Marc Lore's startup Wonder preps blockbuster 2026 IPO: last week's most read RTIH retail technology articles
Check out our most clicked articles from last week, including Boot Barn, Aptos, Amazon Just Walk Out technology, Morrisons, Vusion, JD Sports Fashion, Kevel, Dollar General, The Trade Desk, and the first ever RTIH Retail Technology Hot 100 List.
Have your say and vote today! First ever RTIH Retail Technology Hot 100 List goes live, sponsored by 3D Cloud
In partnership with 3D Cloud, RTIH is pleased to announce the launch of its first ever Retail Technology Hot 100 List.
We have scoured the global retail technology world to bring you the hottest companies whose solutions and systems are helping drive the retail sector forward.
Our Founder and Editor, Scott Thompson, has drawn up a list of 150 companies that have 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, and Paula Bobbett, Chief Data and Digital Officer, Boots, will now provide feedback on those who have the most innovative, forward thinking technology offerings and are best addressing retailers' current challenges, painpoints, and opportunities.
And there will also be a public vote, with our community of retail tech enthusiasts invited to select their top five picks (one vote per person). The public vote closes on Friday, 26th June.
Based on the judging panel's feedback and the public vote, we will then draw up our first ever RTIH Retail Technology Hot 100, aka the 100 hottest global retail technology companies during 2026, which will be published across our website, social channels, and the next edition of our printed magazine (to be published in August).
"RITH has long been at the forefront of recognising exceptional performance in retail technology. We’re proud to support this programme and to play a part in elevating the role of retail tech in shaping the future of the customer experience," says Leigh Davidson, Managing Director, UK and International at 3D Cloud.
Lifestyle retailer Boot Barn preps roll-out of Aptos ONE Point of Sale platform across US locations
Boot Barn Holdings is set to deploy the Aptos ONE Point of Sale platform across its 500-plus US locations.
By transitioning to this mobile first solution, the lifestyle retailer is aiming to streamline IT operations while enabling associates to deliver cohesive, high touch shopping experiences. Beyond the store, Boot Barn will leverage Aptos ONE to power its large scale pop-up activations, including rodeos and music festivals.
“As a high growth retailer, scalability was nonnegotiable in our search for a next-generation PoS platform," says Julie Ting, Senior Vice President of IT at Boot Barn. "We required a flexible solution capable of evolving alongside our business. By adopting Aptos ONE, we are reducing technical debt and lowering our total cost of ownership, all while empowering our teams to go above and beyond for customers, whether in our stores or at a major pop-up event."
Aptos General Manager Jeremy Grunzweig says: “It is a privilege to deepen our longstanding partnership with Boot Barn as they embark on this exciting new phase of growth. Aptos ONE will give Boot Barn’s associates the tools they need to deliver exceptional experiences - in-store, at events and beyond - while providing the operational agility the business needs to scale confidently toward its long-term vision.”
Former Reckon.ai CEO Ana Pinto gets back in the retail game as she accepts COO position at Maikoz
Ana Pinto has joined Maikoz, which designs, deploys and connects AI enabled smart fridges and micromarkets across Europe, in the role of COO.
She was previously at Portugal-based unattended retail startup, Reckon.ai, where she served as CEO and Co-founder.
"I accepted to join Maikoz because it’s a super opportunity to combine technology with people who deeply understand how this industry works and scales. This allows to create something very hard to replicate, and a chance to rethink retail operations from the ground up,” she says.
”With Ana we now have a complete team with all competences needed to ensure we can provide the best support to our partners, not only through the competence and experience, but also with the big engagement and genuine care for customer success that she brings, with advanced AI solution and sophisticated solutions, the people around it is equally important,” says Andreas Fetscher, CEO at Maikoz.
Kevel, Dollar General, and The Trade Desk tie up lays claim to first of its kind retail media solution
Kevel has partnered with Dollar General and The Trade Desk to deliver a retail media solution that unifies onsite and offsite activation with consistent measurement.
They say that retail media today is often fragmented, with separate systems for onsite and offsite activation and limited visibility into performance across channels. This collaboration, those involved claim, addresses those gaps by connecting inventory, activation, and measurement into a single, decisioned approach to commerce media.
The solution combines Dollar General’s onsite retail media inventory with offsite activation across the open internet through The Trade Desk, supported by Kevel’s retail media technology.
Milestone for Morrisons in UK grocery retailer's Vusion technology powered digital shelf edge labels roll-out
Morrisons reports that it has installed its 50th store with digital shelf edge labels.
In a LinkedIn post, Charlotte Rush, Senior Productivity Manager - Projects at Morrisons, said: "Through our strategic partnership with Vusion, we are leveraging technology to enhance the shelf-edge experience for our customers whilst driving operational efficiency. By automating historically manual processes, we are empowering our store teams to focus more on serving our customers."
She added: "A massive thank you to the amazing team whose hard work and expertise have enabled us to deliver the roll-out at such a pace. I am looking forward to working with you all more as we continue the roll-out across the rest of our estate."
JD Sports Fashion's Dan McGrath: many retailers are looking at RFID technology through the wrongs lens
In a LinkedIn post, McGrath, a member of the 2026 RTIH Innovation Awards judging panel, said: "I hate RFID. Not because it doesn’t work. Not because it isn’t valuable. But because most of the industry is still looking at it through the wrong lens."
He added that RFID has never been about stock accuracy for him. Rather, it’s about stock confidence. "Accuracy is a report. Confidence is a decision. And in an agentic world where everything is about speed, automation, and autonomous decision-making, confidence is the only thing that actually matters."
"Because what’s the point in being 98% accurate, if an agent can’t trust that last 2%? In an age of velocity: Can I confidently sell this item? Can I confidently promise it to a customer? Can I confidently route demand to this store? If the answer isn’t 100% yes, the system breaks."
McGrath continued: "That’s the shift people are missing. RFID isn’t a store ops tool anymore. It’s a confidence engine for agentic commerce. And this is exactly why we chose Checkpoint Systems and ItemOptix. Because it’s a fully serviceable, API first RFID platform.”
“That means I can use RFID as a live data layer, connecting the physical store to autonomous systems, agents, and whatever comes next. Stores stop being places with stock and start becoming real-time, queryable inventory nodes. That’s the game. The industry is still talking about cycle counts."
He concluded: "The reality? We’re building infrastructure for machines to trade physical goods. And until people start viewing RFID through that lens, they’ll keep massively underestimating what it actually unlocks."
Things change: Marc Lore's food technology and delivery startup Wonder works towards 2026 IPO
Wonder has officially announced its is going public in 2027 or 2028. The Marc Lore fronted company recently hired a new CFO, Gabrielle Scheibe Rabinovitch, to help with this.
“We started Wonder with a simple goal: to make great food more accessible. Not just more convenient, but higher quality, more consistent, and available to more people at an affordable price,” Lore recently stated.
“Over the past year, we’ve taken meaningful steps toward that vision. Wonder has rapidly grown its reach, with over 120 locations and opening two per week. We've expanded the platform through acquisitions like Spyce and Blue Ribbon Fried Chicken, bringing more incredible meals to our customers. We’ve also advanced our technology, from launching drone delivery in New Jersey to building a food platform and superior delivery experience powered by advanced AI and robotics. And we’re just getting started.”
Another meaningful step is an IPO this year, instead of 2027 or 2028, according to Brittain Ladd, a supply chain consultant and former Amazon executive.
Milestone for Amazon Just Walk Out following decision to strip technology from grocery stores
This combines AI, computer vision, sensor fusion, and RFID to deliver a friction free shopping experience, with the aim of saving time for customers and streamlining operations for retailers.
