Waitrose gets digital and Tesco picks up the pace: check out 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 EE, Netflix, Zalando, Sereact, Majid Al Futtaim, Ocado Group, SOLUM, Humanoid, Shell, RELEX Solutions, Uber Eats, and Deliveroo.

1. EE and Netflix invite TV and film to step inside immersive pop-up at flagship EE Studio store

EE has launched an immersive Netflix inspired sensory booth in its flagship EE Studio store at Westfield, White City. Designed to showcase the content available to stream on Netflix through EE TV, the pop-up will bring some of the platform’s most popular shows to life, including Legends, The Hawk, and WWE Raw.

Asif Aziz, Retail Director at EE, says: “TV has changed dramatically in recent years, giving people more choice, flexibility and control over what they watch, wherever they are. At EE, we’re always looking for new ways to bring fans closer to the entertainment they love, which is why we are excited to launch this immersive retail experience in our EE Studio and Experience stores."

"Whether you are into thrillers, comedy or sport, it’s a fun reminder of the must watch Netflix shows available through EE TV. We encourage TV and film fans alike to come into our store, experience it for themselves and speak to our expert EE guides about flexible TV packages that are right for them."

Joshua Walker, Director, Marketing Partnerships - Northern Europe at Netflix, says: “This summer, Netflix is packed with feel good favourites, and through EE TV it’s easier than ever for households to find something to watch together. We’re excited that people get to dive into these worlds in the EE store over the summer as we build on our partnership with EE TV to make it even simpler for customers to enjoy the best of Netflix.”

2. Zalando invests in Berlin-based warehouse robotics provider Sereact as part of Series B round

Berlin-based Sereact, a provider of physical AI for warehouse robotics, has added Zalando as an investor in its ongoing Series B, which now stands at $116 million. It lines up alongside lead investor Headline as well as Bullhound Capital, Daphni, Felix Capital, Air Street Capital, Creandum and Point Nine.

The startup has now raised over $145 million to date.

Over 200 Sereact systems are currently in use across Europe, including at Mercedes Trucks and BOL. The capital will go toward Cortex 2.0, the next-generation of Sereact's robot brain, as well as international expansion, particularly into the US.

Cortex acts as a universal AI operating system that can run across multiple hardware forms - from single arm picking cells and dual-arm returns stations to humanoid robots. According to a press release, the upcoming Cortex 2.0 model “shifts robotic automation from a "try and see" to a "plan and try" approach by using a learned world model to anticipate physical outcomes, score potential trajectories for risk and efficiency, and plan movements before the robot even acts”.

3. Rhian Nicholls takes on group head of technology role at plus size fashion retailer Yours Clothing

Rhian Nicholls has been appointed by UK plus size fashion retailer Yours Clothing as its new Group Head of Technology. She joins from Blakely Clothing where she served as Head of E-commerce & Technology. Her CV also includes a stint at Greene King (E-commerce Manager).

In a LinkedIn post, dated 20th July, she said: “Today marks my last day at Blakely Clothing. I am thrilled to announce I am joining Yours Clothing as Group Head of Technology, working across all of the group's brands. Yours Clothing, BadRhino, Evans Clothing, Long Tall Sally, M&Co, Pixie Girl and Star by Julian Macdonald.”

“It's a fantastic opportunity to work with an incredibly talented team, optimise and evolve the tech stack, and help build the technology that supports the next phase of growth. I can't wait to get started, meet more of the team, and get stuck into the challenges ahead. Here's to an exciting new chapter!”

4. B&Q raids Amazon to bring in Laura Karsunky as Director of Retail Media

Kingfisher owned home improvement and garden centre retailer B&Q has appointed Laura Karsunky as Director of Retail Media. She joins from Amazon, where she spent more than a decade in senior leadership roles. 

Virginia Wakefield, E-commerce Director at B&Q, says: "Retail media is a key strategic priority for us, helping us deliver more relevant experiences for customers while creating greater value for our supplier and brand partners. Laura's appointment comes at an important time as we continue to evolve our proposition, and her extensive experience will be instrumental in shaping the next stage of our growth. I'm delighted to welcome Laura to the team and look forward to seeing the impact she'll make."

Karsunky says: "I'm thrilled to be joining B&Q at such an exciting time for the business. There's a real opportunity to build on the strong foundations already in place and continue developing a retail media proposition that creates value for both customers and our supplier and brand partners. I'm looking forward to working with the team to drive the next phase of growth."

5. Majid Al Futtaim among first companies to enable Jaywan acceptance as it goes live across UAE destinations

Majid Al Futtaim, a shopping mall, communities, retail, and leisure specialist across the Middle East, Africa, and Asia, has announced Jaywan card acceptance across more than 200 destinations in the UAE, becoming one of the country's first companies to fully enable the national card acceptance throughout its physical network. 

Customers can now use Jaywan cards across the group’s retail, leisure, hotels, and entertainment destinations. The initiative supports the country's ambition to build a nationally owned and operated payments network while delivering a secure, efficient, and locally relevant experience for consumers.

Darren Taylor, Senior Vice President, SHARE Rewards & Customer Solutions, Majid Al Futtaim, says: "Our priority is to make every interaction with Majid Al Futtaim simple, intuitive, and rewarding. Enabling Jaywan acceptance across our destinations gives customers more ways to pay while maintaining the seamless experience they expect from us. It also reflects the strength of our payment infrastructure, helping reduce transaction costs, accelerate settlement for domestic payments, and enable us to continue delivering new capabilities that meet the evolving needs of our customers." 

6. Robotics firm Humanoid lands $152 million funding at blockbuster $1.35 billion post-money valuation

Humanoid, a UK-based company building industrial humanoid robots, has announced a $152 million Series A financing at a $1.35 billion post-money valuation. This brings the total amount raised to date to $270 million. The round was led by Prime Movers Lab, with participation from Schaeffler, Bosch, Fubon Financial Holding Venture Capital, and Aglaé Ventures. 

