Halloween focused Raising Cane's rises to the top: last week's most read retail technology articles
Check out our most clicked retail technology articles from last week, including Emperia, Blackpool Football Club, Boxbar Tech, VusionGroup, Morrisons, commercetools, Walmart, Ikea, Royal Mail, and the 2025 RTIH Innovation Awards.
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.
Blackpool Football Club teams with BoxBar Tech to boost bar experience at Bloomfield Road
Blackpool Football Club's Bloomfield Road ground has become a Boxbar Tech venue as it looks to elevate the bar experience for fans.
The project involved: Fixed wall installation, three points of sale and six serving taps, triple the number of serving points within the existing space, serving capacity of up to 720 pints per hour, San Miguel and Guinness, and payments integrated with Global Payments.
In a LinkedIn post, Boxbar Tech said: "The result? Faster service. Happier fans. And a smoother matchday experience. It’s been fantastic collaborating with the team at Blackpool FC, who are so committed in driving real innovation and investing in the supporter experience. There’s an exciting energy around the club and we’re proud to be a part of that journey."
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 this month 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.
2025 RTIH Innovation Awards winners announced. Congrats to our winners including @poqcommerce @LiveRamp @Nextail_co @currys @hanshowofficial and thanks to our sponsors, judges, event attendees and the legend that is @tiffstevenson for hosting #RTIHAwards25 https://t.co/YtWksWh6NE
— Retail Technology Innovation Hub (@RTIH_RetailTech) October 17, 2025
Major leadership shakeup at commercetools as CEO Andrew Burton opts to leave the company
Andrew Burton has decided to leave commercetools, and Doug McNary has stepped in as CEO.
B2B e-commerce business and strategy specialist, Andy Hoar, broke the news on LinkedIn.
“Doug McNary will become the third CEO at commercetools in fewer than 16 months, following the transition from co-founder Dirk Hoerig to Andrew Burton in July 2024. While no explanation has been given for Burton’s departure, the move follows a sequence of recent layoffs and growing questions about the company’s execution against its go to market strategy,” he commented.
“Many in the industry will see this as a clear signal that the board is pushing for a strategic reset. All eyes will be on Doug McNary as he takes the helm, with stakeholders and employees eager to hear about any updates or shifts in the company’s plans moving forward.”
VusionGroup inks deal to equip Morrisons stores with over 10.8 million electronic shelf labels
Morrisons is partnering with VusionGroup to roll-out electronic shelf labels across all of its 497 stores, becoming the first large UK supermarket group to adopt the technology across its entire estate.
VusionGroup will install 10.8 million smart electronic shelf labels in total.
These will eliminate traditional paper labels throughout the store, providfing price and product information. ESLs will also ensure Morrisons More Card savings and offers are instantly communicated to customers at the shelf edge.
The technology will integrate with Morrisons digital shelf-edge cameras, to guide colleagues to product gaps, speeding up shelf replenishment and integrating with e-commerce applications to make online picking easier and more accurate.
Morrisons will also work with VusionGroup to explore how to leverage the data generated across various initiatives, with the aim of identifying new opportunities to enhance store operations and customer experience.
Here's why everyone in retail should take notice of Walmart's OpenAI e-commerce tie up
Last week, Walmart announced a new partnership with OpenAI that will start with allowing customers and members to soon shop with the US retail giant through ChatGPT using Instant Checkout.
“For many years now, e-commerce shopping experiences have consisted of a search bar and a long list of item responses. That is about to change. There is a native AI experience coming that is multi-media, personalised and contextual. We are running towards that more enjoyable and convenient future with Sparky and through partnerships including this important step with OpenAI,” says Doug McMillon, President and CEO at Walmart.
While AI is the fun new buzzword, everyone in the retail space should stand up and take notice of this, according to Kevin Gamble, Chief Digital Officer at Ikea.
In a LinkedIn post, he said: "Walmart follows in the OpenAI partnership footsteps of Shopify and Etsy, marking a huge shift in the retail and e-commerce space, potentially opening the door to even more hyperpersonalisation, better metrics and customisation. Even though ChatGPT only accounts for less than 1% of total traffic to Walmart, that number should increase exponentially over the coming year(s)."
"This? This is how you use AI. Better experience for customers, fewer clicks, integrated in to existing systems, driving top line sales."
Mike Richmond joins Royal Mail after 'incredible' journey at OOH/PUDO specialist Doddle and Blue Yonder
Mike Richmond will soon be starting a new role at Royal Mail as Managing Director, Consumer.
He is joining from Blue Yonder and its subsidiary Doddle, where he spent 11 years.
In a LinkedIn post, he said: "The journey at Doddle was incredible. Starting as innovators in the OOH/PUDO space back in 2014, we experienced all the highs and lows of being a startup and growth stage business, before a pretty major pivot and a slower and more gradual path to success as a supplier of market leading OOH/PUDO and returns solutions to some of the world's best carriers and retailers."
He added: "Blue Yonder was a perfect acquirer for Doddle, and they are thinking about returns in a totally different way to the rest of the market, seeing returns as an integrated supply chain challenge and opportunity. People who think about returns strategically really should be speaking to the BY team, especially following the recent Optoro acquisition."
"I'm joining Royal Mail as MD, Consumer, so will be responsible for all of the parcels that consumers inject into the network, covering C2C, C2X, returns, marketplaces and Resellers. Having spent the last couple of days (in advance of joining) at the Royal Mail Senior Leadership conference, I'm massively excited about getting started in a few weeks' time, after a quick holiday with the family."
Delivery robots in the streets of Hamburg, Germany: last week’s biggest technology plays at a glance
Including Starship Technologies, REWE, Veloq, Kingfisher, Holland & Barrett, AutoStore, e.l.f. Cosmetics, Mattel, Roblox, Raising Cane’s, Emperia, Dollar Tree, H&M, Circ, Sainsbury's, Walmart, OpenAI, Ulta Beauty, Wolt, and Pingo Doce.
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