Billion dollar bombs and roaming robots: this week's biggest retail technology stories
It's Friday, the weekend is almost upon us, so let’s kick back and reflect on another eventful week for the retail tech space. Here's your briefing on the most important stories from the past few days, including Not On The High Street, Target, ChatGPT, Walmart, PayPal, Liverpool FC, Debenhams Group, Peak, Waitrose, Polytag, Ocado Group, and Kroger.
1. Not On The High Street launches AI shopping assistant The Curator just in time for Christmas
Online marketplace, Not On The High Street, has announced the launch of a new AI shopping assistant, The Curator.
Available through its app from today, this lets customers find items they didn't know existed from the thousands of small brands on the Not On The High Street site. This means that shoppers will be able to consolidate multiple searches and browsing sessions for gifts, or general products they want to buy.
They will be able to search using natural language. For example, a customer can type: “I need a stylish Christmas gift under £40 for my sister who loves gardening”, and The Curator will select a range of relevant, shoppable results which can then be refined.
People can build a shortlist of products that can be saved and referred back to at a later date. Beyond Christmas, The Curator is pitched as a valuable shopping assistant for many occasions, from birthday gifting to decorating a new flat, or buying supplies for an upcoming party.
Once customers have recommendations for a gift, for example their sister’s upcoming birthday, they can add their favourites to a shortlist and come back to them in the app whenever they need, whilst also being able to go back to the original chat and refine the search.
2. Currys wraps electronic shelf edge labels roll-out across stores in tie up with SOLUM and Vestcom
Currys reports that electronic shelf edge labels are now live in all of its 295 stores across the UK and Ireland.
In a LinkedIn post, Martin Raper, Head of Operational Excellence for UK and Ireland at Currys, said: "This is a huge investment and a game-changing step for our stores. Massive thanks to our partners SOLUM and Vestcom for their incredible support in delivering what is already an award winning innovation."
He added: "The benefits are clear: Greater agility in pricing; Over 400,000 hours saved in manual pricing tasks; More time for our colleagues to do what matters most, serving our customers. This milestone is a testament to how technology can transform retail operations and enhance customer experience.”
“So many great people have helped us get to this point. It is a very proud moment for the team and the future of retail at Currys!"
3. Polytag plastic recycling technology live and scaling across Waitrose & Partners stores in the UK
Waitrose has extended its plastic recycling partnership with Polytag into a UK wide scheme.
In doing so, it becomes the first high street supermarket to deploy invisible recycling tags at scale. These have been added to plastic packaing on the majority of its own label fresh milk range.
The move follows a trial announced earlier this year.
Denise Mathieson, Head of Packaging Design & Delivery at Waitrose, said at the time: “We are committed to reducing our impact on the environment and finding innovative solutions to improve the recyclability of our packaging. Joining Polytag's Ecotrace Programme is a significant step forward in enhancing our ability to track and understand the journey of our plastic packaging post-consumption.”
“By leveraging Polytag’s technology, we will gain unprecedented insights into how our packaging is recycled, allowing us to make more informed decisions that support a circular economy.”
“This initiative aligns with our ongoing sustainability efforts and reinforces our dedication to reducing single use plastic waste. We are excited to collaborate with Polytag and other retailers to drive meaningful change at an industry level, ultimately contributing to a more transparent and effective recycling system in the UK.”
In a LinkedIn post, Alice Rackley, CEO at Polytag, said of the nationwide deployment: "Absolutely buzzing. Polytag is live and scaling across Waitrose & Partners. If you’ve ever wondered, “is it worth rinsing out my milk bottles and recycling them…?”, we see you! Keep going! With the Polytag UV tag detection network activated across the UK we are enabling brands like Waitrose & Partners to prove - at barcode level - that their customers are great at recycling."
4. Debenhams Group taps Peak agentic AI technology as it looks to stay ahead of festive demand
Debenhams Group - home to PrettyLittleThing, boohoo, boohooMAN, Karen Millen and Debenhams - has introduced a new artificial intelligence solution to help manage sales, stock and pricing more effectively across its brands.
The agentic AI solution, created in partnership with Peak, can predict and guide decisions - and act on them autonomously - with the aim of saving the merchandising team time each month and increasing the speed and accuracy of decision-making across brands.
Debenhams Group first partnered with Peak in June to explore how AI could enhance product pricing and promotions.
Dan Finley, CEO at Debenhams Group, says: “As a digital first retailer, we’re embracing AI to make smarter, faster decisions that simplify our operations and enhance the customer experience. This technology will transform how we manage stock and pricing - especially during the busy festive season - and help us continue to deliver great value and service across all our brands.”
5. Health and beauty retailer Superdrug announces new exclusive partnership with Just Eat
Superdrug reports a new exclusive UK partnership with Just Eat to bring customers on demand delivery of over 8,000 products, including beauty, fragrance, baby care and medicine, in as little as 30 minutes.
This year, Superdrug has been the most searched high street retailer on Just Eat yet to join the platform.
From November, shoppers in selected postcodes will be able to order from 29 Superdrug stores including, Marble Arch, Glasgow Fort Shopping Centre and Bristol Gallagher Retail Park, with the plan to be nationwide by March next year. .
Superdrug’s Chief Operating Officer, Simon Comins, says: “We’re thrilled to partner with Just Eat, bringing our customers their favourite products straight to their door in 30 minutes or less. It’s no surprise that Superdrug is the most searched retailer on the platform, and this partnership perfectly supports our goal to make shopping with us as seamless and convenient as possible, wherever and however our customers choose to shop.”
6. Billion dollar flop: Kroger's failed automated fulfilment strategy with Ocado worse than it appears
Ocado Group’s shares tumbled on Tuesday after US grocer Kroger said it would close three underperforming warehouses developed using the UK company’s technology.
