How do you solve a problem like Whole Foods?: our most read retail technology articles from last week
Check out our most clicked retail technology articles from last week, including Amazon, Whole Foods Market, Kroger, Ocado Group, Alibaba Group, Rezolve Ai, Levi Strauss & Co., Debenhams Group, Peak, and the RTIH AI in Retail Awards.
'Not a good fit': is Amazon looking to offload Whole Foods Market amid rise of agentic AI adoption?
Amazon is exploring strategic options for Whole Foods Market, according to Brittain Ladd, a supply chain consultant and former Amazon executive.
It stumped up $13.7 billion for Whole Foods in 2017., and recently unveiled a new concept store in Plymouth Meeting, PA, USA combining WFM natural and organic products with Amazon’s name brand groceries and household essentials, with the aim of allowing customers to complete their entire shopping list in one location.
The store features a 10,000-square foot automated micro-fulfillment centre that houses over 12,000 unique items, enabling customers to order additional products via QR codes while shopping in-store or through online delivery and pickup options. Amazon says that it plans to refine and expand the offering to additional stores over time.
In a LinkedIn post, Ladd said: “If a picture is worth a thousand words, a video is priceless. Nothing demonstrates this fact more than a video released by Amazon and WFM to demonstrate their latest efforts at making grocery shopping more convenient for customers by thoughtfully blending our grocery offerings and leveraging new fulfillment capabilities in creative ways."
“WFM CEO Jason Buechel says he is "excited" about the latest innovation to make shopping easier: "We’ve built an automated MFC in the store's back of house area at our Pennsylvania location, giving customers the opportunity to add items they can't find in-store - all in one stop. I am so excited for our customers to experience this innovation to shop for everything on their grocery list at one convenient stop or one online order, all while maintaining the quality standards our customers trust on shelves at Whole Foods Market."
Ladd countered: “What Buechel fails to mention is that the reason why 12,000 unique items (CPG products such as Tide, Cheetos, Oreos) have to be placed inside the MFC is because he refuses to allow the products to be sold on the shelves at WFM. Stated another way, the reason why customers can't find all of the items they want to buy in the store is because of Buechel.”
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.
Brittain Ladd, a supply chain consultant and former Amazon executive, says: “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 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.”
Levi Strauss & Co. develops agentic AI platform and launches new store and e-commerce tools
Levi Strauss & Co., in partnership with Microsoft, has announced the development of an integrated agentic AI orchestration platform built around a single “super agent” to simplify and automate task driven work throughout the organisation.
Developed for LS&Co.’s corporate employees, the super agent is built on an agentic framework embedded within Microsoft Teams and powered by Azure.
It integrates several AI powered sub-agents deployed across IT, human resources, operations and more. It will act as an intelligent intermediary, drawing on the strengths of each specialised agent with the aim of delivering better support, insights and automation throughout the business, making complex and repetitive work more efficient and accessible.
The super agent is currently being built and tested and will be rolled out in early 2026, with expansion to global offices throughout the year.
Alibaba hails big moment in move to becoming agentic AI powered e-commerce platform
Alibaba has launched AI Mode, a feature which integrates agentic AI capabilities directly into the user journey.
Set to roll-out this December, this is pitched as "a reimagining of how businesses discover, evaluate, and engage with suppliers in the $30 trillion B2B market".
It follows the company’s September announcement to augment its traditional keyword-based search with deep search, powered by large language models.
Once live, AI Mode will interpret natural language queries, analyse technical specifications, and automatically compare suppliers across pricing, logistics, certifications, and production capabilities, delivering tailored recommendations in seconds. By connecting with existing Alibaba services such as secure payment, Trade Assurance and after-sales support, AI Mode aims to enable a fully automated, end-to-end trade experience.
Kuo Zhang, President at Alibaba, says: “AI is no longer a supplementary tool for us - it’s evolving into the operating system of our platform.”
JD Sports veteran and CX specialist Dan McGrath added to 2026 RTIH AI in Retail Awards judging panel
We're hugely pleased to announce the addition of Dan McGrath to the judging panel for the RTIH AI in Retail Awards, sponsored by 3D Cloud and EdTech Innovation Hub.
With nearly 16 years at JD Sports and an entire career in retail, Dan is a recognised leader in retail technology and innovation. As Head of Customer Operations, he focuses on how emerging technologies can transform customer experiences and empower employees to perform at their best.
A true futurist, Dan explores the intersection of digital and physical retail, continually seeking ways to make the shopping journey more seamless, connected, and human.
Welcome onboard, Dan!
Don't delay, enter today!
The RTIH AI in Retail Awards is now open for entries. Deadline for submissions is Friday, 5th December. It’s free to enter and you can do so across multiple categories.
Check out categories and entry forms here.
As we witness a digital transformation revolution across all channels, AI tools are reshaping the omnichannel game, from personalising customer experiences to optimising inventory, uncovering insights into consumer behaviour, and enhancing the human element of retailers' businesses.
With 2025 set to be the year when AI and especially gen AI shake off the ‘heavily hyped’ tag and become embedded in retail business processes, our newly launched awards celebrate global technology innovation in a fast moving omnichannel world and the resulting benefits for retailers, shoppers and employees.
Our 2025 winners will be those companies who not only recognise the potential of AI, but also make it usable in everyday work - resulting in more efficiency and innovation in all areas.
Winners will be announced at an evening event at The Barbican in Central London on Thursday, 29th January. This will kick off with a drinks reception in the stunning Conservatory, followed by a three course meal, and awards ceremony in the Garden Room.
Howe Gu announces exit from Microsoft for SVP Partnerships Ecosystems role at Rezolve Ai
Howe Gu has joined Rezolve Ai (a specialist in conversational commerce for retail and e-commerce) as Senior Vice President of Partnerships & Ecosystems.
He was previously at Microsoft where he spent seven and a half years, holding various roles, most recently EMEA Head & MD, RCG Industry & Partner Sales. Gu has also worked at PwC and Deloitte.
In a LinkedIn post, he said: “For nearly a year during my time at Microsoft, I had the privilege of working alongside the Rezolve AI team, gaining a firsthand look at their vision, technology, and drive. That experience made it clear that Rezolve AI is a company redefining what’s possible at the intersection of commerce and artificial intelligence - and I couldn’t be more thrilled to officially join the team”
He added that the company is “transforming the way global brands engage with their customers through its AI first platform, delivering human level conversational experiences, smarter product discovery, seamless checkout, and unified customer journeys.”
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.”
Including Keeyu, GetVocal, and GoWit: eight retail technology funding rounds you need to know about
Includes AI powered platforms that turn live engagement data into real-time insights, and solutions that detect and fix e-commerce issues before customers even notice them, including delivery delays, stockouts, failed payments, refund errors, carrier mismatches, and fulfilment bottlenecks.
Continue reading…