Simbe's Caitlin Allen: rise of robotics in retail moves beyond early adopters stage and into mainstream

We're now at a point in the robotics' S curve where lighthouse customers have joined early adopters, providing confidence to the majority who now want to act quickly, before time is too short. So says Caitlin Allen, SVP of Market at Simbe.

In a LinkedIn post, she said: “The definition of a robot has changed many times. They clean our carpets, wash our dishes. So what does state-of-the-art robotics mean today?”

“Earlier this week, I had the privilege of digging into this question (and more) on a panel with Rajat Bhageria (Founder and CEO at Chef Robotics), Samir Menon (Founder and CEO at Dexterity), Saman Farid (Founder and CEO at Formic Technologies), and host John Furrier (SiliconANGLE CEO) - sponsored by SiliconANGLE & theCUBE, and NYSE.”

She added that the conversation touched on many topics: robots-as-a-service business models, safety, whether hardware or software engineering is more important, and how robots make humans more important.

And she concluded that robotics in retail has gone mainstream, with an increasing number of companies now comfortable enough to dip their toes in the water, encouraged by the success of various early adopters.

It's official 🎉 We're expanding our partnership w/ grocer & distributor SpartanNash to bring Simbe's tech to over half of their corporate owned stores!

Why? Our partners describe how they're using our market-leading data & analytics best in this video👇 https://t.co/RFV4PDyOmD

— Simbe Robotics (@simberobotics) February 13, 2024

Intelligent stores

Retailers are hemorrhaging $162.7 billion in lost margin each year due to in-store inefficiencies - a 27% increase from 2024 - and pressure is rising, according to a new study from Coresight Research and Simbe.

This highlights an urgent need to digitise stores using AI and automation, with the findings demonstrating how top retailers are closing the execution gap and why others risk falling permanently behind.

“Industry leaders are no longer asking if stores will become intelligent, but when,” says Brad Bogolea, CEO and Co-founder of Simbe. “Retailers need a real-time view of what products are on shelves, where they are, and whether they’re priced correctly. We built Simbe to help retail teams answer those questions - automatically, at scale, and without guesswork.”

2025 RTIH INNOVATION AWARDS

Automation will be a key focus area at the 2025 RTIH Innovation Awards.

The awards, which are now open for entries, celebrate global tech innovation in a fast moving omnichannel world.

Our 2024 hall of fame entrants were revealed during an event which took place at RIBA’s 66 Portland Place HQ in Central London on 21st November, and consisted of a drinks reception, three course meal, and awards ceremony presided over by comedian Lucy Porter.

In his welcome speech, Scott Thompson, Founder and Editor, RTIH, said: “The event is now into its sixth year and what a journey it has been. The awards started life as an online only affair during the Covid outbreak, before launching as a small scale in real life event and growing year on year to the point where we’re now selling out this fine, historic venue.”

He added: “Congratulations to all of our finalists. Many submissions did not make it through to the final stage, and getting to this point is no mean feat. Checkout-free stores, automated supply chains, immersive experiences, on-demand delivery, next generation loyalty offerings, inclusive retail, green technology. We’ve got all the cool stuff covered this evening.”

“But just importantly we’ve got lots of great examples of companies taking innovative tech and making it usable in everyday operations - resulting in more efficiency and profitability in all areas.”

Congratulations to our 2024 winners, and a big thank you to our sponsors, judging panel, the legend that is Lucy Porter, and all those who attended November's gathering. 

For further information on the 2025 RTIH Innovation Awards, please fill in the below form and we will get back to you asap.