Passing the AI driven CX baton: our most read retail technology articles from last week

Check out our most clicked retail technology articles from last week, including Tahina, Five9, Currys, Jellyfish, River Island, Akeneo, Fanatics, Rokt, PLUS, Pricer, and the RTIH AI in Retail Awards.

QSR startup Tahina preps £2 million funding round for flagship London autonomous store

Tahina, a London-based FoodTech startup which combines autonomous retail with fresh, healthy meals, reports that it is working towards a £1.5 million to £2 million investment round (SEIS/EIS approved) to open its flagship London store and scale its cashierless technology.

Co-Founder Javier Troitino-Ramos says: “The traditional fast food model is under pressure. Costs are rising, and customers expect much more. Tahina is providing a clear way forward with our technology driven approach.”

Co-Founder Emilio Malik adds: “With our tech and production model, we’re confident in our ability to grow into a £100 million+ brand over the next decade. People want fresh, sustainable meals without the premium price tag or long wait times - that’s exactly where we thrive.”

Tahina plans to open 10+ locations over the next three years and expand its presence through Tahina Capsules - modular, autonomous food units for offices, universities, hospitals, and event venues. The company says that its aim is to hit £10 million in revenue and disrupt the £980 billion global fast food market.

RTIH AI in Retail Awards finalists announced, including Ikea, Instacart, IBM, AWS, and AutoStore

We're pleased to present the finalists and shortlists for the inaugural RTIH AI in Retail Awards, sponsored by 3D Cloud, EdTech Innovation Hub, and Retail Technology Show.

Congratulations to all those who made it through the initial submission process. We received a huge number of impressive entries highlighting companies across the retail landscape who are not only recognising the potential of AI, but also making it usable in everyday operations - resulting in more efficiency and innovation in all areas.

It’s now over to our judging panel who will decide the winners to be announced at the RTIH AI in Retail Awards Ceremony, taking place  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, presided over by award winning comedian, actress and writer Lucy Porter.

To book your place at the RTIH AI in Retail Awards Ceremony, click here.

Evri announces recruitment drive as BBC Panorama goes undercover at parcel delivery firm

UK parcel delivery firm, Evri Group, has announced a recruitment drive of 2,500 roles nationwide in the wake of a merger with DHL eCommerce UK, and acquisitions of Coll-8 and UK Mail.

This comes amid parcel volumes increasing 12% to 425 million in its record half year results for the 26 weeks ended 30th August 2025. 

Martijn de Lange, CEO, Evri Group, says: “We continue to deliver phenomenal growth at Evri, and none more so than within our hard-working courier network, who are truly the backbone of our business.”

“At a time when many companies are reducing headcount and unemployment is growing, we’re proud to be creating thousands of opportunities and leading the way with initiatives like Evri Plus.”

Evri plans to hire the 2,500 roles across head office corporate functions, couriers, depot and hub roles, and Evri Premium roles. This follows the relaunch of its Evri Plus initiative earlier this year, which it says is backed by union and gives self-employed couriers access to benefits such as 28 days paid holiday, pension contributions, parental leave, and guaranteed national minimum wage.

BBC Panorama

BBC Panorama has gone undercover inside Evri to investigate what's going on behind the scenes at the company.

A documentary, titled Evri: Where's my Parcel, examines the pressures of working in one delivery unit, speaking to unhappy customers as well as couriers who say they struggle to make a living. Panorama notes that Evri disputes these claims and says it provides a fast, reliable and cost-effective delivery service. It also says its couriers earn more than the national minimum wage.

The programme was broadcast on 15th December and made available on BBC iPlayer shortly afterwards. Evri did not respond to our request for comment.

Currys enlists Jellyfish to upgrade website search visibility across traditional and AI platforms

Currys is partnering with digital marketing specialist, Jellyfish, as the electrical and technology retailer looks to make finding the right tech online easier for its customers.

The tie up will focus on upgrading Currys’ website search visibility across traditional and emerging AI powered platforms. Jellyfish will start by reviewing its current search performance, using its Share of Model tool, which looks at how visible ‘Currys’ is across search engines and emerging AI platforms.

It will then will launch a generative engine optimisation (GEO) programme. Jellyfish will also roll out its ‘One Search’ approach, which combines paid ads and organic listings. This will be supported by digital PR to further boost visibility.

