2025 RTIH Innovation Awards winners assemble! - last week's most read retail technology articles
Check out our most clicked retail technology articles from last week, including Raising Cane's, Emperia, Sainsbury's, Patchworks, Uber Direct, Tesco, The Body Shop, Amazon, Asda, M&S, Currys Ireland, Ben Sherman, City Beach, and MediaMarktSaturn.
2025 RTIH Innovation Awards winners announced, including Tesco, White Stuff, and EE
VoCoVo, Everseen, Sensei, Gander, Iceland, Olio, Trust Retail, East of England Co-op, Lekkerland SE, Poq, Mamas & Papas, Varner, Sitoo, and Zebra Technologies were among the winners last week at the 2025 RTIH Innovation Awards, sponsored by Vista Technology Support, STRATACACHE, VenHub, 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.
Our 2025 hall of fame entrants were revealed during a sold out event which took place at The HAC in Central London and consisted of a drinks reception, three course meal, and awards ceremony presided over by award winning comedian, actress and writer Tiff Stevenson.
In his welcome speech, Scott Thompson, Founder and Editor, RTIH, said: “This is the awards’ fifth year as a physical event. We started off with just 30 people at the South Place Hotel not far from here, then moved to London Bridge Hotel, then The Barbican, and last year RIBA’s HQ in the West End.”
“But I’m conscious of the fact that, to quote the legend that is Taylor Swift, You’re only as hot as your last hit, baby. So, this year we’ve moved to our biggest venue yet, and also pulled in our largest number of entries to date and broken attendance records.”
He added: “This year’s submissions have without doubt been our best yet. To quote one of the judges: The examples of innovative developments across both traditional and digital retail spaces were truly remarkable.”
Congratulations to our 2025 winners, and a big thank you to our sponsors, judging panel, the legend that is Tiff Stevenson, and all those who attended last night’s gathering.
Raising Cane’s taps Emperia technology for Halloween themed virtual restaurant experience
Raising Cane’s is inviting customers to step inside a haunted version of its restaurants in partnership with Emperia. It has created its first ever haunted restaurant Halloween virtual experience, an interactive, limited time digital adventure anchored around a collectible Cane’s glow in the dark cup.
Designed to bridge the real life experience with the digital world, this features:
Gear Room - browse exclusive Cane’s merch in a virtual shopping experience and discover a mystical crystal ball. Customers can answer five questions about their Halloween habits to reveal a personalised Cane’s Horoscope - their spooky alter ego for the season.
Capture the Bats Game: Four hidden bats haunt the restaurant. Each discovery unlocks progress, and completing the set delivers a digital reward straight to your inbox.
Arcade Machine: Step up to Cane’s very own retro style arcade. Play the Cryptic Combos Game and advance beyond level one to unlock additional rewards via email.
Menus with a Twist: Just like in a real Cane’s, menus are placed throughout the haunted restaurant, letting customers order their favourite meals. By creating an immersive platform, Cane’s says it can now extend seasonal celebrations and retail moments into dynamic digital spaces - connecting physical products, like the glow in the dark cup, with interactive play, rewards, and social sharing opportunities.
Customers can explore the Haunted Cane’s experience starting 15th October by scanning the QR code on their limited edition Halloween cup.
Tesco adds accessibility modes to help visually impaired customers on self-service checkouts
Tesco has launched new accessibility modes to help visually impaired customers on its self-service checkouts in both UK and ROI Tesco stores.
This enables shoppers to adjust accessibility settings, with a choice of high contrast modes and text adjustments.
In a LinkedIn post, Sarah Quiggin, Head of Product - Store Customer Transactions at Teco, said: “Its a great example of the incremental (and hopefully transformational) changes we can do now we have our amazing new till platform at scale across multiple countries.”
She added: “We know there's so much more we could do but this is a big step forward. Huge thank you to my fantastic product team, design, engineering and programme teams that made this all possible. A great “every little help.”
