Crime fighting Sainsbury's taps facial recognition software: the retail technology week in numbers
Do you like numbers? Do you like retail tech news? Then this is the article for you. Including Nectar360, Debenhams Group, eBay UK, East of England Co-op, Sainsbury's, Morrisons, Footasylum, JOKR, Skittles, The Payments Association, Lidl Plus, HyperFinity, Lidl GB, and Quadrant.
37...Lidl GB is expanding its Lidl & Go self-scanning trial to 37 additional stores across the UK, following positive customer feedback from an initial seven store pilot. This will see the feature become available to shoppers across Scotland, the South East and the wider South of England throughout July.
Integrated within the Lidl Plus app, Lidl & Go allows customers to scan products as they shop, track their spending and savings in real-time, and complete their purchase more seamlessly at checkout. The feature is available directly through customers' own smartphones, with no requirement for dedicated in-store scanning devices. Feedback from the initial trial has shown particular appeal among customers shopping with children and those looking for greater flexibility during their shop.
Louise Weise, Chief Customer Officer, at Lidl GB, says: “The early response from the initial phase of Lidl & Go has been really encouraging. Customers are telling us they value the control and visibility it gives them over their spend, and the flexibility to shop at their own pace. This next wave of stores brings the feature to many more customers, and we’ll continue to take on board feedback to evolve the offering as we go.”
boohoo has seen football related product sales increase 1,827% from May to June, while searches are up 600%. As the nation gets behind the Three Lions, fans are updating their matchday wardrobes, with searches for England jumping 500% from May to June. Meanwhile, views of boohoo’s Women’s Football Collection and Men’s Football Shirts increased 1,800% and 9,000% respectively over the same period.
Customers are also putting their own spin on matchday dressing, with football led fashion emerging as one of the tournament’s biggest style trends. The England Football T- shirt has become the best selling football inspired product since the start of the tournament, while the England Football Strappy Vest became the brand’s top performer following England’s initial 4-2 victory over Croatia.
The appetite for football fashion is mirrored at Debenhams. Sales volumes of official 2026 football shirts rose 481% from May to June, while retro football shirt sales increased 260%. England football shirts in particular recorded strong growth, with sales volumes increasing by 233% during this period.
A Debenhams Group spokesperson says: “Major sporting moments like the World Cup always create a real buzz, and that excitement naturally spills over into shopping habits. As England heads into the knockout stages, fans are turning to fashion to show their support - from official team shirts to football inspired fashion. As the stakes get higher, we expect demand to continue to build. Every game gives supporters another reason to back the Three Lions, and we’re seeing that reflected in the products customers are choosing to wear.”
20...Senior leaders from the Metropolitan Police, Mayor’s Office for Policing and Crime, and some of the largest UK retailers, including Sainsbury’s, Ikea, Tesco, M&S, John Lewis Partnership, and Next, have agreed a plan to help tackle retail crime in London. A roundtable, which took place this week at New Scotland Yard, included the Assistant Commissioner for the Metropolitan Police, two Deputy Mayors, and around 20 retail organisations.
Those in attendance agreed the priorities for improved partnership working to reduce crime and deliver stronger outcomes for our high streets. The plan focuses on improving evidence sharing, supporting each other through the criminal justice process, and giving greater priority to retail crime.
Police agreed to: Prioritise attendance to violent retail incidents and those where the offender is detained; Improve updates to retailers on the progress and outcomes of reported crimes; Focus enforcement on prolific offenders and organised crime groups.
Retailers agreed to: Ensure high quality evidence, including CCTV and body worn camera footage, is preserved and shared; Provide police with a single point of contact, to reduce delays; Give colleagues the necessary time to support the criminal justice process.
150...Sainsburys is to roll-out facial recognition software in over 150 stores before Christmas after a trial showed the technology stopped nine in ten repeat offenders from coming back.
The UK grocery giant currently has the AI powered system live in 55 locations in a partnership with Facewatch. Retailers upload reports of bad behaviour, such as shoplifting or violence, with moderators then reviewing camera footage and tagging suspects. When a flagged person enters a participating store, Facewatch pushes out an instant alert.
Despite Sainsbury’s stating that the trial has been a success, it hasn’t been all plain sailing. Earlier this year, a man was instructed to leave a Sainsbury's store in South East London without explanation, after staff incorrectly identified him as an offender flagged by the aforementioned technology. Facewatch later told him there were "no incidents or alerts associated with [him]" on its database, and Sainsbury's apologised for the "human error".
