AI shopping agents and in-store cooking robots: check out this week's coolest retail technology plays
RTIH Editor, Scott Thompson, brings you his top ‘future of retail’ systems launches and deployments from the past week, including Lovehoney, Evaro, Bluecore, Snappy Shopper, Mars, Carrefour Belgium, StrongPoint, New Look, TrusTrace, Walmart, Lowe's, Amazon, Circus SE, and REWE Region West.
Amazon
At its Delivering the Future event in Dortmund, Germany this week, Amazon introduced Vulcan, a new AI powered robotic arm that’s its first to have a sense of touch. It says that the system can pick and stow items with greater precision, and helps make work safer and easier for employees at fulfillment centres.
The US online retail giant also announced that it is investing more than €700 million in delivery station technology across Europe and introduced seven new innovations inside its Last Mile Innovation Centre in Dortmund. These new systems aim to make work safer and easier inside delivery stations.
Amazon plans to launch same-day delivery in 20 new locations across Europe, bringing the number of locations to 155 in the next 12 months. And it unveiled other innovations to its operations network designed to place products closer to customers and speed up deliveries.
Over the next three years, it is deploying hundreds of automated packaging machines that will create custom fit boxes and paper bags in real-time, perfectly sized for each item. And it will continue to reduce carbon across its transportation and delivery fleet, including new orders of electric trucks and delivery vans across the globe.
Lovehoney
Lovehoney, an online retailer specialising in adult sex toys and lingerie, has embedded NHS healthcare for its customers via Evaro's AI powered digital health platform.
The new service, called Lovehoney Prescriptions, is available to its UK users as of today and means it becomes the first retailer to offer a fully online NHS funded contraception service - free of charge, with no need to visit a pharmacy or GP in person.
The entire process can be completed digitally, including medical assessment, a phone consultation-based on clinical assessment, and smartphone enabled blood pressure monitoring, with delivery to your door in 24–48 hours.
Evaro's platform, which serves over 750,000 patients, will manage all aspects of prescription fulfillment and delivery.
Bluecore
Bluecore reports that its AI shopping agent alby is now available to retailers on Shopify.
Plushbeds, WAYB and DENALI Electronics are among the early retailers on Shopify using it to curate conversational shopping experiences for consumers.
People can engage directly with alby on a retailer’s website to ask questions about any product that they offer. It learns, decides and acts on a brand’s behalf, pulling in product information, brand assets and incorporating brand voice.
This ensures accurate answers are provided to shoppers and predicts the questions shoppers will ask about specific products before they buy. alby also offers retailers around the clock support and converses in any language across the world to make it easy for consumers to get timely answers to their questions, any time and anywhere they’re shopping.
Pio
Pio, which lays claim to being the market's only plug and play warehouse automation solution for smaller companies, has announced its global expansion, in combination with a full product lineup and a network of new strategic partners.
Built on AutoStore technology, Pio’s compact, cube-based robotics system uses smart automation to store and retrieve products with, the company claims, five times the efficiency of manual picking, 99.9% accuracy to eliminate costly fulfillment mistakes, and 99.7% system uptime to support seamless scaling.
With Robots-as-a-Service (RaaS) pricing, customers can also reduce picking labour costs by up to 80%. Installations take as little as five days.
Pio now offers four scalable, modular systems: P100: For businesses with fewer than 10,000 monthly orders; P200: For mid-sized operations scaling fulfillment; P400: For high volume fulfillment centres; P600: For larger warehouses needing Pio’s highest capacity.
Snappy Shopper and Young Scot
Quick commerce firm Snappy Shopper has partnered with Young Scot to offer free delivery on grocery orders to young people across Scotland.
The initiative supports 18+ Young Scot National Entitlement Card holders, with the aim of providing them with affordable access to essentials while boosting business for local convenience stores.
Kirsten Urquhart, CEO at Young Scot, says: “We are thrilled to partner with Snappy Shopper to make grocery shopping more affordable for young people. This initiative ensures they can access essential items with free delivery, easing financial pressure and promoting independence. Together, we’re helping young people save while supporting their everyday needs.”