Ocado Group will miss out on $50 million of revenue in its current financial year as a result of the closures. It will receive $250 million in compensation, while Kroger expects to incur about $2.6 billion in impairments because of the closures and its automated warehouses not meeting financial expectations.
In a LinkedIn post, Brittain Ladd, a supply chain consultant and former Amazon executive, said: “Few people have a better understanding of what’s actually going on at Kroger regarding their partnership with Ocado than I do.”
“I was the first person to recommend in a research report that Kroger should acquire or partner with Ocado, and I was recruited from Amazon by Kroger to work as an internal strategy consultant. The first question I asked the executive team when I arrived was, “What is our Ocado strategy?” No one had an answer.”
He added: “Fast forward to the present and Kroger has announced that following a comprehensive review, it identified opportunities to optimise its fulfillment network by closing Ocado customer fulfilment centre (CFC) facilities in Pleasant Prairie, Wis.; Frederick, Md.; and Groveland, FL, and will monitor the performance at five other Ocado Group facilities.”
Kroger will also pilot capital light, store-based automation in high volume geographies to improve fulfillment capabilities and elevate the in-store customer experience. “Translation: Kroger is going to implement automated micro-fulfillment centres,” Ladd commented.
He continued: “The brutal truth of the matter is that the partnership between Ocado and Kroger failed because of poor decisions made by Ocado CEO Tim Steiner; multiple executives from Kroger including Yael Cossette and CEO Rodney McMullen; and consultants from several firms.”
7. Target expands partnership with ChatGPT as retail giant looks to reimagine AI powered shopping
Launching next week in beta, Target is promising a complete shopping experience through its app in ChatGPT, with the ability to purchase multiple items in a single transaction, shop fresh food products, and select drive up, pick up or shipping fulfillment options.
Shoppers will also soon be able to request personalised recommendations, browse and build baskets from across the retailer’s full assortment, and purchase through their Target account.
“Everything starts with the guest, and that means meeting them wherever they are, including emerging spaces like ChatGPT, where millions of consumers visit," says Prat Vemana, Executive Vice President and Chief Information and Product Officer at Target.
"We're proud to be one of the first retailers bringing shopping into this new channel, partnering with OpenAI to make discovery through the Target app in ChatGPT as easy and joyful as browsing our aisles. Our goal is simple: make every interaction feel as natural, helpful and inspiring as chatting with a friend."
8. Starship Technologies and Uber Eats teams on last mile delivery with robots across Europe and US
Starship Technologies and Uber Technologies have announced a collaboration to roll-out autonomous sidewalk robot delivery across multiple markets. The partnership will start with the UK in December, followed by multiple European countries in 2026, and US expansion planned for 2027.
Robot deliveries are launching in Leeds, UK, during December. They will be operating at level 4 autonomy and will have the capability to complete deliveries in under 30 minutes for distances of up to two miles.
"Together, we're building the infrastructure that will define the next generation of urban logistics," says Ahti Heinla, co-founder and CEO at Starship Technologies. "Uber Eats has built the world's leading delivery platform, with the widest reach, trusted by millions across 10,000 cities. We bring scalable autonomous technology that works profitably at city scale."
“Autonomous delivery is an exciting part of how we see the future of Uber Eats,” says Sarfraz Maredia, Global Head of Autonomous at Uber. “Together with Starship, we’re bringing this future to life across multiple continents, leveraging our global scale and Starship’s proven autonomy to deliver efficient and affordable experiences for consumers and merchants everywhere.”
9. European drugstore chain ROSSMANN connects with Diebold Nixdorf for market entry in Switzerland
Diebold Nixdorf reports that it has supported the Swiss market expansion of ROSSMANN, one of Europe's largest drugstore chains.
The scope of support includes managed services provided via the company’s eServices portal and retail technologies such as self-checkout and PoS systems.
The roll-out of services and retail technology to the first stores in Switzerland is based on a jointly created model for operating, monitoring and servicing ROSSMANN’s store technology infrastructure in Germany.
Since beginning its partnership in 2021, Diebold Nixdorf has supported over 2,350 German ROSSMANN stores with PoS systems, self-service checkouts and related services.
A recent expansion of the collaboration - now encompassing the entire German store hardware infrastructure and additional services, including software installation and inventory management - created the blueprint in Switzerland that will serve as a basis for future expansion in other European locations.
Over the next two years, plans are to connect additional end devices to the eServices portal, including ROSSMANN's back office PCs. These are currently being replaced with DN Series BEETLE M2110 PoS systems.
10. Walmart Realm WhoKnewVille holiday campaign serves up immersive, shoppable experience
In a LinkedIn post, Justin Breton, Head of Brand Experiences & Partnerships at Walmart, said: “We didn’t just launch a holiday campaign this year… We built a world. The holidays don’t just happen in retail. They’re built months in advance.”
“Long before the first decorations go up, our teams are analysing last year’s performance, exploring emerging shopper behaviours, and brainstorming new ways to delight customers in one of the most competitive seasons of the year.”
He added: “This year, we went beyond traditional storytelling. Our holiday campaign came to life not only across TV, digital, and social, but also inside Walmart Realm, our immersive, shoppable destination where customers can explore WhoKnewVille and experience the joy of product discovery in an entirely new, innovative way.”
“In collaboration with the faces of WhoKnewVille, we helped bring our imaginative world of to life in Walmart Realm with their holiday gifting picks from Walmart. From Connor Wood’s Podcast Studio to La La’s Who-normous Closet, each space celebrates the spirit of the season and the gifts to make anyone smile.”
Continue reading…