A Sainsbury's spokesperson said: "We have been in contact with the man to sincerely apologise for his experience in our Elephant and Castle store. This was not an issue with the facial recognition technology in use but a case of the wrong person being approached in-store."
They added nobody had been wrongly identified by Facewatch technology and this was the first instance of someone being wrongly approached by a store manager.
1...Nectar360, a retail media, loyalty and insights business owned by Sainsbury's Group, has become the first UK retail media network to be certified under IAB Europe's Retail Media Certification Programme, following an independent audit by ABC.
This follows on from Dutch retailer Albert Heijnwho becoing the first organisation certified under the programme in 2025. The certification covers Nectar360's Display and Video Ad Products for off-site properties, including Meta (Instagram and Facebook), Google DV 360, and Google YouTube.
As part of the audit, ABC reviewed media metrics, attribution methodologies and insight reporting, and tested campaign data and reporting outputs to verify that key metrics were being calculated and reported in line with the standards. The audit also included validation of a sample of campaign reporting covering metrics such as impressions, clicks, viewability, video completion rate, return on ad spend (ROAS), new-to-brand reporting and sales uplift.
Clare Langstaff, Audit Director at ABC, says: "Congratulations to Nectar360 on becoming the first UK retail media network to achieve IAB Europe Retail Media Certification. As the independent auditor, we reviewed the evidence supporting Nectar360's measurement approach, tested campaign reporting and validated how key retail media metrics are defined, calculated and reported.”
“This is an important milestone for the UK market and a positive step towards greater confidence in retail media measurement. Independent audit helps provide advertisers and agencies with greater assurance that reported metrics are aligned to industry standards and can be compared more consistently across the market."
32...Lidl’s loyalty and rewards programme, Lidl Plus, goes live in America this week, the 32nd market in which it is now available.
In a LinkedIn post, Linus Hinzmann, Senior Vice President Customer & International Board Member at Lidl International, said: “Hello, USA! Get ready! This week, Lidl Plus becomes available in our 32nd market. One platform. Millions of customers. Endless opportunities. Proud of everyone helping build one of the world’s leading customer ecosystems.”
£10 million...BR-DGE has secured a £10 million funding round. Having carved a niche for itself in gaming payments, the UK-based company is now expanding into adjacent enterprise sectors, with recent customer wins including e-commerce business The Hut Group and betting firm Betfred.
The round has seen Bettor Capital, a US-based investor in the gaming industry, join as a new partner, alongside continued backing from existing investors. The new investment will be used to enhance BR-DGE’s platform capabilities, strengthen go to market activity and drive geographic growth, with new market and product launches planned for the second half of this year.
Thomas Gillan, CEO at BR-DGE, says: “This investment gives us additional backing at a pivotal stage of international expansion. Payments have become a much bigger strategic priority for enterprise merchants, particularly in complex, regulated sectors where resilience, competitive advantage, customer experience and compliance are critical to success. The next generation of payment infrastructure is not about moving money; it's about optimising every transaction.”
“We are building the intelligence and optimisation layer that enables merchants to maximise the performance of every payment. This new funding will enable us to further develop our platform, power our growth plan and help more merchants solve the payment infrastructure problems that matter most in large scale businesses.”
$19.5 million...Pie, an AI powered platform for small businesses, has announced a $19.5 million Series A led by Lightspeed Venture Partners, bringing its total funding to $23.7 million. The round included participation from Capital One Ventures, Max Levchin’s SciFi VC, F-Prime, Commerce Ventures, WEX Venture Capital, and existing investors.
The company has also announced its emergence from stealth and launched Front Desk, an AI product that answers calls for small business owners 24/7, takes bookings and reservations, and responds to customer questions.
Founded by former Square and Toast operators Syed Ali and Akhil Mantripragada, Pie says it is is building the growth infrastructure layer for Main Street businesses at a time when customer discovery is shifting across AI search, Google and digital channels. Since launching its first AI powered growth product in late 2025, it has grown to reach thousands of small business customers while in stealth, largely through referrals and platform partnerships, and expanded its product suite across AI search, growth, and Front Desk.
“Small business owners have been stuck with expensive, opaque agency models for decades,” says Syed Ali, Co-founder and CEO, Pie. “Every owner I talked to said some version of the same thing: ‘I need more customers, and I can’t afford an agency.’ We built Pie to fix that problem and bring enterprise grade growth capabilities to the small businesses that power local economies.”
