A.F Blakemore expands Snappy Shopper partnership with additional 70 store Spar roll-out
A.F. Blakemore has expanded its partnership with Snappy Shopper, with more than 70 additional SPAR stores launching on the rapid delivery platform. The roll-out across August and September increased A.F. Blakemore’s Snappy Shopper estate from 95 stores to 167.
Customers in participating areas will be able to order groceries, everyday essentials, snacks, drinks and household products from their local SPAR for rapid delivery through the SPAR Delivered service, powered by Snappy Shopper technology. Around 40 of the new stores are located in areas where Snappy Shopper does not currently have another retail partner.
Greg Deacon, VP Retail Groups at Snappy Shopper, says: “This is a significant expansion of our partnership with A.F. Blakemore and a great opportunity to bring rapid delivery to even more SPAR customers. Adding around 70 stores considerably increases the scale of the existing partnership, while also taking Snappy Shopper into around 40 areas where we do not currently have a retail partner. That means more communities will be able to access convenient, rapid delivery from their local SPAR. We’re looking forward to supporting A.F. Blakemore throughout the roll-out and continuing to grow the partnership together.”
CJ Antal-Smith, Chief Commercial Officer at AF Blakemore & Sons, says: “Our focus is on making shopping with SPAR as convenient and accessible as possible for the communities we serve. Expanding SPAR Delivered across more of our estate gives more customers the choice to shop with their local SPAR online, while enabling more of our stores to benefit from the continued growth of rapid grocery delivery. We’re pleased to be building on our partnership with Snappy Shopper through this latest expansion.”
So hot right now
Snappy Shopper is included in RTIH’s first ever Retail Technology Hot 100 List. Launching in August, this sees us bringing you the hottest companies whose solutions and systems are helping drive the retail sector forward.
Our Founder and Editor, Scott Thompson, drew up a list of 150 companies that had consistently been on his radar over the past 12 months whilst bringing our community the latest retail tech news and views that matter. These companies operate across the omnichannel retail landscape (stores, online, mobile, supply chain, payments etc).
Our judging panel, including Vineta Bajaj, Group CFO, Holland & Barrett, Dan McGrath, JD Group Customer Operations, JD Sports, Dr. Astha Purohit, Director of Product Management, Customer Data and Identity, Walmart, and Paula Bobbett, Chief Data and Digital Officer, Boots, provided feedback on those who have the most innovative, forward thinking technology offerings and are also best addressing retailers' current challenges, painpoints, and opportunities.
The judges used the following framework when making their picks:
1. Retailer problem fit - how meaningful, strategic, and widely felt the retailer pain being addressed is.
2. Production traction in retail (2025–2026) - real named retailer deployments, pilots.
3. Innovation and defensibility - genuine technical novelty paired with a defensible competitive position.
And there was also a public vote, with thousands of members of our community of retail tech enthusiasts getting involved. Thanks to all those who took part! Based on the judging panel's feedback and the public vote, we then drew up our first ever RTIH Retail Technology Hot 100.
So, without further ado, here are the 100 hottest global retail technology ventures right now. Drum roll, please…
