Starring DoorDash, Frasers, and M&S: last week’s biggest retail technology plays at a glance

RTIH rounds up the stand out retail technology deals, launches, deployments and pilots from the past seven days. Including M&S, TCS, DoorDash, Wing, Carrefour Israel, Asda, Deliverect, Just Eat, Starship Technologies, Joybuy, Competera, Loop Neighborhood Markets, and Tesco.

Frasers

Frasers Group has launched Ask Frasers, an AI online shopping assistant across the Frasers website, a fashion and lifestyle brand formerly known as House of Fraser. Since implementing the tool, it says that conversion rates have increased by up to 25% compared to traditional search experiences.

Powered by Algolia’s agentic technology, it calls on external LLMs and interprets product data - from key features and availability to real-time popularity signals - with the aim of delivering precise, conversational answers tailored to each shopper’s needs.

Richard Lallo, Group Head of Customer Marketing at Frasers Group, comments: “We are committed to enhancing the customer journey, from discovery through to conversion, by creating innovative solutions that give shoppers a connected, relevant and efficient shopping experience.”

“The launch of Ask Frasers marks an important step forward in this mission, enabling us to over a faster, smarter and more seamless way to shop our premium fashion and lifestyle offering, reinforcing our belief that intelligent technology is shaping the future of retail.”

The move builds on the brand’s recent relaunch, which saw it officially rebrand as Frasers and unveil television presenter Cat Deeley as the face of its Spring 2026 campaign.

M&S

Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) has announced the renewal of its multi-year partnership with Marks & Spencer (M&S). The deal will see TCS continue to serve as M&S’s strategic technology partner as the retailer pushes ahead with its digital transformation efforts.

Sacha Berendji, Operations Director, Marks and Spencer, says: “Technology transformation is a key strategic priority for M&S as we invest for growth. Having the right suite of partners, with access to the latest developments in AI and digital expertise is imperative. I am pleased that we are extending our partnership with TCS, who will work alongside our in-house team as we accelerate our digital transformation.”

Krishnan Ramanujam, President - Consumer Business Group, Tata Consultancy Services, comments: “M&S is a highly cherished and iconic British brand, that has always been at the forefront of retail innovation. We are proud of our long standing partnership and delighted to be chosen to support its enterprise transformation.”

“Our strong contextual knowledge of its business helped lead the digital wave for M&S. As it now accelerates its technology transformation we look forward to bringing our enterprise scale AI capabilities, deep retail expertise, and engineering leadership to create sustained value, business agility, and a future ready retail enterprise.”

Gap Inc.

Gap Inc. and its family of brands - including Old Navy, Gap, Banana Republic and Athleta - says it is enhancing its global supply chain with Inspectorio’s AI platform, which increases visibility, quality management, and supplier collaboration.

The retailer will leverage AI to realise product traceability through data collection and automated task execution.

“Gap Inc. sets a new global standard for how leading retailers use AI to streamline supply chain performance and deliver for consumers,” says Chirag Patel, CEO, Inspectorio. “We’re proud to support the company’s vision with AI powered technology that turns transparency into a competitive advantage and helps it make faster, smarter decisions across a complex global supplier network.”

Scurri and ZigZag

Scurri, a delivery management and post-purchase experience platform, has announced a new partnership with global returns technology provider ZigZag.

The tie up comes as new data from Scurri reveals a fundamental shift in how e-commerce demand is behaving around key trading moments. Rather than being defined purely by last minute peaks, demand is becoming more delivery aware, more distributed and more sensitive to fulfilment risk.

In the lead up to Valentine’s Day 2026, order volumes surged earlier in the week, with daily growth exceeding +100% YoY as shoppers brought purchases forward to guarantee on-time delivery. By contrast, Mother’s Day showed a more evenly spread pattern, with order volumes rising +8.47% YoY across the entire week and no single peak day dominating demand.

Despite these different patterns, both events point to the same underlying trend; customers are planning more actively around delivery options, cut-off times and fulfilment reliability. This is also reflected in delivery choices, with next day delivery increasing by over +24% YoY during Mother’s Day and weekend delivery rising +43.9% YoY in the run up to Valentine’s Day.

As sales volumes grow and extend across longer timeframes, so too do returns. For many retailers, returns remain disconnected from delivery operations, creating friction for customers, higher costs for businesses and unnecessary strain during already complex trading periods. By integrating returns management from ZigZag Global with Scurri’s delivery management platform, retailers can manage that complexity more effectively, without compromising the customer experience, those involved claim.

DoorDash and Wing

DoorDash and Wing have announced the expansion of their partnership to Metro Atlanta in the US.

Eligible DoorDash consumers near Tanger Outlets Locust Grove can now order from a selection of local and national restaurants and choose to have their items delivered by drone in as little as 20 minutes.

