Getting ready for a physical future: RTIH brings you the retail technology week in numbers

Do you like numbers? Do you like retail systems news? Then this is the article for you. Including Tesco Media, VoCoVo, Zippin, Swap, Pricer, East of England Co-op, Quorso, Circle K, Spangle AI, Primark, Tesco, Alipay, Akeneo, VenHub Global, VST, and Co-op.

$15 million...Spangle AI, an agentic infrastructure layer for commerce used by such brands as REVOLVE, Steve Madden, and Alexander Wang, has announced a $15 million Series A. The round is led by NewRoad Capital Partners, with participation from Madrona, DNX Ventures, Streamlined Ventures, and strategic angel investors, bringing total funding to $21 million.

"Having built unified AI systems at Amazon, including Alexa and customer service workflow automation at massive scale, we saw what's broken in traditional e-commerce stacks: fragmented data, slow feedback cycles, no intelligence layer tying it together," says Fei Wang, CTO at Spangle and former Amazon Principal Engineer leading Alexa and Customer Service Technologies.

"Spangle bridges that gap. We're building infrastructure where AI driven discovery and on-site execution operate as one intelligence layer, connecting upstream intent to real-time conversion," says Maju Kuruvilla, CEO at Spangle.

1%...Primark delivered modest sales growth in the 16 weeks to 3rd January, with constant currency sales rising a timid 1%, as performance fell slightly short of the retailer's expectations in a challenging apparel market.

Overall sales growth was driven by continued international store expansion leading to an uneven regional performance; group like-for-like (l-f-l) sales declined 2.7%, reflecting pressures on consumer demand.

During the period, Primark increased markdowns to manage inventory levels, weighing on profitability, and the group now expects sales growth in the first half of FY2025/2026 to be in the low single digits. If this sales trend continues, it anticipates adjusted operating profit margins to remain around 10% for the full year, broadly flat year-on-year and below historic levels of performance.

In the UK, Primark delivered relatively resilient results compared with a wider muted clothing market over the Christmas period, with constant currency sales rising 3% and l-f-l sales up 1.7%. Consumers resonated with its initiatives to strengthen its value proposition through improved product, stronger communication regarding prices and growing digital engagement through its Click and Collect and app services.

Primark’s reporting of l-f-l sales of 1.1% in the wider UK and Ireland region shows Ireland dragged down the UK-alone l-f-l figure, underlining ongoing pressure on discretionary spend in Ireland and the limitations of a predominantly store-led model in an increasingly online-led market.

Outside the UK and Ireland, performance was mixed. In continental Europe, l-f-l sales declined 5.7% as consumer confidence remained weak and initiatives to improve value and engagement are still at an early stage.

In the US, constant currency sales rose 12%, though it was likely mainly driven by store expansion as trading conditions remained volatile in the wake of high tariffs and overall political tensions, impacting footfall and consumer sentiment.

Louise Deglise-Favre, Lead Apparel Analyst at GlobalData, says: "Primark has continued to expand its store estate internationally, including the opening of its first franchised store in Kuwait.”

“While international expansion remains an important growth lever, reliance on new space rather than l-f-l momentum highlights the need for improved underlying consumer demand if Primark wants to remain competitive against strong players such as Shein and Zara in the long-term. it should invest in impactful marketing to better broadcast its strong value for money and fashion credentials.”

7,800...Quorso has announced the expansion of its partnership with Circle K to over 7,800 locations in the United States and Canada after a deployment across its European network last year. 

Quorso says that its Intelligent Management platform eliminates the complexity and overwhelm of too much data, too many tasks, and too many systems.

“Building on the success of our prior roll-out in Europe and a successful pilot in North America, we’re pleased to expand Quorso across our US and Canadian networks,” says Hélène Drolet, Vice President of Operational Excellence, North America at Circle K.

“This powerful tool is helping our store managers save time, act on data driven insights, and identify opportunities that make the biggest difference for our customers and our business. We’re looking forward to Quorso helping our store teams to enhance the in-store experience, deliver on our commitment to be fast, friendly, and customer ready and, ultimately, unlock new growth for our business.”

2.9%...Tesco’s like-for-like sales rose 2.9% over the 19 weeks to 3rd January, excluding fuel. The grocery giant's UK market share rises to the highest level in over a decade.

Aarin Chiekrie, Equity Analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, says:“Tesco continued to deliver for shoppers and investors alike this festive season, scooping up market share and increasing consumer satisfaction scores in an extremely competitive market.”

