AllSaints becomes data driven and AI powered: here are this week's biggest retail technology stories

It's Friday, the weekend is almost upon us, so let’s kick back and reflect on another eventful week for the retail tech space. Here's your briefing on the most important stories from the past few days, including Skechers, AiFi, Ocado, Just Eat, Starship Technologies, Asda, Deliverect, DoorDash, Wing, and the 2026 RTIH Innovation Awards.

1. London based omnichannel fashion retailer AllSaints taps Impact Analytics AI powered solutions

AllSaints has selected Impact Analytics as a partner as it looks to modernise and scale its buying and merchandising operations, moving away from a legacy environment heavily reliant on spreadsheets, manual workflows, and fragmented decision-making.

By adopting AI native planning tools, it says it is aiming to streamline processes, improve forecast accuracy, and enable teams to focus on value added decision-making rather than data manipulation.

“One of the four pillars of our transformation is to become data driven and powered by AI,” says Alfie Meekings, Chief Transformation and Technology Officer at AllSaints.

“We have a great team, but they have to spend so much time manually pulling and analysing data. This partnership allows us to eliminate repetitive, low value tasks so our merchandisers can focus on understanding what is truly happening in our brand and make quicker, higher-quality decisions to get the right products in the right places for our customers.”

The deployment will roll-out in phases to include: CortexEye for agentic AI native business intelligence; allocation and replenishment; markdown and promotional pricing optimisation; merchandise financial planning; assortment and range planning.

A core focus of the initiative is accelerating weekly trading cadence. Today, AllSaints’ Monday trading packs require teams to begin data collation as early as Sunday to gain clarity by Monday afternoon. With CortexEye, the complete Monday trading pack will be available by 8:00 a.m. Monday morning, broken down by department and team.

2. Walmart's Prabhat Johl added to 2026 RTIH Innovation Awards judging panel

We're hugely pleased to announce the addition of Prabhat Johl to the judging panel for the 2026 RTIH Innovation Awards.

As Director of Data Science at Walmart, Prabhat leads experimentation, causal inference, and data driven decisioning. Building scalable measurement capabilities, he uncovers impact drivers through post-experiment deep dives, and turns insights into actions that improve business outcomes across retail and operations.

Welcome aboard, Prabhat!

Further information on our judging panel can be found here.

YOU'VE GOT TO BE IN IT TO WIN IT

The 2026 RTIH Innovation Awards is now open for entries.

The awards celebrate global tech innovation in a fast moving omnichannel world. Our latest winners will be revealed at the 2026 RTIH Innovation Awards Ceremony, taking place at The HAC in Central London on Wednesday, 4th November.

Key dates for 2026

Friday, 20th February: Awards open for entries

Friday, 2nd October: Awards entry deadline 

Tuesday, 6th October: 2026 finalists revealed

Wednesday, 7th October - 20th October: Judging days

Wednesday, 4th November: Winners announced at the 2026 RTIH Innovation Awards Ceremony, taking place at The HAC in Central London

3. Former PayPal and Worldpay executive Gabrielle Scheibe Rabinovitch takes on CFO role at Wonder

Gabrielle Scheibe Rabinovitch has joined Wonder, a food delivery and technology startup founded in 2018 and fronted by former Walmart U.S. eCommerce executive, Marc Lore, as CFO.

In a LinkedIn post, she said: "I am excited to share that I will be joining Wonder as Chief Financial Officer. Wonder is fundamentally reinventing how we eat, and redefining a category. As the company continues to accelerate, I could not be more energized to get started."

She added: "I’ve long admired Marc Lore's legendary ability to imagine and dream big while executing with precision and staying customer obsessed. He has built a remarkable team of world class operators and professionals, and a culture that is collaborative, entrepreneurial, and inclusive."

"I am also feeling incredibly grateful for the teams and experiences that shaped my path here, from PayPal to Worldpay, and for the opportunity to bring those lessons to this next chapter. Honoured to be part of the journey ahead!"

4. Inter Miami's newly opened Nu Stadium features AiFi technology powered checkout-free stores

Major League Soccer club Inter Miami (you know, the one that Lionel Messi plays for) notched up a milestone on 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.

5. Skechers blends entertainment, tech and retail with Proto hologram Howie Mandel experience

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.

6. Ocado ramps up quick commerce push as it starts rolling out same day delivery slots in UK

Ocado is launching same day delivery slots in select UK areas. In an email to customers, the online grocery retailer said: “You can now order with your morning cuppa and we’ll deliver before dinner.”

It added: “It’s perfect for when you’ve run out of milk. Oh, and you forgot to get the tinned tomatoes for tonight’s lasagne. Come to think of it, you could do with some more washing up liquid and the loo roll is looking dangerously low…All you have to do is look out for a same day slot when you shop. But hurry - last orders for these slots is 1.30pm and they’ll go as fast as the last handful of popcorn on movie night. And when they're gone, they're gone.”

The slots are currently free for customers’ Smart Pass deliveries. For those who aren’t signed up to Smart Pass, standard hour-long slots vary in price from £6.50 to £7.50, and Ocado also offers cheaper options for its four-hour slots. The latter are currently included with Smart Pass, so there is no additional charge.

A standard £40 minimum spend applies, though there may be additional charges such as small order fees. The move builds on Ocado’s Zoom offering, which provides on demand delivery with a minimum spend of £15, and competes with the likes of Tesco Whoosh and Amazon Now.

7. Carrefour Israel gears up to roll-out 4,000 A2Z Cust2Mate smart shopping carts nationwide

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."

8. Just Eat and Starship Technologies tie up brings food delivery robots to streets of Barnsley

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.”

9. Asda taps Deliverect technology to support UK grocery giant's on-demand delivery push

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.”

10. DoorDash and Wing expand on demand food delivery by drone partnership to Metro Atlanta

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."