Retail technology innovation of the week: Asos taps ChatGPT to ensure it never goes out of style

Retail Technology Innovation of the Week is a series brought to you by RTIH, highlighting stand out deployments, launches, and initiatives by retailers and tech suppliers.

Every week, we showcase forward thinking tech plays that have impressed our Editor and the Retail Technology Innovations Report judging panel, building up to the publication of the 2026 report later this year.

And this week we’re focusing on Asos which has launched Stylist, an app in ChatGPT that brings fashion discovery through products and video content to customers in the UK and US. 

This helps customers discover Asos products directly in ChatGPT and shop them on the fast fashion giant’s website. It has been built using video commerce platform Bambuser.

Stylist uses Bambuser’s new Intelligence Layer capability and video player widget to turn Asos’ product catalogue and video library into structured, machine readable data that can be processed, retrieved, and returned, by large language models (LLMs) in real-time as shoppable videos. Shoppers can browse individual products or complete looks by category, occasion, or trend, receive styling guidance, and explore pieces from hundreds of brands.   

For example, when Stylist responds to a prompt such as “show me pastel floral A-line dresses for spring” it instantly searches across Asos’ brand portfolio and returns a curated edit tailored to the context of the conversation. Customers can see products in motion through video, click through for more details, and continue their journey on Asos.com to explore and purchase.

The experience is designed to be highly visual, bringing immersive product imagery and video, including livestream content, directly into the chat. When customers click on a product this expands to show more details, including pricing, and customers can tap through to “Shop on Asos” to complete their purchase.

And honourable mentions this week to...

Dassault Systèmes

Dassault Systèmes has launched HomeByMe Kitchen Expert Suite, a cloud-based and AI powered solution. It says that this was developed to deliver rapid ROI by enabling retailers to double the number of web to store quotes and improve the efficiency of their omnichannel sales.

Kitchen Expert Suite combines web-based 3D planning, sales management and manufacturers’ catalogues in one omnichannel solution to design kitchens from customer inspiration through to the final delivery of a project. While the solution supports consumers’ online buying journey, its core strength lies in providing kitchen specialists and sales consultants with a suite of solutions to turn a customer's initial vision into personalised and precisely planned layouts, countertops, cabinets and other features from the catalogues, and visualise them in 3D renderings. 

At the heart of this solution lies AI, designed to augment - not replace - in-store expertise. The integrated conversational virtual companion supports sellers in proposing kitchen layouts, automatically generating 3D plans, and alerting them to potential design errors based on built-in business rules.

With dedicated functionalities such as cabinet, worktop and wall panel editor, and modular block pricing, kitchen specialists can generate quotes, manage orders with manufacturers, and facilitate follow-up, while specialists can centralise and manage activities across their entire distribution network.

M&S

M&S has brought three new salad products to stores, grown indoors using vertical farming, where temperature, light and water are optimised to create consistent growing conditions year round. 

Robotics are used to plant the seeds, which are grown with a growing substrate instead of soil to direct the exact nutrients needed to grow the perfect leaf. UV lights in the vertical farm maintain the perfect conditions for the leaves to grow. 

M&S says that this approach not only enhances product quality and customer convenience - as the salads require no washing before consumption, but also supports more sustainable agriculture using 96% less water and eliminating the need for pesticides. Fertiliser use is also reduced by around 97%, and crops are grown without the use of pesticides. 

The three salad varieties grown in this way - Citrus Sorrel Baby Leaves, Spicy Baby Leaves and Baby Garlic Kale - are exclusive to M&S Food stores. As the leaves are grown in a controlled environment and harvested without soil, they can be picked at the optimal moment for consistent quality and flavour and packed within 60 seconds of harvest. This results in salads that stay fresher for up to five days longer than an average bag of salad.

Andrew Clappen, Director of Technical for M&S Food, says: “The future of food is about finding new and innovative methods which put less pressure on the environment while delivering the best in market flavour and quality. These Collection salads are vertically grown exclusively for M&S and bring new flavours to our customers with a dramatically reduced water consumption - supporting our Plan A goal to reach net zero by 2040 across our supply chain.” 

Just Eat

Just Eat has launched what is pitched as Europe’s first food and retail ordering service through WhatsApp, allowing customers to browse and place orders directly within a WhatsApp chat through its partnership with Meta.

A pilot will roll-out over the coming months in Spain and the Netherlands, allowing customers to message what they are looking for, such as “pizza for four” or “healthy lunch nearby”, and receive tailored recommendations powered by conversational AI before checking out through the Just Eat app.

This builds on the roll-out of an AI voice assistant in the UK and recent Alexa+ collaboration with Amazon.

Mert Öztekin, CTO at Just Eat, says: “By introducing Europe’s first WhatsApp ordering flow, Just Eat are not just adding a new channel; we are redefining the paradigm of convenience.”

“This innovation is a core component of our evolution from a transactional menu application into a truly intelligent AI Life Assistant that understands customer intent in real-time. We are proud to be the first to market in Europe, proving that Just Eat is at the absolute forefront of AI driven transformation. We are a technology business first, our priority is to drive operational excellence through automation and smart technology that simplifies the lives of consumers."

Geraldine Bouma, Country Director Benelux at Meta, says: “Chatting to businesses to check travel plans, make a reservation or browse a catalogue is already a way of life for many people around the world. We’re excited that more people in Europe will soon have the opportunity to use WhatsApp to order food and get things done.”