Pie’s platform is built around three products. AI Search helps businesses show up as local discovery moves into AI powered search experiences like ChatGPT, Claude and Perplexity. Growth then helps businesses acquire customers across high intent local channels like Google Maps, Yelp, Nextdoor and other digital platforms. Front Desk helps businesses capture demand once it comes in by answering calls, taking bookings and responding to customer questions.
£9.2 billion...Sainsbury’s this week reported that its first quarter revenue rose 2.7% to £9.2 billion.
Aarin Chiekrie, Equity Analyst, Hargreaves Lansdown, comments: “Sainsbury had a solid start to the year, with grocery sales outpacing the broader market and pushing the top line higher. A relentless focus on value, quality, and availability has led more customers to turn to Sainsbury's for their big weekly shop, driving grocery sales up by a respectable 3.6%. Initiatives like Nectar prices and the biggest Aldi Price Match in the market are also delivering value to customers and keeping them loyal."
"However, while the UK food market is proving resilient overall, Sainsbury’s is more exposed to general merchandise than its peers through its ownership of Argos. These are areas where sales have been lacklustre of late, and that trend’s worsened over the first quarter, with sales growth slipping into negative territory."
"Cost pressures remain a threat to monitor this year. While oil prices have pulled back since the early days of the Middle East conflict, there remains a risk that they could trend higher again if tensions escalate. Inflation has also remained surprisingly stable so far, but higher-for-longer oil prices could see that tick up over the year, putting pressure on demand, especially for the more discretionary items that Argos sells. For now though, a strong grocery performance is offsetting weakness elsewhere, which saw Sainsbury’s reiterate its cautious full year profit guidance.”
33...The East of England Co-op has partnered with Uber Eats on rapid grocery delivery for its members and customers, with the service now available from 33 food stores across East Anglia.
Through the Uber Eats platform, customers can order a wide range of fresh food, household products and grocery essentials to be delivered direct to their door.
The partnership forms part of an e-commerce and rapid delivery offering that also includes services such as Just Eat and Snappy Shopper. As part of the launch, East of England Co-op is offering £5 off when people spend £25 through Uber Eats.
Chief Commercial Officer for the East of England Co-op, Simon Dryell, says: “We're delighted to partner with Uber Eats and launch the service across 33 of our Food stores. Convenience will always be a key priority for us, and by working with Uber Eats we're able to offer our members and customers even more choice in how they shop with us. This partnership helps us meet the changing needs of our communities, ensuring customers can access the products they need quickly and easily from their local East of England Co-op."
In a LinkedIn post, Eve Williams, Vice President and General Manager at eBay UK, said: “A huge thank you to Patricia B. (a YouTube creator) for hosting with such warmth, and to Kings Kleans (a sneaker repair and cleaning specialist) and The Luxury Pickers (luxury resellers) for sharing their experiences so generously.”
She added: “For me, the biggest takeaway was simple: live commerce works best when it feels personal. It is people selling to people, building trust, telling stories and helping buyers feel more connected to what they are buying. Thank you to everyone who joined us and helped make the first eBay Live Lab such a success. This is just the beginning.”
29% and 72%...While retailers increasingly expect AI to transform customer loyalty, many admit they lack the foundations to make the shift, according to research released by HyperFinity. Only 29% say their loyalty systems are fully prepared for agentic AI deployment, while 72% admit they are not yet fully ready.
200 Chief Customer Officers, Chief Data Officers, E-commerce Directors, Insight Leaders in the retail sector were surveyed for this.
54% feel that AI's biggest impact on customer loyalty over the next two to three years will come from speeding up customer insight and decision making through intelligent agents. Rather than replacing existing loyalty initiatives, AI is expected to accelerate how retailers understand customers, identify opportunities and respond to changing behaviours.
44% of retailers believe AI will enable one to one personalised engagement at scale, creating opportunities to move beyond broad customer groups and towards truly individual experiences. Four in ten says it will reduce the need for human analysts, allowing teams to focus less on producing reports and more on making strategic commercial decisions.
Retailers increasingly see loyalty as one of the first functions to benefit from agentic AI. One third identify loyalty and CRM among the first retail functions likely to adopt agentic AI, signalling a move towards systems that can proactively identify opportunities and recommend actions.
60%...New research from payments technology firm ACI Worldwide reveals a significant trust gap between artificial intelligence and human decision-makers, highlighting a key barrier to the widespread adoption of AI shopping agents.
