Flashy flops and boring wins amid shifting innovation sands: RTIH’s most read retail technology articles
Check out our most clicked retail technology articles from last week, including Asda, Auror, Ikea UK, HMV, Bluewater Shopping Centre, Ingenico, Sainsbury's, Facewatch, Dunelm, White Castle, Gap Inc., Target, Sainsbury's, Retec Group, and the 2026 RTIH Innovation Awards.
Asda announces ten-week pilot across London stores of Auror crime reporting and intelligence technology
Asda is rolling out Auror, a crime reporting and intelligence platform. It says that a ten-week pilot in 30 London stores demonstrated the value of having a faster, more effective way to report incidents and identify repeat offenders in real-time.
According to the UK grocery retailer, the trial resulted in: more than £100,000 of products recovered and returned to shelves; 55% increase in crime prevention rates; 80% reduction in incident reporting time, from around 25 minutes to under five; improved identification of repeat and cross retailer offenders.
David Lepley, Chief Operating Officer at Asda, says: “Rolling out Auror across our estate will further strengthen our ability to prevent and tackle retail crime. The results from our London pilot demonstrated the value of having a faster and more effective way to report incidents and identify repeat offenders in real-time. By working more closely with police and retailers through a shared intelligence network, we can focus our efforts where they will have the greatest impact and help to tackle retail crime.”
There are now just six weeks left to get your entries in for the industry leading 2026 RTIH Innovation Awards
The eighth edition of the RTIH Innovation Awards is now up and running with the deadline for entries being Friday, 2nd October. That’s just six weeks away, so don’t delay, start working on your submissions today!
The awards, sponsored by 3D Cloud, Business France, and Retail Technology Show 2027, celebrate global tech innovation in a fast moving omnichannel world. Our latest winners will be revealed at the 2026 RTIH Innovation Awards Ceremony, taking place at The HAC (Prince Consort Rooms) in Central London on Wednesday, 4th November.
Sign up for an account and submit your entry or entries here.
Vinyl loving HMV sees double at Bluewater Shopping Centre as retailer preps new store opening
Entertainment retailer HMV is moving on up at Bluewater Shopping Centre in the UK with a new two-storey store. It is poised to take over a 7,000 sq ft unit after Gravity Arcade shut down last month. A spokesperson for Gravity Arcade said that the premises were always intended to be a “temporary pop-up location”, which “operated for a limited period”.
The expanded store (double the size of HMV’s previous Bluewater location) will open later this year and stock vinyl, CDs, films, and TV shows, as well as T-shirts from major franchises including Star Wars, KPop Demon Hunters, and Funko POP! It will also offer a wide selection of books, from fiction and graphic novels to music biographies, young adult titles, and manga.
Phil Halliday, Managing Director at HMV and Fopp, says: "Bluewater has always been a key destination for the business, and we're thrilled to be expanding our footprint within the centre. Whether you're hunting down rare vinyl, diving into Manga, or picking up the latest merch, the new shop will offer something for everyone. We can't wait to welcome in customers later this year."
James Waugh, Centre Director at Bluewater, says: "As one of Bluewater's original retailers, having been with us since we first opened in 1999, HMV has always been a firm favourite with our guests. "Seeing them commit to an even bigger space is not only great news for us, but highlights a wider confidence in bricks and mortar retail. We look forward to seeing the new, larger store open its doors later this year."
The hmv delivers service will also be available, allowing people to order items not available in-store and have them delivered to their homes.
HMV currently operates more than 125 stores across the UK and Europe.
White Castle onboard as launch partner as Murphy USA starts roll-out of autonomous hot food platform
Murphy USA, a retailer of gasoline and convenience merchandise with more than 1,800 stores located primarily in the Southwest, Southeast, Midwest and Northeast United States, has announced an initial roll-out of an autonomous foodservice platform in select larger format stores, providing customers another way to access hot, branded food. The platform, developed by Automated Retail Technologies (ART), will launch featuring hamburger chain White Castle.
“We’re continually evaluating opportunities that create additional value for our customers while building on the strengths that have made Murphy USA successful,” says Scott Woodward, Murphy USA Senior Vice President and Chief Merchandising Officer. “This relationship allows us to introduce a new convenience offering informed by customer insights, while maintaining the operational discipline and focus on everyday value. We’re encouraged by the opportunity to drive incremental inside sales, traffic and basket growth.”
“We’ve spent more than a century finding innovative ways to bring our Crave to customers wherever they are,” says Audra Mazzeo, White Castle Vice President of Retail Sales. “This partnership creates a unique opportunity to meet customers during their everyday routines and deliver the White Castle experience in a way that is convenient, fast, and incredibly tasty.”
Customers place orders through a touchscreen interface and receive hot food in approximately two minutes. Behind the scenes, ART’s technology automates preparation, heating, and delivery within a self-contained system. The technology is also designed as a modular, multi-brand platform capable of supporting nationally recognised brands, regional favorites and a variety of food categories over time.
Justin Breton departs Walmart for Fashiontainment push a ross Gap, Old Navy, Banana Republic, Athleta
Last week, we reported that Justin Breton had left Walmart, where he spent the past six and a half years, most recently serving as Head of Partnerships, Content & Emerging Experiences.
In a LinkedIn post, he said: “It’s truly hard to put into words just how excited I am for this opportunity. I’ve spent much of my career exploring what happens when brands create experiences people genuinely want to be part of, whether through content, gaming, entertainment, or the unknown.”