The initial lineup includes Molinos Mexican Grill, Koji Japanese Steakhouse, and Sabrosos Mexican Restaurant.

Since first launching together in 2022, DoorDash and Wing have expanded drone delivery to parts of Southwest Virginia, the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex, and the Charlotte region, completing tens of thousands of deliveries.

“Autonomous delivery is an important part of how we’re making local commerce faster, more delightful, and more sustainable,” says Harrison Shih, Head of the DoorDash Drone Programme. “We’re excited to introduce drone delivery to metro Atlanta with Wing as we continue to expand our autonomous capabilities and bring new delivery options to DoorDash consumers. By bringing our Wing partnership to a new city, we’re helping local merchants reach more consumers while improving speed and reliability.”

"Metro Atlanta residents deserve an easy, ultra-fast way to enjoy their favourite meals at peak freshness," says Heather Rivera, Chief Business Officer at Wing. "Wing completes thousands of drone deliveries daily across major US metros, and growing our DoorDash partnership helps us deliver that speed to even more local doorsteps."

Joybuy

Competera is working with Joybuy, JD.com’s online retail business, to manage its footprint across Europe. The partnership moves Joybuy away from manual market monitoring by implementing a centralised system that tracks competitive shifts in real-time.

Teams at Joybuy now receive processed market insights every morning. This schedule allows category managers to identify price gaps and adjust their own points before the peak shopping hours begin. By consolidating these insights into a single interface, it says that it has reduced the labour hours previously spent on manual research and spreadsheet updates.

"Joybuy is scaling rapidly in a complex environment," says Alex Halkin, CEO at Competera. "We're providing the data architecture they need to stay competitive without increasing their operational headcount."

A Joybuy spokesperson says: "We want customers to feel confident they’re getting a great deal every time they shop with us. By combining our global brand partnerships with smarter pricing tools, we can keep prices competitive and deliver joy seamlessly from first click to doorstep."

The current phase of the roll-out focuses on broadening SKU coverage and refining the data feed for local price points in each European market Joybuy serves. The two companies are planning to integrate deeper demand analytics into the workflow to further refine the retailer's strategy.

Tesco

Tesco Media has announced the launch of new premium video advertising placements across Tesco’s website and mobile app.

It says that this marks the next step in “its evolution from a retailer with data to an ultimate media partner with soul, scale and storytelling power”.

As part of the testing phase, a number of brands have been using the new video formats.

Mike Cheetham, Head of Creator, Sponsorships and Partnerships GB/EU, Diageo:, says "Video has always been a powerful way for us to tell our brand stories. To have a new opportunity to do this in a highly contextual moment close to point of purchase has the capability to be a highly influential way to reach our customers."

Emma Cathie-Harris, Digital and eCommerce Director, PepsiCo, comments: “We were excited to be a test partner for video on Tesco.com. It enables us to drive impulsivity and conversion whilst building our brands. We see opportunity for it to support new product development (NPD) launches where we can really tell a brand’s story as well as to amplify our core brands.”

Elida Beauty

Elida Beauty, home of brands such as ST. Ives, VO5, TIGI, and Q-tips, says that it is using SnapLogic to establish a modern, independent technology foundation following its separation from Unilever. 

As Elida Beauty transitioned to a standalone organisation, it needed to quickly build a new IT and operations environment capable of supporting a multi-market, partner driven operating model, without the complexity typically associated with large enterprise separations.

Working with implementation partner Pace Integration, Elida Beauty selected SnapLogic as the integration backbone for its new environment, connecting multiple ERP instances, 3PL and 4PL logistics providers, supply chain planning tools, and data fabric platforms through a single, governed integration layer.

“We were building a new business from the ground up while continuing to operate at global scale,” says Tim Bates, Head of IT Strategy and Applications at Elida Beauty.

“Coming from large enterprise CPG environments, I was used to integration programmes that could take months before delivering real value. To achieve separation, we needed a complete, scalable platform from day one - one that could be rolled out across multiple markets. With SnapLogic and Pace, a lean team was able to design, test, and evolve integrations at speed, delivering in weeks what would traditionally take quarters. That acceleration proved truly transformative for the business.” 

Just Eat and Starship Technologies

Starship Technologies has partnered with Just Eat to roll-out a pilot scheme involving self-driving delivery robots in North East Barnsley. The launch will initially see a small number of the orange, talking robots serving thousands of residents, delivering food from restaurants to customers’ doors within minutes.

The service starts in Carlton, Athersley, Monk Bretton and Lundwood.

Mert Öztekin, Chief Technology Officer at Just Eat, says: “Our ground robotics trials are all about innovating to improve the customer experience. We’ve teamed up with a diverse range of local independent restaurants to trial the Starship robots and we’ll be listening to their feedback closely, as well as that of our customers.”

