Raising Cane’s gets spooky: check out our most read retail technology articles from October
Check out our most clicked retail technology articles from October, including Emperia, Nestlé, SAP, commercetools, Walmart, Symbotic, Tesco, Marketplacer, Mirakl, and the 2025 RTIH Innovation Awards.
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.
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."
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.”
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.
Nestlé claims SAP first with digital upgrade enabling AI and automation deployment at scale
Nestlé has completed the first part of an overhaul of its global digital core with what is pitched as the world's largest ever SAP upgrade to SAP S/4HANA Cloud Private edition.
It says that this will enable the deployment of AI at scale to achieve better insights as well as the automation and improvement of processes across the company's business operations.
It includes embedding SAP's AI copilot directly into Nestlé's core business systems to help employees access insights, automate routine tasks, and make faster, more informed decisions. This will help Nestlé better respond to changing consumer trends and retailer needs and improve efficiency in areas such as supply chain management, procurement, order fulfilment for retailers and investment prioritisation.
Anna Manz, Nestlé CFO and responsible for Integrated Business Services, says: "Driving growth through innovation is a top priority. We are transforming our business to invest more boldly in the best opportunities. We need to combine great consumer insights and innovation with flexibility and scale, to provide great quality products to consumers around the world when, where and how they want them."
"This upgrade will help us build multi-year innovation pipelines, more agile production and digital-first marketing and sales platforms for areas like cold coffee, therapeutic pet food and modern cooking aids."
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."
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."
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