“Now, I get to take everything I’ve learned and apply it in an entirely new way: helping develop original content and entertainment for some of the most iconic brands in the world. I’ll be working alongside Pam Kaufman (Chief Entertainment Officer) and an incredible team to dream up ideas, develop them, and help bring them to life.”
He concluded: “I’m grateful to the Gap Inc. team for believing in me. Grateful to everyone who has helped me get here. And incredibly excited to be a beginner again, to listen, learn, meet new people, and build something new and exciting together. One great story with Walmart may have ended, but I have a feeling this next chapter is going to be a fun one.”
Here's why boring wins as RTIH launches its first ever Retail Technology Hot 100 List this week
Ahead of the first ever RTIH Retail Technology Hot 100 List going live this week, Holland & Barrett’s Group CFO, Vineta Bajaj, a member of the judging panel, argues the most bullish signal in this year's list is that the hype has quietly moved from the front of the shop to the back.
Ikea UK preps launch of secondhand products marketplace following Norway and Spain pilots
Ikea UK reports the upcoming launch of a new platform: the Ikea secondhand marketplace. Available to Family members, this is a dedicated space where pre-loved products can find a new home. The platform will enable customers to connect directly with one another. The announcement builds on pilots in Spain and Norway.
An Ikea spokeperson says: “We are always looking for new ways to make life at home even better and help our customers discover products they love. With the launch of Ikea secondhand marketplace in the UK, we’re taking a meaningful step toward creating a destination that simplifies access to pre-owned Ikea furniture.”
“Our goal is to make passing on beloved Ikea pieces as seamless as possible. We’re creating a trusted and vibrant space to make it quick and easy for our Ikea Family members to trade directly with one another. We want the process for buying and selling pre-owned products to be simple, accessible and rewarding.”
Further information regarding the official launch and how customers can participate will be made available in the coming months.
Under pressure PayTech giant Ingenico lands €150 million in new capital from PIMCO led group of investors
Ingenico, a specialist in payment acceptance solutions, has announced an agreement to reset its capital structure, anchored by a €150 million investment from a PIMCO led group of investors. The cash will be used to accelerate product innovation.
It will also support Ingenico’s Customer Excellence team and its global footprint, including new locations in London, San Francisco and Istanbul, with a view to bringing Account Managers, Solutions Engineers, and Customer Support Managers closer to customers and partners in key markets worldwide.
Recently appointed CEO Floris de Kort says that he is focused on building next-generation payment acceptance technology through cloud-based platforms, with the aim of making Ingenico a faster, simpler, and more valuable partner for customers globally.
“This agreement gives Ingenico the ability to move faster on the priorities that matter most: building great products, simplifying payment operations and delivering for our customers and partners,” he comments. “With a strong balance sheet and new capital in place, we can execute better and invest in the areas that will define our next phase. We have the foundation, the priorities, and a team that knows how to deliver. I’ve never been more confident that Ingenico’s best years are ahead of us.”
Digital innovation milestone for AI focused Dunelm: last week's biggest retail technology plays
Including AS Watson, NCR Voyix, AllSaints, Burger King, Hugo Boss, Just Eat, Entain, Amazon, Currys, Asda, Delhaize, Kroger, SPAR International, Huck's Market, Supermercados El Jamón, and Delivery Hero.
Retec Group CEO and Co-founder Chris Griffiths: retail technology consulting has a legacy system too
Retec Group CEO and Co-founder Chris Griffiths explores how AI is reshaping the consulting space, why legacy operating models are holding firms back, and what the future of transformation looks like.
Sainsbury's keeps the faith with Facewatch technology as customer is wrongly accused of shoplifting
Sainsbury's plans to continue with its roll-out of Facewatch facial recognition technology to approximately 200 stores during 2026, despite a customer being wrongly challenged as a shoplifter and asked to leave a store earlier this month.
A Sainsbury's spokesperson said that this resulted from human error rather than a false match by the Facewatch system and that the retailer contacted the customer to apologise for his experience. "The incident was caused by human error, not the facial recognition technology. Customers can be reassured that the Facewatch system has a 99.98% accuracy rate, and every match is reviewed by a trained manager,” they added.
A Facewatch spokesperson commented: "We can confirm that our live facial recognition technology was not at fault in this incident. A correct alert was sent to the retailer, but was subsequently subject to human error in the way it was handled and communicated by the retailer."
Matt Arnold, 46, was buying items at a Sainsbury’s store in East Dulwich when he was stopped by management at a self-service checkout. He was waiting for a staff member to approve an alcohol purchase. Having scanned his items alongside his Nectar loyalty card, he waved an attendant over, but was instead approached by management.
"They came over and said I had to leave. The staff member said I'd been identified by the AI, and the cameras had flagged me," he told BBC London. "A shoplifter does not walk around with that much shopping, they don't scan it through, they don't put their Nectar card through. But what upset me was thinking this is what the future could be - people just listen to what the machine tells them to do without thinking about the consequences."
After being escorted off the premises, Arnold said he had looked back from the entrance and saw an overhead CCTV monitor alert with a red circle surrounding his face.
AI technology goes mainstream as multiple retailers including Target and Sainsbury's make key hires
That changed this year with several retailers looking to plug in to the various benefits and opportunities that this technology offers.
