Sainsbury’s touches down at Luton Airport as UK grocery giant notches up a convenience stores first in England
Sainsbury’s has opened its first ever airport store in England. People passing through Luton Airport will be able to purchase food, drink and travel essentials from a Sainsbury's Local location.
This builds on the opening in 2024 of the UK grocery giant’s first ever store in a UK airport (Edinburgh Airport).
"This has been a fantastic project to be part of and a real milestone for the business. Bringing a Sainsbury’s Local into a completely different retail environment, designed around the needs of customers travelling through one of the UK’s busiest airports," says Andy Robinson, Central Convenience Stores Director at Sainsbury's.
He adds: "A huge thank you to everyone who has played a part - so many colleagues and support teams have worked incredibly hard behind the scenes over the last few months to get us to opening day, and the finished result is something everyone involved should be proud of."
"The store looks fantastic, the team are excited, and it’s another strong example of how we continue to bring convenience and great service to customers wherever they need us."
SmartShop
Sainsbury's SmartShop solution notched up a milestone earlier this year. The in-store shopping handset and mobile app, which lets customers scan as they go, meaning they can skip checkout queues, turned ten.
In a LinkedIn post, Shona McGuire, Head of Product (Connected Store) at Sainsbury’s Digital, Tech and Data, said: “This week our team is celebrating 10 years of SmartShop. I’m taking a moment to reflect and thank everyone who has played a part in this leading scan and go proposition over the past 10+ years. So many talented people have defined the product it is today, and the one we continue to build for tomorrow.
She added: “On a personal note, this milestone means a lot. I was fortunate to work on the initial implementation of SmartShop into 10 stores back in 2016, and it’s amazing how it’s grown to be a core shopping experience for many Sainsbury’s customers today. Here’s to the passion, innovation and teamwork that will continue to shape this in-store shopping companion of the future.”
James Leech, Chief Product Officer at Sainsbury’s, added: “For the past decade, SmartShop has been innovating and redefining grocery shopping for our customers. What started as a bold idea has grown into a core part of our customer experience and proposition.”
He added: “Over the last few years, we’ve continued to build on that foundation. We introduced payment innovation, becoming the first grocer in the world to enable customers to pay directly on their handset. We’ve added features that help customers discover and make the most of our Your Nectar Prices proposition. We also used the SmartShop platform to power our computer vision enabled convenience store trial, expanded advanced retail media capabilities, and developed product wayfinding to make shopping even easier.”
“Adoption continues to grow year after year, and it’s incredibly rewarding to see how customers are embracing the experience. And we’re just getting started. With an exciting roadmap ahead for 2026, SmartShop will continue to evolve as we look for new ways to make shopping simpler, faster, and more rewarding for our customers.”
2026 RTIH Innovation Awards
Physical stores 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 Wednesday, 4th November.
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.