To access the offer, eligible Young Scot members can log in to their membership account, retrieve a unique free delivery code, and apply it at checkout via the Snappy Shopper app or website.
“This partnership is about giving young people the support they need to access essentials affordably,” says Mike Callachan, CEO at Snappy Shopper. “By removing delivery costs, we’re making everyday shopping easier, while continuing to support the local retailers who are the backbone of our communities.”
Nespresso
Nespresso has opened its London flagship location in Covent Garden.
Located at 34 Henrietta Street, spanning 1,345 sq ft, overlooking Covent Garden’s West Piazza, this offers several spaces to move through; a ‘Taste and Discover’ bar area offers customers the opportunity to explore their own unique coffee preferences with curated recipes, tasting masterclasses, and sampling of the latest innovations, including the new summer iced coffee collection.
A dedicated personalisation area offers bespoke travel mug engravings and gift wrapping.
Nespresso worked with British designer Vicky Charles, Founder of Charles & Co, to amplify the historic interior while adding a modern twist. This includes British made furniture; a custom U-shaped banquette by George Smith, and a four metre wide floral chandelier by Cox London echoing the organic beauty of the coffee plant and celebrating Covent Garden’s heritage as a flower market.
As a certified B Corporation, Nespresso offers visitors a dedicated space in the boutique for coffee pod recycling and conversations with specialists about the sustainability and ethical sourcing behind each pod.
Mars
Mars has launched AI powered tools enabling poeple to monitor their pets’ health. This launch is part of the company's $1 billion investment in its Pet Nutrition business.
GREENIES Canine Dental Check, the first of the suite of tools, is available now in the US. This aims to make the monitoring the appearance of dog’s teeth and gums simple - all from a smartphone photo.
The solution scans for signs of tartar buildup and gum irritation in seconds, using an AI model trained on over 53,000 images of dog mouths. Pet parents receive the results, along with recommendations on next steps. For further guidance, users can consult a Licensed Veterinary Technician via Mars’ PETconnect by GREENIES service.
Makip
Japan-based sizing technology specialist Makip has upgraded its Unisize 3D technology to provide online shoppers with an avatar of themselves, tailored to their unique body shape.
Using Unisize 3D, online shoppers will be able to virtually try on fashion purchases and check their appearance from four angles -front, back, left and right - to see how the item will fit them before ordering.
Retail Economics found in 2024 that 17 out of every 100 products sold online are returned. Return rates in the fashion industry can be as high as 30%, with incorrect sizing often blamed for a large number of these.
Unisize 3D uses information about the user’s body shape alongside the dimensions of the clothing to allow shoppers to check the fit before making a purchase. Its new 3D function allows select users to view the avatar wearing different shoes to check trouser length, while the previous 2D model always showed images barefoot.
THG Ingenuity
THG Fulfil, a fulfilment and courier management solution from THG Ingenuity, has announced the implementation of the Pio P100, a warehouse automation system created by Autostore, in its Manchester facility.
THG Fulfil is not only implementing P100 in its Manchester facility but is also a distribution and build partner for both Pio and Autostore, allowing brands interested in implementing their own automation solutions to benefit from a live demonstration of its capabilities.
With a total throughput of 7,200 units per day, the P100 features three robots and 1,400 bins in less than 500 sq.ft (approximately three car parking spaces). It promises reliable and continuous operations with 99.7% system uptime and 99.9% pick accuracy.
Tom Killeen, COO, THG Ingenuity, says: “The impact of fulfilment on customer acquisition, retention, and profitability cannot be overstated. We have been diligently optimising Autostore and automation technology for over five years. With our proprietary technology and optimisation know-how, we are perfectly placed as distribution and build partners to sell, install and optimise Autostore and Pio systems to ensure our clients can meet their end-consumer promises.”
“We are continuously looking at how to redefine what’s possible in e-commerce fulfilment. Now, SMEs no longer have to choose between affordability and innovation; they can automate faster, operate smarter, and scale more efficiently than ever before,” adds Killeen.
