Including Currys, White Stuff, Tesco: 2025 RTIH Innovation Awards UK retailer finalists announced

We’re pleased to announce the shortlist for the 2025 RTIH Innovation Awards Most Innovative UK Retailer category, sponsored by 3D Cloud.

We received a record number of entries this year and many fantastic examples of the continued resilience and dynamism of the retail space during hugely challenging times.

Congratulations to all those who made it through the initial submission process!

It’s now over to our judging panel who will decide the winners to be announced at the 2025 RTIH Innovation Awards ceremony, taking place  at The HAC in Central London.

The event will be held on Thursday, 16th October and consist of a drinks reception, three course meal, and awards ceremony presided over by award winning comedian, actress and writer Tiff Stevenson.

Book your place at the 2025 RTIH Innovation Awards ceremony on Thursday, 16th October here.

Our 2025 runners and riders as follows:

British Heart Foundation

Shortlisted for a brand new concept store for the British Heart Foundation embracing all things ‘sustainable’. The charity has used several waste donated goods it cannot sell in its stores to produce usable production materials across the shop fit.

The cash desk uses waste clothing to form a rigid counter top. The wall art display wall is constructed from damaged DVD’s and CD’s including their cases. BHF has applied brick slips made from recycled ‘rag’ and the Donation Station counter uses waste white goods from other sources. The lamp shades are made from old bubble wrap and plastic carrier bags. The carpet tiles are 90% recycled and the store lighting system is 3D printed using waste water fountain bottles.

Currys, Vestcom and SOLUM

Currys has set a new benchmark in UK retail by becoming the first major retailer to roll-out ESELs across its entire estate of 300+ stores.

This nationwide transformation, delivered in partnership with SOLUM and Vestcom, reflects a clear commitment to innovation, efficiency, and sustainability. The project demonstrates how strong collaboration between retailer and technology partners can modernise the store environment at scale, creating simpler, smarter shopping for customers and freeing colleagues to focus on service.

It stands as a landmark example of digital transformation, operational excellence, and partnership in action.

Oh Polly

On the pulse when it comes to Instagram grid trends and the consumer’s desire for playful video content, Oh Polly has continued to push boundaries launching its first ever interactive PDPs for new ‘Soft Season’ collection.

The creative allowed products to interact on the website, inviting the customer into an immersive, dynamic storytelling shopping experience. The traditionally static touchpoint was propelled into a viral moment, with video content that appeared to move seamlessly from one PDP listing to the next.

For instance, a model in the brand’s Jaida mini dress cycles from the Shelly playsuit PDP into ‘her own’ PDP square.

Pharmacy2U and Commerce

At the start of 2024, Pharmacy2U offered a wide range of healthcare services, from online NHS prescriptions and private online doctor consultations to wellness products, pet health, and NHS digital services. However, patients faced a fragmented digital ecosystem spread across multiple brands, websites, and apps, requiring repeated logins and payment details.

To overcome this, Pharmacy2U launched the world’s first integrated, personalised healthcare platform under one brand. Leveraging BigCommerce’s headless commerce and open API architecture, the platform unified services, streamlined checkout, enabled real-time tracking, and delivered personalised experiences - transforming accessibility, boosting engagement, and setting a new benchmark for digital healthcare in the UK.

Tesco and LiveRamp

Tesco was facing declining sales across key household groceries, including meat, fish, poultry (MFP), and beers, wines and spirits (BWS), driven by external pressures such as inflation.

To turn the tide, it leveraged its rich first-party data from Clubcard, Mobile, and Bank to create campaigns that were more relevant, measurable, and effective, thereby strengthening loyalty and driving long-term customer value.

Partnering with LiveRamp, Tesco leveraged clean room technology to gain actionable insights, deliver personalised experiences, and drive higher conversions, basket value, and take control in these categories.

White Stuff and AbsoluteLabs

White Stuff transformed customer experience through a comprehensive omnichannel transformation, replacing legacy systems with NewStore's integrated platform implemented by AbsoluteLabs. The tech centric solution unified online, mobile, and in-store experiences, enabling seamless shopping across all touchpoints.

Mobile PoS devices replaced traditional tills, delivering endless aisle capabilities, ship-from-store fulfilment, and mixed cart functionality. The fully integrated approach achieved 22.73% of store sales attributed directly to omnichannel capabilities, proving that sophisticated technology integration can eliminate channel boundaries whilst enhancing customer experience and operational efficiency.