“We know that customers are searching in more ways than ever before. We want to be there, showing up and being visible across all search platforms, whether that be the large language models like ChatGPT, Claude and Perplexity, or the well established search engines like Google and Bing. Making it super easy to find the right tech for customers is our key focus at Currys,” says Chris Holyland, Digital Director at Currys.

“That’s why we’re partnering with Jellyfish, to deliver stronger visibility wherever our customers choose to search and shop. It’s all part of our bid to embrace the changing landscape of generative engine optimisation and agentic commerce, and ultimately help everyone enjoy amazing technology. I’m excited to see the benefits our partnership will bring to our customers and Currys.”

AI driven CX specialist Five9 announces appointment of Amit Mathradas as CEO

Five9 has appointed Amit Mathradas as Chief Executive Officer and a Director, effective 2nd February. He will take on the role from board Chairman Mike Burkland, whose decision to retire from the CEO position was announced in July. Burkland will continue to serve on the board.

Until recently, Mathradas served as CEO at Nintex. Prior to that, he was President and Chief Operating Officer at Avalara, which was acquired by Vista Equity Partners in 2022 for $8.4 billion.

Burkland says: “I’m thrilled to welcome Amit as the next CEO of Five9. His deep expertise in product innovation, AI, and operational excellence at scale makes him ideally suited to lead the company into its next chapter.”

“As we advance our AI driven CX strategy, we believe Amit will help lead Five9 to even greater success by furthering our efforts to accelerate growth and deliver meaningful value for our customers, partners, employees, and shareholders.”

“He will lead our efforts to capture greater share in an expanding market, where Five9 is uniquely positioned to win as enterprises increasingly seek unified CX platforms with natively embedded AI. I am confident in Amit’s leadership and proud to pass him the Five9 baton.”

River Island taps Akeneo Product Cloud solution as it embarks upon digital transformation project

Fashion retailer River Island has selected Akeneo Product Cloud as its core PIM solution.

In a LinkedIn post, Andrew Simpson, Enterprise Account Executive at Akeneo, said: “We’re excited to partner with River Island, one of the UK’s leading fashion retail brands, as it embarks on a digital transformation project to modernise how it manages product data.”

“River Island came to us with a complex technology landscape. Multiple product masters, legacy workflows and a spreadsheet-based enrichment. By selecting Akeneo Product Cloud as the core PIM solution, it established one of the foundations for its e-commerce platform. Akeneo will serve as the central backbone powering structured product data and enabling efficient enrichment workflows.”

He concluded: “We look forward to supporting River Island through this transformation and driving smoother data operations, faster go to market, and powerful retail execution with product experience at the core.”

Fanatics taps AI to boost fan engagement and e-commerce revenue via Rokt technology partnership

Fanatics is to use Rokt’s AI powered e-commerce technology to surface highly relevant, exclusive content and offers to sports fans before and after checkout across its owned platforms including Fanatics.com, and team and league sites.

“Our focus remains on relentlessly enhancing the fan experience, and that includes constantly thinking of ways to make shopping with us more seamless and relevant,” says Michael Rubin, CEO at Fanatics..“Rokt’s technology will help us deliver on our promise to fans.”

“Fanatics has redefined what it means to deliver an exceptional fan experience,” says Bruce Buchanan, CEO at Rokt. “We’re thrilled to see Fanatics returning to the Rokt network, and we believe we’ll be able to help Fanatics unlock even greater relevance throughout the e-commerce journey , beginning with Rokt Thanks and Pay+.”

Dutch supermarket chain PLUS places Pricer ESLs order with 2026 start date

Dutch co-operative supermarket chain PLUS has signed an approximately 140 MSEK agreement with Pricer to upgrade 265 of the retailer’s stores with new electronic shelf labels (ESL). The roll-out is planned for 100 stores during 2026 and 165 during 2027.

Since an agreement was agreed in 2020, it has equipped 440 locations with Pricer’s solution based on the store operation platform Pricer Plaza and ESLs, with the aim of increasing the efficiency of several in-store processes, such as supporting in-store picking of online orders, as well as optimising the processes for inventory and stock management.

“This agreement is a testament to our collaborative partnership with PLUS. By transforming aisles into digital gateways, we are transcending the physical shelf to provide the transparency and choice shoppers demand, ensuring they always find exactly what they need, when they need it,” says Kajsa Blixth, Chief Commercial Officer at Pricer.

The upgrade will be from three-colour to four-colour labels. As part of the tie up, Pricer will buy back three million used labels.