Ahti Heinla, Founder and Chief Executive of Starship Technologies, says: "Our little robots have been providing a much loved service to communities across the UK since 2018, and we're excited to launch in Barnsley with Just Eat today.”

“Barnsley is exactly the kind of community we built Starship for - where technology serves people ethically and respectfully. We’re confident locals will enjoy the quick convenience our robots bring, making life a little easier for people. They’re polite and friendly, and they can’t wait to make new friends.”

Asda

Deliverect has announced a partnership with Asda involving the UK grocery retailer’s on-demand operations across Asda Express and the wider store estate.

In a LinkedIn post, Joe Heather, Regional General Manager - Northern Europe at Deliverect, said: “Asda continues to lead in the on-demand space, delivering strong performance at scale. We support this by enabling the digital commerce infrastructure behind it, helping to consolidate and scale operations across multiple on-demand channels.”

He added: “This comes down to building modern, flexible infrastructure for a world where on-demand is constantly evolving and expectations are only increasing. The focus is simplifying complexity across central operations, in-store execution, and engineering and integrations, enabling faster fulfilment, improved accuracy, and stronger unit economics.”

Carrefour Israel

Global Retail, a Carrefour Group franchisee, and A2Z Cust2Mate Solutions Corp., have agreed a five-year agreement, valued at approximately $50 million, to deploy 4,000 smart carts across Carrefour Israel stores, alongside a data, retail media and digital services collaboration.

The deal positions Carrefour Israel as one of the first retailers in the world to implement smart cart technology at this scale.

The roll-out is set to begin in the third quarter of 2026 across six Carrefour Israel flagship stores and includes end to end delivery of smart carts, charging infrastructure, software systems, as well as full implementation, training, and long-term support.

"We are proud to lead by pioneering smart cart technology at this unprecedented commercial scale," says Michael Luboschitz, CEO at Carrefour Israel. "The agreement signed is expected to generate for Carrefour Israel profits of approximately $35 million.”

“Deployment of the Cust2Mate smart carts in our stores will grant our shoppers an improved shopper experience, enabling them to enjoy personalised and targeted promotions and a quicker checkout, increasing the same store year on year sales, and improving our operational efficiency, resulting in profits estimated at an additional tens of millions of dollars.”

“The future of retail is fundamentally technological, and we are proud to be the leaders driving that evolution. This agreement is a strategic signal of our commitment to digital transformation. By deploying the A2Z Cust2Mate platform, we are establishing a new global standard for connected, data driven, and personalised shopping experiences that are engineered for scale."

Ace Hardware

Uber Technologies has announced a partnership that will bring over 3,700 Ace Hardware locations across 50 US states to the Uber Eats platform.

“Ace is built on a network of locally owned stores that are deeply rooted in the communities they serve, and partnering with Uber allows us to meet our customers wherever they are,” says Bill Kiss, Head of Digital at Ace Hardware. “Whether they’re tackling a last minute project or planning ahead, our customers now have greater access to fast, flexible solutions for getting the products they need delivered right to their doorstep.”

The tie up highlights Uber Eats’ desire to expand selection beyond food delivery into everyday retail categories, including home improvement, beauty, electronics etc.

“Consumers are increasingly turning to Uber Eats for more than just meals. They rely on us for a variety of essentials, from paint supplies, to mulch for the garden, to the tools needed to kick off a weekend yard cleanup,” says Hashim Amin, Head of Grocery and Retail for Uber in North America. “We’re proud to welcome Ace Hardware’s extensive network and loyal customers to our platform as we continue to expand the selection available to shoppers on Uber Eats.”

Skechers

Skechers has unveiled a Proto hologram retail experience at its Manhattan Beach, LA store in the US, bringing the brand's ambassador Howie Mandel to life through an interactive, immersive 3D installation.

The experience marks one of the first permanent Proto hologram installations in a footwear retail environment. Shoppers can interact with a life size hologram, take a selfie with Mandel, and unlock a promotion through the experience.

A launch event featured appearances and interviews with Mandel, Skechers President Michael Greenberg, and Proto founder David Nussbaum, who discussed the future of retail, experiential technology, and how brands are rethinking the in-store experience.

Somewhere Never

Brarista has announced a partnership with Somewhere Never, a US-based luxury lingerie brand.

It has launched with Brarista's full chatbot, which sits across the site and answers fit and style questions instantly. It supports the full shopping lifecycle - from sizing education to post-purchase care and exchange queries.

Somewhere Never has also introduced a sidebar quiz as a structured entry point into Brarista's fitting experience. It combines a two-minute bra fitting quiz with the breast shape quiz, which goes further to assess shoppers on breast spacing, side and top fullness, bottom gap, shoulder slope, and life stage.

