Retail technology innovation of the week: Coach notches up digital first with The Sims 4 launch

Retail Technology Innovation of the Week is a series brought to you by RTIH, and sponsored by 3D Cloud, highlighting stand out deployments, launches, and initiatives by retailers and tech suppliers.

Every week, we will showcase forward thinking tech plays that have impressed our Editor and the Retail Technology Innovations Report judging panel, alongside the publication of the 2025 report.

And this week we’re focusing on Coach which has launched its first ever open access designer collection in The Sims 4.

This collaboration introduces: Wearable pieces from Coach’s ready to wear line; Its Tabby and Brooklyn bags; A special Coach Trunk that unlocks mood driven, pre-styled looks; Nine items with 65+ colour and print variations so players can create hundreds of unique outfits; Decorative objects for Build Mode inspired by Coach icons.

In a LinkedIn post, the company said: "At its heart, this partnership brings our purpose, the courage to be real, into a digital world where self-expression thrives. By making the collection openly accessible to all players globally, we’re inviting everyone to play, create, and explore new facets of style on their terms. See you there!"

Giovannai Zaccariello, SVP Global Visual Experience, added: "I want to take a moment to thank all the teams at Coach that made this launch possible. We continue to test and learn new ways to better engage with our Gen Z audience and this is yet another way of doing that and at the same time bring to life our courage to be real and self-expression values."

2026 RTIH Innovation Awards

Digital retail 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.