we could see customers were searching for products that we didn't sell, and that we could be front of mind for.”
“It became clear that exploring this advanced technology for industry partnerships would be advantageous for the customer experience and ensure a seamless integration experience for our seller partners.”
“In a dynamic shift change, this marketplace model allows us to take a more holistic approach to customers’ household needs and give us a competitive edge.”
“We’ve benefitted from the Marketplacer team’s deep e-commerce expertise and understanding of our business in navigating some common scaling challenges to stay on the right track”
“Our secure and scalable marketplace proposition now looks set to attract additional sellers, therefore streamlining that onboarding process is critical for us to grow and scale.”
Just 15 months later, however, Tesco is ditching Marketplacer and switching to Mirakl (which works with the likes of B&Q and Superdrug).
The new partnership is set to launch in the next few weeks.
A Tesco spokesperson said: "To support our long-term growth plans for Marketplace, we're migrating to a new platform that will enhance the seller experience and provide an event better experience for our customers."
Industry veteran Ken Hansen joins electronic shelf labels specialist Pricer as its new Chief Operating Officer
Ken Hansen is starting a new position as Chief Operating Officer at Pricer, an in-store automation and communication solutions provider.
His CV includes stints as Sales & Operations Director North America at Agile Content. He has also spent the past ten years working as an independent management consultant.
At Pricer, he will head up supply chain, strategic sourcing, manufacturing, global Services Delivery, IT, and CISO functions with a focus on operational excellence, scalability, and innovation.
"My mission is to enable a unified global organisation through smart automation, seamless implementation, and world class support," he says.
"With a strategic mindset and a collaborative approach, I believe in empowering teams through knowledge sharing, continuous feedback, and proactive problem solving. I’m passionate about building systems and cultures that drive performance, foster trust, and deliver real value to customers. I thrive in environments where complexity meets opportunity, and where leadership means enabling others to succeed."
Company veteran and retail technology specialist Gareth Hughes exits Estée Lauder Companies
Gareth Hughes has left Estée Lauder Companies where he spent almost nine years, most recently serving as Executive Director Retail Technology North America.
In a LinkedIn post, in which he did not reveal his next move, Hughes, who has also worked at Well Pharmacy and Cath Kidston, said: “So my time at Estée Lauder Companies has come to an end and I can’t believe that 8.5 years has flown by so quickly. From working in the EMEA team to relocating to USA for the last three years experiencing a different lifestyle and working environment.”
He added: “I have been fortunate to have worked with so many collegues that I can now call friends and also worked with some fantastic leaders such as Gerrie Thomson, Martin J. Dempsey , George Kuan, Amy Kleinberg, Neil Verma and Michael Smith.”
“It’s been a whirlwind since setting foot in the door and looking back I think as a team we’ve managed deliver vast amount of change across the brands and regions. Onwards to the next chapter…..”
Bobby Morrison calls time on run as Chief Revenue Officer at e-commerce platform giant Shopify
Bobby Morrison has left Shopify where he served as Chief Revenue Officer.
He joined the company in 2022 from Intuit where he held the same role.
In a LinkedIn post, in which he did not reveal his next move, he said: “The last three and a half years at Shopify have been some of the most impactful and fulfilling of my career. I didn’t know what I was missing until I had the chance to work with a mission obsessed, founder led company. Together, we built something truly special.”
He added: “We turned a negative cash flow and shrinking 14% growth business in 2022 into nine consecutive quarters of 25%+ revenue growth and eight consecutive quarters of 15%+ free cash flow organisation. Growing our market cap by over 5x.”
“The best part is that unlike most companies whose revenue slows as they scale, we accelerated - crossing 30%+ growth while expanding our TAM in Europe and enterprise, which are now two of the fastest growing segments in the business. Arguably the best commercial performance across all of SaaS in recent years.”
Morrison continued: “In parallel, we built an AI native culture that reshaped the very foundations of traditional go to market. We started with the Slack channel hashtag#rev-ai-use-cases and had over 3,000 posts from teams across the commercial org: sales, partners, marketing, support, customer success, operations, and professional services.”
“We wrote 16M+ lines of code and ran 750K+ Gumloop (MCP) workflows - evolving from a series of disconnected tasks to end-to-end, AI enabled systems. These improvements changed the very shape of Shopify, expanding wingspans, collapsing toil, and driving productivity that once seemed impossible.”
“We also built an amazing partner ecosystem that now stands as the best commerce partner network on the planet. I’m deeply grateful for the relationships built with each of our partners, their teams, and their founders.’
He concluded: “For me, it’s time to turn the page to the next chapter. I’ve learned what it means to operate outside the Overton Window, to think like a product first leader, and to seek the unorthodox but true. To move at the speed of Parkinson’s Law and GSD like our lives depended on it. All in service to our amazing customers. I’ll take those lessons forward into what’s next and look forward to sharing more in due time. Until then, I’ll be cheering Shopify on from the sidelines.”
Paris-based fashion resale platform Vestiaire Collective appoints Bernard Osta as CEO
Vestiaire Collective, a platform for pre-loved luxury fashion, has announced the appointment of Bernard Osta as Chief Executive Officer, succeeding Maximilian Bittner who headed up the company for the past seven years.
Osta has been part of Vestiaire Collective, which last year said it would explore the possibility of an IPO after reaching profitability, since May 2021. He held the positions of Chief Strategy Officer from May 2021 to August 2023 and of Chief Financial Officer from September 2023 to September 2025.
Prior to that, he spent time advising businesses strategically as an investment banker for 15 years at Lazard (2006 to 2011) and Goldman Sachs (2011 to 2021), in New York and Paris. He also serves as independent member of the supervisory board of media and entertainment group Vivendi.
FT Live Future of Retail 2025: Kingfisher CEO discusses store and online operations merging
“E-commerce at B&Q now constitutes 20% of our business,” said Garnier, as he explained how the pivot towards e-commerce has meant Kingfisher, which owns such retailers as B&Q and Screwfix, has had to work harder on its data. “We’ve got a data lake now for instance.”
Combining the company’s huge store estate with its digital offering – and their respective data – is a challenge, but one they have risen to. “Click and Collect is huge for us, representing 88% of all our e-commerce,” said Garnier, as he outlined how the two can coexist in retail operations.
“Additionally, Screwfix can deliver in 20 minutes to 60% of UK postcodes [because of our store footprint],” he added, while explaining Kingfisher’s strategy of focusing on: Customer experience; Unifying online and in-store data and operations.
Continue reading…