Carrefour Belgium
Carrefour Belgium has picked StrongPoint’s Order Picking solution for in-store fulfilment. Deployment is expected to begin and be completed in 2025.
“We chose StrongPoint’s solution to fulfill our scheduled home delivery orders because their order picking system is responding very well to our needs when it comes to in-store grocery order picking. It’s purpose built for handling grocery orders with exceptional speed and accuracy,” says Jan Pollier, Carrefour Belgium Digital & E-Commerce Director.
“The solution enables us to improve efficiency, reduce operational costs, and deliver a more reliable service to our customers. StrongPoint’s deep expertise in grocery operations was clear throughout the process and gave us confidence in their ability to support our ambitions.”
“That such an esteemed and globally recognised brand has chosen StrongPoint’s Order Picking solution is a clear testament to the world class nature of our technology. Its deployment outside our core markets further demonstrates the solution’s scalability and adaptability, and highlights our ability to support leading grocery retailers no matter where they operate,” says Jacob Tveraabak, StrongPoint CEO.
Circus SE and REWE Region West
Circus SE, a specialist in AI software and robotics for the food service industry, has announced an exclusive pilot partnership with REWE Markt, West Regional Branch.
This will see the autonomous cooking robot CA-1 being deployed in several REWE supermarkets in Germany, together with the cloud-based Circus Software Suite. The pilot will begin during the autumn and is pitched as the world’s first integration of autonomous food production in grocery retail.
Under the agreement, REWE Region West will receive three CA-1 units along with a software package that includes ordering systems, kitchen control, and AI driven production management. The eight-month pilot phase includes joint operations, training, marketing activities, and a performance evaluation based on customer satisfaction, technical performance, and operational feasibility.
New Look
New Look has onboarded its core supplier base to TrusTrace, a platform for supply chain traceability and compliance data management.
The retailer says that it is also committed to ensuring that all future suppliers are onboarded to the platform.
It can use this technology to monitor and manage supplier data with greater accuracy and depth, enabling the business to fully understand and measure the social and environmental impact of its sourcing decisions and meet emerging regulatory requirements.
These insights are also fed through to the retailer’s proprietary Enterprise Data Platform, to allow for real-time changes to its supply chain.
Lowe's
Lowe's has launched Mylow Companion, an AI tool aimed at improving customer service and speeding associate onboarding.
Purpose built for associate sales floor devices, this aims to provide fast access to product details, project advice, and inventory information.
The launch to all employees across Lowe's more than 1,700 stores is pitched as the first time a retailer has successfully implemented this kind of technology at scale.
"Mylow Companion is another example of Lowe's living out its commitment to elevate the customer and associate experience," says Seemantini Godbole, Lowe's Chief Digital and Information Officer.
"Whether associates have been on the job for five weeks or five years, they can be confident they're delivering expert level advice and assistance, and customers can trust they're getting the best service and experience of any retailer."
Walmart
The aim was to celebrated creativity, individuality, and one of Walmart’s core beliefs: great design should be accessible to everyone.
Walmart Creator gives people the tools they need to share product recommendations and earn money while doing it.
In a LinkedIn post, Melanie O’Gwynn, Growth Marketing - Walmart Creator, said: “More than anything, the dinner was about community. Walmart Creator exists because of the creators who bring it to life every day. From the start, this platform has been built with creators and for creators - the voices who inspire others (and me!) daily. Your ideas, energy, and feedback drive where we go next.”
She added: “Thank you to everyone who joined us and to every creator helping build this growing community - there’s so much more to come. If you’re a creator interested in joining Walmart Creator - or a talent manager with creators who’d be a great fit - I’d love to connect.”
“And a huge shout out to the incredible Walmart Creator team and our cross-functional partners. None of this would’ve been possible without you.”
Ecomtent
Ecomtent, a startup focused on helping sellers and retailers with AI powered search that was founded by former Amazon executive Max Sinclair, has launched a Shopify and OpenAI integration.
This enables companies to get their product listings featured in ChatGPT Shopping. Further details here.
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