“I wanted to introduce a solution that made sizing easier to understand and helped customers find their best fit through a more intuitive quiz," says Felicity Kear, Founder and Designer. "It was also important to have a tool that helps customers quickly see what’s available in their size, while answering common questions around shipping, returns, and the brand more broadly. In the long-term, I hope this creates more confidence when shopping, builds trust with new customers and ultimately helps reduce returns."

Inter Miami

Major League Soccer club Inter Miami (you know, the one that Lionel Messi plays for) notched up a milestone last Saturday when they played their first match at the newly opened Nu Stadium against Austin FC.

What has that got to do with the retail technology space, we hear you cry. Well, the stadium features six check-out free stores powered by AiFi technology. Fans tap a credit card or scan an app to enter. AiFi’s camera only computer vision then tracks anonymous keypoints to accurately identify the items each fan picks up. Shoppers walk out when finished, and the system automatically processes the payment.

In a LInkedIn post, AiFi said: "Messi has a habit of scoring in threes. We took notes. AiFi is launching six checkout-free stores at Inter Miami this weekend. Two hat tricks. Zero checkout lines."

AiFi previously deployed its autonomous retail platform with multiple stands at Hard Rock Stadium, a 40+ store roll-out at the Intuit Dome, and frictionless checkout locations at Arena Milano during the 2026 Winter Olympics.

Castore

Castore has chosen Ocula Technologies as its AI product content partner.

The performance sportswear brand, which has partnerships spanning Oracle Red Bull Racing, Rangers Football Club and some of the world's biggest sports teams, will be using Ocula's AI agents to optimise product copy, metadata and content across its digital catalogue.

"For a brand built on the principle that Better Never Stops, the bar for product content is high. Every SKU needs to be discoverable, compelling and consistent across search, marketplaces and AI shopping engines. That's exactly what our agents are built for. More to come," says Thomas McKenna, CEO and Co-founder at Ocula Technologies.

Snappy Technologies

Snappy Technologies has announced the enterprise launch of its Order Aggregation (OA) solution, which is designed to help retailers manage orders, menus, promotions, and inventory across multiple online delivery marketplaces, and control product and pricing centrally.

This has been developed in collaboration with retail partners Southern Co-op and Heart of England Co-operative during the last nine months.

Heart of England Co-operative Society became the first to process a Snappy OA order in June 2025 using Just Eat and Snappy Shopper channels and is now adding Uber Eats with all levels of last mile supported.

Then followed Southern Co-operative in September 2025, who are now operating across five marketplaces; Deliveroo, Uber Eats, Just Eat, Snappy Shopper, and FoodHub.

Mike Callachan, CEO, Snappy Technologies, says: “This is a huge milestone in our industry. Retailers of all sizes offering online delivery are now able to connect into more channels and access more customers. It's a win-win.”

"Our team has worked closely with marketplaces, EPoS partners, last mile operators and two pioneer retailers in Southern Co-op, and Heart of England Co-operative society. These collaborations have enabled us to deliver a fantastic solution that not only saves retailers time and money, but it also allows them to provide a better experience for their customers with faster deliveries and more accurate stock meaning less substitutions. This is all contributing to the significant increase in GMV we have seen with both pilot retailers."

MOD Pizza

PAR Technology and MOD Pizza are expanding a partnership that began in 2014.

This year, MOD has added PAR OPS Recovery and PAR OPS Delivery Operations to recover missed delivery revenue, cut losses and bring more control to third-party delivery.

Additional highlights from the partnership include: reaching five million MOD Rewards members after launching PAR Punchh in 2018; Using PAR POS, PAR OPS and PAR Pay to keep core restaurant systems strong as MOD grew.

“Our journey with PAR Technology has been instrumental in our growth and ability to deliver exceptional experiences to our guests,” says Tia Wolfe, Director of Restaurant Marketing at MOD Pizza. “We value the reliability and innovation PAR brings to the table, and we’re excited to continue our partnership as we look ahead to the next chapter.”

Loop Neighborhood Markets

Tote reports a deployment of Genie, its Store Associate AI Agent, with Loop Neighborhood Markets.

Since launch, employees have used Genie to handle inquiries on customer service, PoS operations, maintenance, payments, and more, with zero escalations and 100% first contact resolution.

Founded in 2013 as a premium neighbourhood market, Loop has built its identity around fresh food, car washes, and the LoopBack Rewards loyalty programme.

"We're not interested in AI that just looks good in a pitch. Tote's Genie agent works in our stores, gives our associates the answers they need in the moment, and delivers results from day one. This is just the beginning of what agentic technology can do for our business," says Varish Goyal, President and CEO, Loop Neighborhood Markets.

Genie is available around the clock, supports multiple languages, and works via voice and chat, so every associate gets answers whenever or however they need them. Tote's architecture is modular by design. Loop deployed Genie independently of its PoS system.