The new capital will fund Humanoid’s next phase of growth, with the aim of strengthening its technology leadership and accelerating its commercial deployments and business expansion. It has secured partnerships with Fortune 500 companies, including SAP, NVIDIA, Bosch, and Siemens. Most notably, Humanoid recently signed what is claimed to be the industry’s largest publicly announced commercial agreement with Schaeffler for the deployment of thousands of humanoid robots in manufacturing environments.

“In just two years, we’ve gone from an idea to becoming Europe’s first pureplay humanoid robotics unicorn, partnered with some of the world’s leading industrial companies and built one of the strongest pipelines in the industry. What we’ve accomplished in such a short time would typically take a decade. None of this would have been possible without an extraordinary team that challenges every single day what people believe is possible. This funding gives us the resources to move even faster and to turn humanoid robots from breakthrough technology into everyday industrial tools,” says Artem Sokolov, Founder and CEO at Humanoid.

“Humanoid robotics will be one of the defining technologies of the next decade, reshaping how commercial and industrial work gets done. We expect the field to consolidate around a handful of category leaders across the US, Europe, and China. Humanoid AI will be one of a small cadre of robotics companies that will define humanoid robotics in Europe and beyond,” says Zia Huque, General Partner at Prime Movers Lab.

7. Tesco ramps up rapid grocery delivery push as retail giant agrees Uber Eats and Deliveroo partnerships

Tesco has announced plans to launch on Uber Eats and Deliveroo. 

Through its Whoosh service, it already offers store to door grocery delivery from as little as 20 minutes from around 1,800 stores, reaching more than 70% of the UK population. This launched in 2021 with around 1.5 million customers now using it.

The Uber Eats tie up will launch in August, and the one with Deliveroo will roll-out later this summer. Customers will be able to access hundreds of Clubcard Prices and collect Clubcard points when shopping Tesco through these platforms.

Ashwin Prasad, Tesco UK CEO, says: "Whoosh has transformed the way millions of customers shop with Tesco, offering speed, convenience and great value through the power of Clubcard. Launching with Uber Eats and Deliveroo will enable us to bring those benefits to even more customers.”

"Our online business continues to go from strength to strength, and these partnerships represent another important step in expanding our reach. By combining our market leading range, quality and value with the scale of Uber Eats and Deliveroo, we're making it even easier for more customers to shop with Tesco in the way that suits them best."

8. Ocado Group inks new automated customer fulfilment centre deal with unnamed European retailer

Ocado Group has announced an agreement to build a large customer fulfilment centre for a "fast growing European national retailer". The specific retailer has not been named, but we do know that Ocado will install its latest technology into the facility and it is due to go live in FY28.

The company has taken the final unit at Indurent Park Stoke Central, a 530,000 square foot industrial and logistics space on the 300-acre Festival Park development in Stoke-on-Trent. The site will be equipped with Ocado’s Re:Imagined technology suite, including the 600s bot, On-Grid Robotic Pick (OGRP), and a fully automated freezer. 

Plans are afoot for the unnamed retailer to quickly transfer its existing online order volumes into the CFC, with the site expected to go live with utilisation at just over half of its design capacity. 

Tim Steiner, Chief Executive at Ocado Group, says: “I’m delighted that our world leading automation and robotics have been chosen to help drive forward the online operations of another leading retailer. Together with our agreement with Asda earlier this year, this partnership highlights the growing demand for our solutions across the breadth of our technology offering.”

9. Shell connects with RELEX for store forecasting, replenishment, and fresh ordering across UK network

Shell has selected RELEX Solutions for AI driven forecasting, replenishment, and store operations. The implementation will include fresh optimisation, promotions and events planning, weather-based forecasting, fresh markdowns, and mobile replenishment for Shell’s UK Mobility & Convenience network.

Shell operates more than 550 convenience stores across its UK network under the Shell Select, Little Waitrose, and Co-op banners. It will now use RELEX for centralised, automated planning models through forecasting and replenishment capabilities.

RELEX provides capabilities that allow store teams to generate order proposals at the store level, accounting for fresh product lifecycle, promotional demand, and weather-driven sales patterns. They can then access and review those proposals directly through the firm’s mobile replenishment solution, with the ability to adjust before orders are confirmed. 

“RELEX gives us the tools to plan smarter across our UK convenience network,” says Janine Albrecht Webb, UK General Manager, Shell Mobility & Convenience. “We are looking forward to the improvements this will bring to our store operations and customer experience.”

10. Waitrose hits 200-store milestone in nationwide Solum powered digital shelf technology programme

Waitrose reports that it has rolled out SOLUM electronic shelf labels to more than 200 stores nationwide. Since announcing the partnership in December 2025, the grocery retailer has continued deploying SOLUM’s Newton Pro ESLs across its estate to modernise how pricing and product information are managed in-store. 

Mark Duckworth, Country Manager UK & Ireland at SOLUM, says: “Reaching the 200-store mark is an important milestone, but more importantly, it reflects how retailers are rethinking the role of technology within the store. Digital shelf technology is fast becoming part of the connected retail infrastructure that enables stores to respond more quickly, operate more efficiently and deliver a better experience for Partners and customers alike. We’re proud to be supporting Waitrose as it continues that journey.”

Waitrose says that it selected Newton Pro for its “premium design, reliability and suitability for food retail environments”. The solution enables centrally managed updates to pricing and product information across fresh, ambient and specialist categories, while maintaining the level of in-store presentation expected by Waitrose customers. 

As the roll-out continues across additional stores, the programme represents part of its ongoing investment in digitally enabled retail operations.