Sainsbury's Rugby store notches up a Smartshop Pay on Handset technology first following trial
Sainsbury’s Rugby supermarket has become the first complete trial store for the UK grocery giant’s Smartshop Pay on Handset technology.
A pilot launched earlier this year, with shoppers able to pay directly on handheld SmartShop devices, skipping the need to go to the checkout.
While app users have been able to pay on their smartphones since 2022, the initiative marks the first time Sainsbury’s customers are able to complete payment in-store without using a traditional till.
In a LinkedIn post, Rosie Winning, Lead Customer Experience Manager at Sainsbury’s, said: “Something exciting is coming to Rugby….Smartshop Pay on Handset will launch on Monday 13th October.”
She added: “Great day this week to get some of the teams together to discuss how we impact our customers, expand the customer journey and deliver improved technologies for a streamlined front end.”
“We are extremely proud and excited to be the first complete trial store for this technology. The support teams have been instrumental and fantastic in helping us get ready to launch.”
Doubling down in 2025: RTIH brings you its latest Top 100 Retail Technology Influencers List
The latest edition of the RTIH Top 100 Retail Technology Influencers List launched earlier this year, sponsored by 3D Cloud.
The list has seen a surge in popularity over the past few years, to the point that we’ve decided publishing it once a year is no longer enough. Here, then, is a revised edition for 2025, with some names dropping out of the top 100 and some new names coming in.
RTIH has scoured the retail technology world to find the most influential figures for this comprehensive round up of people and trends that shape the industry and help drive it forward.
We’re witnessing a seismic change in shopping habits. Retailers are doubling down on innovative technologies like AR, AI, machine learning, robotics, and automation, and finding ways to use them to boost business efficiency and make customer experiences more exciting and dynamic.
Which is where the RTIH Top 100 Retail Technology Influencers List comes in, presented, we should stress, in no particular order.
Such disruption requires new ways of problem solving and thought leaders who can both evangelise and execute on the likes of digital transformation and omnichannel excellence.
We hope you enjoy reading through it and, as always, if you would like to give feedback or believe that there are some glaring omissions, please feel free to get in touch.
Many thanks to 3D Cloud, which provides 3D product visualisation software trusted by top furniture and DIY retailers, for sponsoring the report.
Retail iPaas specialist Patchworks bags £5 million in funding as it eyes North American growth
Patchworks has closed a £5 million funding round led by Gresham House Ventures, its main investor, with growth lending from Palatine Growth Credit.
Bringing the total funding to date to £16.3 million, this will be invested in expanding sales and marketing to reach more enterprise retailers and brands, driving growth in the North American market, building on early traction in the region, and investing in product development, including new AI features.
The company helps retailers integrate systems across e-commerce, ERP, PoS, PIM, CRM, CDP and fulfilment, with the aim of avoiding common issues like overselling, delayed orders, and inefficient manual data entry.
Jim Herbert, CEO at Patchworks, says: “This follow on investment is a huge vote of confidence in our platform and our strategy. Retailers and brands need flexible, future-proof infrastructure to stay competitive, and Patchworks gives them the power and speed they need.”
“We’re doubling down on the US market, scaling our partner ecosystem, and continuing to enhance the platform with AI and other innovations so our customers can connect, adapt and grow faster.”
Caroline Varga goes global with new role at Uber Direct following three years focused on UK business
Caroline Varga is starting a new role as Head of Uber Direct, EMEA at Uber.
She has been with the company for six and a half years, and previously served as General Manager, Uber Direct (a white label delivery service), UK&I
In a LinkedIn post, she said: "It's been an amazing three years driving the UK Uber Direct business through our rocket ship growth and I'm super excited to work with the team and our partners in more countries."
Reinventing the retail landscape with AI: RTIH presents last week’s biggest technology plays at a glance
RTIH rounds up the stand out retail systems deals, launches, deployments and pilots from the past seven days. Including Gao, Google Cloud, Revolve Group, The Body Shop, Amazon, Asda, M&S, Tesco, Currys Ireland, Ben Sherman, City Beach, and MediaMarktSaturn.
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