A YouGov survey of more than 2,000 UK adults found that just 19% of consumers trust AI assistants to follow rules to set up make every day purchasing decisions, compared with 55% who trust a human expert or adviser. 69% do not trust AI, even when it follows rules they set, while 60% would stop using an AI agent after just one mistake.
“The findings clearly show that consumers are open to AI helping them shop smarter, but only if they remain firmly in control of both the decision‑making and their money,” says Adriana Iordan, head of merchant and payments intelligence at ACI Worldwide. “They’re telling us very clearly that they won’t hand control of their finances to an autonomous agent without safeguards. This isn’t a capability gap; it’s a trust and confidence gap. If the industry wants adoption, it must prioritise control over capability: explicit approvals, hard spending limits, protected payment details and clear accountability when things go wrong.”
£940 million...Earlier this year, Morrisons announced plans to ramp up its use of data and AI as part of a cost cutting push. This included job cuts across all functions at is head office. It's a move that has contributed to the delivery of significant cost savings, Rami Baitiéh, CEO at Morrisons, revealed last week.
In a LinkedIn post, he said: "Many leaders talk about AI, and many companies invest heavily in it, but often without a clear, genuine outcome. Recently, I shared at VivaTech Paris, and The Good Consumer Forum in Vienna my vision for how we approach AI differently."
"At Morrisons, we’ve paired a bottom up investment strategy with a top down educational strategy. By empowering our teams with the right directions and knowledge while funding practical, grassroots ideas, we’ve unlocked massive value."
He added: "While I can't share every detail, this specific tech driven vision has materially contributed to the delivery of £940 million over the last three years, all without compromising our customer experience."
"We are reinvesting these savings exactly where they matter most: the future of our company. My goal is to make Morrisons stores as easy to navigate and clear to understand as our digital website. Personalised retail media, accurate stock tracking, and competitive pricing are the ultimate keys to success for bricks and mortar retailers wanting to stay ahead of the curve in the coming years."
17,178...Footasylum has announced the completion of upgrades to its Trafford Centre 17,178 sq ft store in Greater Manchester. The re-opening is part of the company’s UK retail expansion push, following other recent launches in Manchester Arndale, Trinity Leeds, and Merthyr Tydfil.
It also recently appointed Hannah Mercer as Chief Executive Officer and has expanded internationally across the DACH and Gulf regions. It has also secured increased funding from HSBC UK to support its ongoing store roll-out, expanded its warehousing capacity, and announced a partnership with Trapstar, the British streetwear brand.
Shannon Osman, Retail Director at Footasylum, says, “The launch of our newly upgraded Trafford Centre store is another landmark moment for us in our UK expansion plan, as we continue to invest in high impact, high performing locations."
"As a company defined by setting trends and offering our customers the best experiences, we are thrilled to be offering customers another glimpse into what the future holds for Footasylum. This is an innovative retail destination that will allow us to deepen our connection with our already highly engaged Manchester audience, while also welcoming new customers who travel from far and wide to experience everything the Trafford Centre has to offer.”
10%...Lidl GB has announced a new recruitment initiative, aimed at tackling rising unemployment by ringfencing 10% of interviews for people who have been out of work for at least six months for roles across its operations. This will cover entry level roles at every new store over the next 12 months alongside at least 480 interview slots across its 13 warehouses.
The retailer is working in partnership with local employability partners including the prime providers of the RESTART scheme and the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) who will identify and support candidates with interview tips and best practice guidance.
Stephanie Rogers, Chief People Officer at Lidl GB, says: "Unemployment is affecting communities right across the country, adding to the pressures many households are already under. For people who are facing barriers into employment, getting that first opportunity can be the hardest step. That’s why we’re fast tracking interviews across the nation to help people get a foot in the door. A career in retail develops a massive range of transferable skills and, here at Lidl, we pair that with industry leading training and competitive pay to ensure our people can truly thrive.”
R$1 billion...JOKR, an AI powered commerce platform operating in Brazil under the Daki brand, reports that it has reached EBITDA break even while approaching R$1 billion in annualised revenue and growing more than 50% year-on-year.
According to the company, this performance demonstrates that quick commerce can be profitable when built around operational discipline, automation and end-to-end control of the value chain rather than growth at all costs.
Founded in 2021, JOKR has raised more than $500 million from investors including Balderton Capital, Tiger Global, HV Capital and GGV Capital before restructuring around its Brazilian operation, Daki. The company recently secured a minority investment from iFood, Latin America's largest delivery platform.
