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

Every week, we showcase forward thinking tech plays that have impressed our Editor and the Retail Technology Innovations Report judging panel, building up to the publication of the 2026 report later this year.

And this week we’re focusing on Gap Inc. which has started to scale Bridgette, an AI enabled virtual career guide for seasonal hiring, across its stores and distribution centres.

Bridgette answers candidate questions at any hour, coordinates interviews and sends reminders. In a pilot, nearly 45,000 candidates engaged with it, and it has scheduled more than 7,000 interviews for store leaders. 

In a LinkedIn post, Sven Gerjets, EVP and CTO at Gap Inc., said: "It works every day of the week, which is a better schedule than mine. What I care about most is what it does not do. Managers still run the interviews and make the hiring decisions. That is the point."

He added: "Our approach to AI is human centred and digitally enabled. For every step in a process, we ask what should be automated, what should be AI assisted, and what should stay with a person. Then we redesign the work around the outcome instead of speeding up the old process."

"Hiring is a good example, because the repetitive coordination was crowding out the conversations that build great teams. I keep coming back to a simple test. Does the technology give people their time back for the human work that matters most?"

And honourable mentions this week to...

KFC UK & Ireland

KFC UK & Ireland has launched on Roblox for the first time, with a Believer Rewards experience going live this week.

In a LinkedIn post, Nic Mitham, Director of Loyalty Growth, said: "I’m really proud of what the teams have built. Roblox isn’t just a kids’ platform anymore. A big and growing share of its players are adults and next-gen consumers, and we wanted KFC to show up for them with something worth having, while building a direct relationship through our own app."

He added: "We also wanted to do it properly. The experience is age gated to 18+ and fully HFSS compliant. Getting that right from the start was non-negotiable for us, and it shaped every decision about how the campaign was built."

Players start in the Believers Hub, then teleport into partner games across Roblox to unlock in-game boosts and rewards. Over the next eight weeks, KFC is releasing ten limited edition UGC items, including a bucket hat and a chicken suit. Customers can download the fast food giant's app, and switch on notifications in order to be in the know when each new item drops.

Auchan Retail Romania

Auchan Retail Romania has launched a smart cart pilot powered by shopreme snap cart software on Hanshow tablets. Twenty four tablets are now available at one Auchan store, providing an additional self-checkout option alongside shopreme's mobile Scan & Pay solution, which has been available at the retailer since 2022.

As the pilot store also operates shopreme Scan & Pay, no separate integration was required for the new touchpoint. The smart carts deployment builds on the retailer’s existing PoS and loyalty integrations, employee processes, and backend environment. 

Shoppers scan their loyalty card to unlock a tablet at a charging station. They then scan products as they shop, follow their live basket on the smart cart screen, and get personalised offers and loyalty benefits. At the end of the journey, the digital basket is transferred to the self-checkout kiosk, where the shopper completes payment.

Age verification, spot checks, and identification of customers who need assistance can be handled through an app that is already in use and also established workflows.