“However, performance at its wholesale business, Booker, wasn’t as good as hoped due to the long-running decline in tobacco sales. The net effect was that Tesco only nudged its full-year underlying operating profit guidance to the top end of its current £2.9-3.1 billion range, while many had been hoping for a bigger upgrade."

Tesco looks well positioned to continue weathering macroeconomic headwinds and soft consumer sentiment, Chiekrie believes. Its enormous scale and strong relationships with suppliers are a key ingredient to its success story. It gives Tesco the leverage to negotiate hard on prices and keep costs down for shoppers, giving them little reason to look elsewhere.

Things like Clubcard Prices and the Aldi Price Match are doing their job in keeping customers loyal too. At the other end of the price scale, an expanded Tesco Finest once again delivered double digit sales growth as it continues to help the group poach customers from more premium supermarkets.

Chiekrie adds: "Tesco continues to execute well despite the recent challenges, such as rising labour and national insurance costs. The group’s moving with the times by leveraging AI to enhance its tech and logistics, enabling it to deliver more than 100,000 online delivery slots to customers in the week leading up to Christmas."

"There’s plenty of cash pumping around the business to fund this investment for the future, as well as cover the current 3.4% forward dividend yield. For investors looking for a long-term buy and hold, Tesco should certainly make it onto the potential shopping list.”

59% and 57%...UK shoppers are uncomfortable about the rise of AI on the shop floor, with 59% unhappy with retailers using it to track them in-store as part of their security measures. But lack of awareness is as prominent as discomfort, with 57% completely unaware that AI driven security is even being used.

The findings come from a new report, In-store Intelligence:AI’s Role in Retail’s Human Touch by VoCoVo, surveying 503 UK consumers and 250 retail decision makers about how AI is being adopted in physical retail environments.

As colleagues face rising incidents of abuse and theft, retailers are arming their shop floors and people with new technologies to help keep them safe, including body worn cameras. But shoppers have their reservations. 52% are uncomfortable specifically with AI enabled CCTV and body cameras monitoring them for colleague protection, even if the main purpose is to protect teams.

Fears are being reinforced by conceptions about how collected information is stored. 53% of consumers worry about how retailers retain their personal data and who they share it with. With a number of high profile cyber-attacks impacting the UK retail sector in 2025, shoppers are perhaps apprehensive.

5...The development of agentic artificial intelligence could give rise to personal shopping ‘AI-gents’ within the next five years, according to a new report from the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO).

The data regulator explores how agentic commerce could become the norm, with customers’ personal agents anticipating shopping needs and making proactive purchases based on learned and defined preferences or behaviours along with knowledge of upcoming plans - rather than having to have specific prompts.  

This means that personalised digital shopping companions could soon have the ability to check personal bank accounts to ensure a purchase is within a monthly budget, assess how it will affect other spending plans, schedule purchases around seasonal sale events like the January sales and even negotiate a price directly with sellers. Agents may also seek out tailored financing options to present to their human shopper for agreement.  

2 and 4...Boxing Day saw both an England-Australia Ashes Test match and the launch of two new Zippin powered checkout-free stores at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, bringing the total at the venue to four.

In a LinkedIn post, Zippin said: “With a record crowd at the 'G of 94,199 at day one of the Boxing Day Test, we also saw nearly 28,000 shoppers conveniently use a checkout-free store powered by Zippin. What an incredible growth in this partnership. Here’s to more seamless, contactless experiences at the 'G!”

24%...A new study from Tesco Media (entitled Moving Mindsets) looks at how shoppers think, feel, and make decisions in grocery environments. It reveals that most purchasing isn’t in fact habitual - with only 24% products bought on a routine basis - whereas seven in ten people enjoy discovering new brands during their shop.

That means the majority of the basket is open to influence, underlining the opportunity for brands to inspire people while they shop. 

The study - conducted in partnership with consultancy MTM and analysing more than 7,000 Tesco shoppers - identifies seven distinct shopper mindsets. It uncovers that nearly half of the grocery journey is spent in an emotionally open, constant inspiration ecosystem.

Shoppers are immersed in a ‘Constant Inspiration Ecosystem’. Ideas come from everywhere - social feeds, family and friends, retailer emails, Tesco.com browsing, in-store cues - and shape decisions long before a shopper reaches the shelf. Over 50% of shoppers discover new products before they even begin a shop, while a similar number do so during their shopping mission.

