So long, Amazon Fresh grocery stores: our most read retail technology articles from last week
Check out our most clicked retail technology articles from last week, including Walmart, Asda, Microsoft, Fanatics, THG, Deliveroo, Wing, Lafayette Engineering, Attabotics, and the 2025 RTIH Innovation Awards.
2025 RTIH Innovation Awards: finalists revealed, winners to be announced next month
We're pleased to present the finalists and shortlists for the 2025 RTIH Innovation Awards, sponsored by Vista Technology Support, STRATACACHE, 3D Cloud, EdTech Innovation Hub, and Retail Technology Show.
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!
In-depth breakdowns of each category and the shortlisted submissions will be published on this site over the next few days, starting tomorrow with Bricks and Mortar Innovation, Supply Chain Innovation, Payments Innovation, and Most Innovative UK Retailer.
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.
Lafayette Engineering inks agreement to acquire Attabotics following bankruptcy filing
In early July, we reported on the spectacular rise and fall of Attabotics, a Canadian warehouse automation systems specialist which had inked a major agreement with Tesco, and also filed for bankruptcy.
And now court filings show that Attabotics has entered an asset purchase agreement dated 17th September with Lafayette Systems.
In a LinkedIn post, Brittain Ladd, a supply chain consultant and former Amazon executive, observed that the Court of King’s Bench of Alberta has issued an approval and vesting order for 22nd September, authorising the sale of substantially all assets to Lafayette Systems and vesting title on closing.
“The sale price was not disclosed but is estimated to be around $20 million. When I broke the story that Attabotics was going out of business, I estimated the winning bid would be $30 million or more,” Ladd commented.
“LaFayette Engineering specialises in the design/installation of conveyor controls, high speed sortation, robotics integration, and warehouse automation software/services. They’re considered to be one of the best engineering and automation firms in the US,” he added.
Ladd continued: “Robert Robbins is the CEO and owner of LaFayette Engineering. Bruce Robbins is the President. Robert and Bruce Robbins are respected and highly capable executives. I’m very familiar with their accomplishments, and I have tremendous respect for both individuals and the company. I believe Attabotics is a great fit for LaFayette Engineering.”
There were six bidders vying to acquire Attabotics. The identities have been sealed.
NFL and Fanatics prep temporary Dublin store ahead of inaugural game at Croke Park this month
The National Football League (NFL) and Fanatics, its retail partner, opened a temporary store in Dublin ahead of the sport’s inaugural game at Croke Park on 28th September.
Located at St Stephen’s Green, the 600 sqm pop-up opened on 23rd September for six days, offering fans a chance to shop official NFL jerseys, apparel, and merchandise from all 32 teams.
The city centre store will also sell exclusive 2025 NFL Dublin game merchandise as well as limited edition local collaborations.
Walmart becomes first retailer to offer prescriptions with groceries in a single online order
Walmart is laying claim to being the first retailer to offer refrigerated and reconstituted prescription delivery, like insulin, GLP-1s, and pediatric amoxicillin, together with groceries and everyday essentials in a single online order.
The service is now live. With this change, Walmart says it is now able to deliver more than 90% of pharmacy medications to customers.
“We continue to unlock new levels of convenience while also broadening access to critical medications,” says Kevin Host, Senior Vice President of Pharmacy at Walmart. “Adding refrigerated prescriptions to our pharmacy delivery capabilities is the result of listening to our customers, identifying where we can create even better, seamless experiences and keeping the communities we serve at the heart of what we do.”
Copies of Cardi B's album Am I the Drama? fly off the shelves via Wing Walmart drone delivery tie up
Wing, Walmart, and Cardi B officially set the record for the most drone deliveries in one hour, delivering 176 CDs, in what was pitched as a first of its kind album drop in Dallas-Fort Worth.
Fans across the metro area received signed copies of Cardi B’s new album, Am I the Drama?, delivered by Wing from a local Walmart.
We really just broke a Guinness world record 😩 pic.twitter.com/COVsqTRBSl
— Cardi B (@iamcardib) September 19, 2025
THG's Matthew Moulding defends Deliveroo's William Shu after negative media attention
Matthew Moulding, Founder and CEO at e-commerce firm THG, has taken to social media to defend Deliveroo founder William Shu, after he received criticism for leaving the food delivery business he co-founded 12 years ago once an acquisition by DoorDash is finalised next month.
In a LinkedIn post, Moulding said: “It was with mixed emotions that I read William Shu is standing down from the company he founded. I’ve spoken to Will a few times over the years, and exchanged messages, though I wouldn't say I know him. But what I do know is that the contribution he’s made to the UK makes him one of Britain’s finest entrepreneurs in recent times.”
He noted that, since starting Deliveroo, Shu has built it into a household name that goes head to head with US tech giants such as Uber. From an idea on paper, Deliveroo has gone on to give employment for 135,000 riders, with annual revenues of c£2 billion. “Just imagine the contribution this is making to the UK through tax receipts, direct and indirect employment - it's phenomenal,” Moulding commented.
Plug set to be pulled on all Just Walk Out technology powered Amazon Fresh stores in UK
Amazon is binning its ambitious Amazon Fresh experiment in the UK, just four years after the US online giant launched its first grocery store in London.
It is set to shutter its 19 Fresh stores, with plans to convert five of these into Whole Foods Market locations.
The first one opened in the UK during 2021 in Ealing, west London, powered by Just Walk Out technology.
The original target was a portfolio of more than 200 locations by the end of 2025. However, the concept failed to catch on in a notoriously competitive grocery retail space dominated by the likes of Tesco, Sainsbury’s, M&S, Co-op, and Asda.
Amazon did not say how many staff would be affected by the closures, but it does plan to offer workers new roles in other parts of the business. The comes amid a broader overhaul of its grocery retail strategy, with a stronger focus on Whole Foods.
Cloud first as Asda and Microsoft lay claim to one of UK's largest ever retail technology deals
Asda is expanding its partnership with Microsoft in what is pitched as one of the UK’s biggest retail tech deals to date, involving the use of Azure and Copilot.
Four years ago, Asda began separating from its former owner, Walmart. Project Future, as the programme became known, aimed to establish a best-of-breed “digital core” of specialist systems based on a cloud first strategy.
“We wanted world class partners to look after the digital core, so we could focus on what we’re really good at: retailing and using data to deliver propositions for customers,” says Matt Kelleher, Asda’s Chief Digital Officer.
“When you’re cloud first, you can flex, you can optimise, and you can trust your partners to customise, update, maintain and protect the systems. That’s a real advantage.”
“We’ve built an ecosystem of systems that helps us develop, manage, tune and change our propositions for customers. That might be products, our price position, our price architectures, our range assortments, or what we’re learning about customer trends.”
The Microsoft deal, which builds on a commercial relationship that began in 2022, sees Azure expand its role as Asda’s primary cloud platform, underpinning everything from data and analytics to security and integration.
Data analytics from Azure Databricks and Microsoft Fabric helps turn data from across the core platforms into the prices and deals it presents to customers, while Microsoft Defender provides security for the whole digital core.
Continue reading…