Former Walmart and Kroger executive Bill Bennett takes on Strategic Advisor role at Blue Collar Robotics

Bill Bennett has joined Blue Collar Robotics as Strategic Advisor. Most recently, he served as CEO at Innovative Food Holdings, an online specialty foodservice marketplace.

Previously, he was Vice President of eCommerce at Kroger, working across marketing, merchandising, product, supply chain, technology, and analytics. Before Kroger, he spent more than seven years at Walmart, holding multiple leadership roles across e-commerce and store operations, including finance, merchandising, strategy, analytics, and product management.

In an online post, Blue Collar Robotics said: "We’re thrilled to have Bill’s guidance as we bring Robotic Labour-as-a-Service (RLaaS) into real grocery environments and help retailers scale fulfillment with a practical, unit economics first approach."

Bennett said: "The timing is perfect for an in-store fulfillment solution for e-Grocery. The grocery industry has tried multiple approaches, but these haven’t worked at scale because they are capital intense, overly centralised, and too duplicative of inventory. What grocers need is a practical solution that fits into the stores they already have, leveraging forward deployed inventory, reducing the last mile, and improving unit economics, all with a low upfront capital cost.”

"I’m also impressed by the leadership team. They have the right mix of domain experience, real-world execution, and focus to bring this to market. Excited to see where we can take Blue Collar Robotics."

2026 RTIH Innovation Awards

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

The awards are now open for entries and 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.