Amanda Yu takes on Growth and Lifecycle Director role at online groceries firm Ocado Retail

Amanda Yu has taken on an expanded role as Growth and Lifecycle Director at Ocado Retail, with commercial ownership of growth across the full customer lifecycle, including acquisition, retention, reactivation, loyalty and subscription.

She was previously Head of Strategy and Chief of Staff to the CEO, having joined Ocado Retail in 2021 from Bain & Company.

Sales push

Last month, we reported that Ocado Group was gearing up for a renewed push to sell its technology worldwide as exclusivity deals with the majority of its global retail customers were switched off.

It is set to end mutual exclusivity contracts in most of the markets where its automation grocery tech is live, including in the US with Kroger.

Tim Steiner, Chief Executive at Ocado Group, said: “As we continue to support all of our partners to improve and grow their online businesses, we will also now bring the full range of Ocado’s AI powered and robotic solutions back to multiple markets.”

He added: “In the five years since our first international customer fulfilment centres went live, we have substantially evolved our market leading solutions and broadened our offering to meet retailers wherever they are on their online journey. As we enter 2026, Ocado is well positioned to help more retailers capture market share in the world’s fastest growing grocery channel.”

2026 RTIH Innovation Awards

Grocery delivery will be a key focus area at the 2026 RTIH Innovation Awards.

The awards will open for entries in April. They celebrate global retail technology innovation in a fast moving omnichannel world.

Our winners will be revealed at the 2026 RTIH Innovation Awards Ceremony, taking place at The HAC in Central London on Thursday, 15th October.

Check out our 2025 winners here.

Our 2025 hall of fame entrants were revealed during a sold out event which took place at The HAC on 16th October and consisted of a drinks reception, three course meal, and awards ceremony presided over by award winning comedian, actress and writer Tiff Stevenson.

In his welcome speech, Scott Thompson, Founder and Editor, RTIH, said: “This is the awards’ fifth year as a physical event. We started off with just 30 people at the South Place Hotel not far from here, then moved to London Bridge Hotel, then The Barbican, and last year RIBA’s HQ in the West End.”

“But I’m conscious of the fact that, to quote the legend that is Taylor Swift, You’re only as hot as your last hit, baby. So, this year we’ve moved to our biggest venue yet, and also pulled in our largest number of entries to date and broken attendance records.”

He added: “This year’s submissions have without doubt been our best yet. To quote one of the judges: The examples of innovative developments across both traditional and digital retail spaces were truly remarkable.”

Congratulations to our winners, and a big thank you to our sponsors, judging panel, the legend that is Tiff Stevenson, and all those who attended our 2025 gathering.