The research makes clear that most grocery purchasing isn’t habitual, but that shopping is more of a fluid, mindset driven journey, rather than a linear funnel. Only one in four products are bought on a routine basis, while seven in ten shoppers enjoy discovering new brands during their shop. 

Shoppers enjoy discovering new brands, and the final decision on what to buy overwhelmingly happens in the moment, with 71% saying they make most of their choices during the shop itself.

$100 million...Swap, whose system connects operations on one platform for e-commerce brands, has announced a $100 million Series C co-led by DST Global and ICONIQ.

"We have built an existing fleet of products that enable any brand to scale globally," says Sam Atkinson, Founder and CEO at Swap, which was founded in 2022. "Building upon this foundation of global commerce solutions, we will continue to help brands reach their full potential, levelling up on the promise to be the go to platform for brands to sell anywhere, anticipate intent, and convert more business."

The funding news comes six months after the company's Series B round, which raised $40 million led by ICONIQ to accelerate expansion into the US and EU and open new regions, including Australia and Canada. Swap also plans to enter underserved verticals such as beauty, home goods, and consumer technology.

4 and 5....VST has announced a new partnership with Co-op to give the convenience retailer’s branded suppliers direct access to its planogram data through its Planogram Publisher platform.

This will be trialled for four weeks with five suppliers, and then rolled out across the Co-op supplier estate. It comes from the retailer’s newly formed Group Commercial and Logistics division.

“For years, planogram data has been an underused asset in retail,” says Nick Theodore, CEO and Founder, VST. “We’re excited to announce our launch of Planogram Publisher in partnership with Co-op. It’s a big step forward in making Co-op’s planogram data available to their most strategic CPG partners to unlock category growth across their stores.”

Tom Bradley, Commercial Director, Co-op, says: “As the leading UK convenience retailer, our aim is to run the best small shops providing quality products and great value for our members and customers, and to do that we need cutting edge processes and data access behind the shelf edge.”

“This new partnership will give brands direct sight of planogram data which will   remove friction, and create transparency, enabling smarter conversations and more agile execution.”

1...Pricer reports completion of its first pilot installation of Pricer Avenue, a communications platform delivering shelf-edge digital experiences, in partnership with East of England Co-op, a 120-store grocery retailer operating in the UK.

The pilot was deployed across high value in-store zones and builds on East of England Co-op’s use of Pricer electronic shelf labels (ESLs).

Pricer Avenue adds a larger format displays, powered shelf-edge layer that extends ESL functionality beyond pricing, with the aim of supporting clearer communication, more effective promotions, and richer in-aisle communication at the point of decision.

“Avenue is bringing new energy to our key promotional areas. It’s a big step toward delivering a store experience that’s ready for the future,” says Rob Smith, Technology Officer at East of England Co-op.

“The new shared Floating Canvas feature opens up fresh ways to talk to customers. It lets us highlight specific products, deliver rich brand storytelling and drive promotional engagement - right at the shelf edge.”

10.6%...Next’s full price sales rose 10.6% in the nine weeks to 27th December. Full-year pre-tax profit guidance was upgraded, now expected to grow by 13.7% to £1,150 million.

Aarin Chiekrie, Equity Analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, says: “Next’s Christmas trading update gave investors plenty to be jolly about, capping a solid year 2025 for the UK fashion powerhouse. In the nine weeks to 27th December, full-price sales rose by 10.6%, ahead of the group’s previous upgraded guidance for 7.0% growth.”

“The better than expected finish to 2025 saw the UK fashion powerhouse upgrade its profit guidance once again. Full-year pre-tax profits are now expected to come in at around £1.15 billion, marking the third profit upgrade in a little over five months."

"Unwrapping some of the headline figures, sales growth continues to be driven by its online channel, which already accounts for more than half of group sales. Within that, overseas sales have continued to grow at an eyewatering pace, up 38.3% over the festive period, helping to buoy the more sluggish growth of just 1.4% in its retail stores."

"Next also gave a sneak peek into its outlook for the new financial year, with pre-tax profits forecast to grow by 4.5% to around £1.2 billion. The slowdown comes as this year’s numbers have benefitted heavily from both favourable summer weather and major disruption at M&S.”

“But with Next’s track record of under-promising and over-delivering, this growth target looks a touch conservative. Next remains one of the brightest sparks in the UK retail scene, and there’s potential for more success if it can continue nailing its overseas expansion.”

18...The next 18 months will reshape global retail more dramatically than any period in the past decade, according to Akeneo. It says that the convergence of AI, regulatory upheaval and a new wave of circular shopping behaviours is set to transform how consumers discover, evaluate and buy products.