Built by a founding team that has worked together across foodpanda, Delivery Hero and Paysafe, JOKR spent the past five years rebuilding the economics of rapid grocery delivery around automation, vertical integration and operational discipline. Today, the venture operates a model spanning procurement, inventory, fulfilment and delivery, allowing it to control the customer experience and economics end-to-end. More than 50 AI agents automate 95% of procurement decisions, helping the company achieve approximately 45% gross margins before delivery costs and 99% on-time delivery performance.
Ralf Wenzel, Founder and Chairman at JOKR, says: "For several years, the narrative was that quick commerce had failed. We believed the category wasn't broken - the operating model was. Consumer demand never disappeared. The challenge was building a business capable of serving that demand profitably. What we're seeing now is a shift away from growth at all costs towards automation, operational control and sustainable economics. That's what will define the next phase of the sector."
1...Quadrant, the entertainment and lifestyle brand founded by Formula 1 world champion Lando Norris, has announced its first ever London pop-up activation at Outernet London. Shopify will handle the entire commerce layer behind the activation, allowing Quadrant to bring its online community into a physical space for the weekend.
"Lando is one of the best drivers in the world, and what he and the Quadrant team have built off the track is just as impressive. They understood something every great entrepreneur understands: build the community first, and commerce follows," says Harley Finkelstein, President at Shopify. “They're using the Silverstone race week to convert screens to a storefront in London. That's the kind of ambition Shopify is built for."
“Quadrant has always been about building something with our fans. Racing, apparel and content are all a big part of it, but it’s the fans who’ve made it what it is today. We’ve built so much online over the years, so it’s really exciting to bring that into the real-world with this pop-up. Shopify has helped us make that possible, and I can’t wait for everyone to come and check it out during race week,” says Norris.
The London activation opens at Outernet London from 10:00 am BST on Tuesday, 30th June. A second Shopify x Quadrant activation in a US city will follow later this year. RTIH’s money is on Las Vegas, given that a Formula 1 race will take place there in November.
70% of Brits feel it is important that both cash and cashless payment options remain available, according to the Payments Association’s 2026 Consumer Behaviour Survey
Only 28% of the 2,107 consumers who took part in the research use cash at least weekly and 40% use it less than monthly or never. The results suggest people increasingly view cash not as a primary payment method, but as an important fallback option that supports choice, inclusion and resilience.
Day to day spending habits continue to shift towards digital payments, with mobile wallets now matching contactless debit cards as the UK’s most commonly used payment method for everyday purchases (26% each). This trend sits as part of a wider variety of payment choices for UK consumers: 26% mainly use contactless debit cards, 26% mainly use mobile wallets, 18% use chip and PIN debit cards, and 10% primarily use cash.
Fraud remains a constant concern for UK consumers and continues to shape payment behaviour and innovation uptake. While 76% say they have not been a victim of fraud in the past 12 months, 20% do report having been a victim of at least one type of fraud in the last year. Card fraud (8% of all respondents), phishing scams (6%) and online shopping fraud (5%) are the most common incidents reported.
This concern continues to impact innovation adoption, with consumers being most likely to try new payment methods if they offer better security (39%). When it comes to high value purchases, security and buyer protection are the leading considerations, outweighing convenience and rewards.
Emma Banymandhub, CEO at The Payments Association, says: “Our latest report reveals striking trends around contactless and cash payments that should serve as a reminder to businesses and payment providers alike that consumer choice drives everything we do. With the UK’s payment habits evolving quickly and not necessarily following the expected digital takeover trajectory that many experts predicted, we are pleased to provide some insight and guidance into future strategic imperatives for UK payments.”
The map is an online resource for young people to learn about London as a historically rich LGBTQ+ hub, bringing the past and present of the city to life. It aims to give people a new way to discover London’s LGBTQ+ history - whether from home, the university library, or as inspiration for a self-guided walk through the city.
The collaboration builds on Skittles’ ongoing work with Queer Britain. The map features locations where communities have found connection, support and belonging, both historic and current. This includes:
Julius Caesar Taylor’s Molly House, a secret meeting place where queer men found community and safety in the face of 18th century criminalisation of same sex relationships
Lytton Strachey’s former home, where the Bloomsbury Group - a renowned collective of writers, artists and thinkers who challenged early 20th-century social norms like same-sex relationships - would frequently socialise
The LGBTQ+ Traffic Lights in Trafalgar Square, that continue to embed LGBTQ+ visibility into daily life, creating moments of recognition and connection that echo the sentiment of chosen family