Romain Fouache, CEO at Akeneo, notes that although AI powered commerce has accelerated sharply, with major retailers such as Walmart integrating ChatGPT assisted checkout, the technology is entering a critical trust phase.

His company’s research shows that only 27% of shoppers who have used an AI checkout experience intend to do so again, highlighting the importance of transparency and clear communication around how these tools work.

“AI doesn’t drive sales unless consumers trust it,” Fouache says. “In the 2025 holiday season, successful brands were those that could help shoppers understand how AI enhances accuracy, convenience and value.”

5...VenHub Global is in the running for five trophies at the RTIH AI in Retail Awards Ceremony, which will take place in London later this month: AI and Physical Stores, Best Use of AI in Customer Service, AI and Payments, Digital Transformation Project of the Year, and Most Innovative Retailer.

The US-based company is focusing on bricks and mortar retail with the fully autonomous Smart Store, designed for 24/7 operation, zero on-site staff, and maximum efficiency.

Its modular units combine AI, robotics, and robotics arms to eliminate labour costs, reduce shrinkage, and operate in high traffic or underserved areas where traditional retail fails. Four Initial deployments across California include a landmark store at LAX Airport/Metro Transit Center and one at the Hollywood Bowl.

100 million...Alipay reports that daily payment transactions through its Alipay Tap! solution have exceeded 100 million. It says that this reflects “the rapid rise of tap-based payments and access to everyday services in China”.

Launched in July 2024, Alipay Tap! combines QR code and NFC technologies so that people can make in-store payments by unlocking their phone and tapping it against a merchant terminal or Tap! tag – with no app launch, scanning, or extra steps required.

Since launch, more than 200 million Chinese consumers have used the offering, with 100 million new users added in four months. The service has proven especially popular among younger consumers, older adults, and people with visual impairments. International visitors can also link international debit or credit cards to Alipay and pay while traveling in China.

4.4%...Footfall data from retail technology specialist MRI Software shows strong performance for UK retail destinations on Boxing Day with footfall up +4.4% year on year across the board; the strongest increase seen in over ten years.

Boxing Day has evolved over recent years, with the likes of Primark launching early discounts ahead of Christmas, while a growing number, including big hitters like Next, John Lewis, and M&S, are now keeping stores closed on 26th December to give staff an extra day off.

Jenni Matthews, Retail Analyst at MRI Software, comments: “Despite a slow start for high streets and shopping centres, Boxing Day proved to be a bumper day for all UK retail destinations with footfall up 4.4% year on year across the board; the strongest increase seen in over ten years.”

She adds: “Retail parks led the charge with an 8.8% uplift but as the day progressed, it was clear to see shoppers out across all UK retail destination types with footfall up in high streets (+3.6%) and shopping centres (+2.1%) suggesting people were keen to clear off those festive cobwebs much earlier than usual.”

The boost in activity was driven by a peak in visits across all UK retail destinations from 5pm - 11pm averaging +9.6% versus an average increase of +3.1% from 6am-5pm. With a number of stores still shut and not reopening until today, it’s likely that leisure and hospitality establishments may well have benefited from the annual uplift. 

“This is an early indicator that the retail sector may well end the year on a positive note given the challenging times faced at the beginning of the year,” Matthews concludes.

2...A second Carrefour BuyBye AI powered microstore has gone live in Belgium, the result of a partnership with Accor Group that taps Reckon.ai technology.

In a LinkedIn post, Arnaud Lesne, Director of Innovation & Partnerships at Carrefour Belgium, said: "Following our successful launch at Ibis Roissy CDG last July, we are scaling up with our very first international location at IBIS Hotel Brussels Midi station."

"We are bringing the future of retail to the heart of Brussels: a seamless, autonomous, and 24/7 shopping experience driven by cutting-edge AI. It’s a proud moment to see our vision for smooth travel retail expanding across borders."

91%...NVIDIA’s third annual State of AI in Retail and Consumer Packaged Goods survey report, which the company says garnered hundreds of responses, shows maturation of the technology within the industry as companies move AI projects from pilot to production in all areas.

Highlights include:

• 91% of respondents said their companies are either actively using or assessing AI.

• 90% said they’d build on the success of current projects by increasing their AI budgets in 2026.

• 89% reported AI is helping to increase annual revenue, while 95% said it is helping decrease annual costs.

• 79% said open source models and software were moderately to extremely important to their AI strategy.

• 47% stated their companies are either using or assessing agentic AI in their operations