Asda takes on retail crime with Auror platform pilot: 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 Lidl GB, Neighbourly, Olio, Best Buy, Aldi, Arla, Polytag, 7-Eleven, Ibotta, Albertsons Companies, Sur La Table, Morrisons, and Everseen.
1. Lidl GB and Neighbourly announce expansion of surplus food partnership with Olio to 200 stores
Lidl GB and Neighbourly have expanded their partnership with Olio, giving more shoppers the chance to collect surplus food from the former’s stores for free at the end of the day via the Olio app. The initiative is now available at around 200 Lidl stores, with plans to roll it out nationwide by the end of the year.
When local charities can’t make late evening collections, Olio’s volunteers step in to pick up surplus fresh produce, meat, and bakery items before doors close. Instead of going to waste, that food goes to local families, shelters, and community groups.
The roll-out builds on a trial of evening collections in 20 stores which has prevented around 1,200 kg of food waste per week. Once live nationally, the initiative is expected to redistribute 5,000 tonnes of surplus food each year, the equivalent of nearly 11.9 million meals.
Georgina Hall, Director of Corporate Affairs at Lidl GB, says: “Real change requires a community effort, and we are incredibly grateful to our store teams, charity partners and the dedicated Food Waste Heroes who are rescuing good quality food for those who need it most. With our sights set on a nationwide roll-out by the end of this year, this expanding partnership will soon empower communities to rescue up to nearly 12 million meals every single year. This collaboration will make a huge impact on the lives of the most vulnerable in our communities everywhere.”
2. Aldi and Arla kick off eight week milk bottles trial that tracks recycling using Polytag UV tags
Aldi and Arla are collaborating with Polytag on a pilot to track milk bottle packaging through the recycling process using UV tagging technology.
Building on their 2023 tie up, the companies are working to improve packaging traceability and better understand how milk bottle packaging moves through the recycling system through this next phase of the pilot. This project utilises Sun Chemical's specially developed ink on wrap-around labels to provide recycling data. UV tagged labels are being applied to Arla's milk bottle range at its Oakthorpe site. The labels, printed by Saica Flex, will enable real-time tracking of packaging.
Luke Emery, Plastics and Packaging Director, Aldi UK, says: "This next phase with Polytag represents an exciting step forward in how we use data to drive our sustainability strategy. By integrating this advanced traceability technology into our packaging, we can gain deeper insights into the lifecycle of our materials.”
Helena Delgado Nordmann, head of sustainability at Arla Foods UK, comments: "As Europe’s largest dairy cooperative, Arla is committed to understanding how our packaging performs beyond point of sale. By working with Polytag, we hope to gain valuable insight into how milk bottle packaging moves through the recycling system, helping us to make more informed decisions about future packaging developments and supporting our ongoing efforts to improve packaging circularity.”
3. Asda announces 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.”
Mark Gleeson, General Manager UK and Europe at Auror, comments: “We’re delighted to welcome Asda to our strong network of like-minded retailers who are all committed to keeping frontline retail colleagues safe and taking on retail crime together. It’s fantastic to see retailers like Asda unite to take a stand against the top 10% of offenders causing 70% of retail crime and take back UK’s high streets. Auror has made it 80% faster to record crime for Asda colleagues and early pilot results saw the team identify dozens of prolific repeat offenders, with the majority known to offend at stores owned by other retail brands within the Auror network. This is why the network effect is key to getting on top of this problem.”
“Retailers are working more effectively with police than ever before through digital collaboration. This is helping them surface the true scale of offending, understand and respond to risk across their estates, and focus their precious resources on those repeats, organised, and violent offenders - creating safer stores for all.”
4. 7-Eleven taps Ibotta technology to bring performance-based promotions to convenience retail space
Ibotta has inked a deal to serve as the exclusive third-party provider of CPG digital offers (excluding age restricted items) to the 7-Eleven, 7NOW, and Speedway apps, reaching shoppers across more than 11,500 US store locations. The partnership gives CPG brands a direct path to 7-Eleven and Speedway shoppers through the Ibotta Performance Network, with brands only paying when there is a verified sale of their product.
"7-Eleven and Speedway stores represent a significant opportunity for CPG brands with enormous purchase volume. We are excited to bring our leading digital offer content and best-in-class measurement capabilities to 7-Eleven" says Bryan Leach, Founder and CEO at Ibotta. “This partnership gives our customers the same performance accountability they have in grocery and delivery, now in one of the hardest to reach retail channels in the country."
Shoppers will be able to clip Ibotta powered offers directly inside 7-Eleven apps before purchasing in-store, at the pump, or via delivery, with rewards deposited directly into their 7Rewards or Speedy Rewards loyalty accounts.
"We are investing in the digital and physical infrastructure that makes every visit more valuable for our shoppers while driving volume for brands," says Yaqub Baiani, Chief Product Officer at 7-Eleven. "Joining with Ibotta gives CPG brands a leading performance-based solution inside one of the most powerful loyalty programmes in convenience retail."
5. Best Buy appoints former Circana and Nordstrom exec Anne Bramman as CFO
Best Buy has announced the appointment of Anne Bramman as Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, effective 19th August.
“Anne brings an impressive and unique combination of finance and operations experience that aligns perfectly with Best Buy and where we’re headed,” says Jason Bonfig, incoming CEO. “Her consumer expertise, along with her proven track record of leading teams and creating long-term shareholder value will be instrumental as we take on our next chapter.”
“I’ve long admired Best Buy’s ability to adapt, innovate and stay deeply connected to its customers,” says Bramman. “I’m thrilled to join the company and I look forward to working with Jason and the impressive Best Buy team to help accelerate growth and build an exciting future together.”
Prior to joining Best Buy, Bramman held leadership roles at numerous consumer, technology and industrial organisations. She most recently served as Chief Financial and Growth Officer at Circana, a consumer analytics company. Prior to that, she was CFO at Nordstrom, leading the company's financial strategy, capital allocation and digital transformation efforts. She also served as CFO at Avery Dennison and Carnival Cruise Line and held senior finance leadership roles at L Brands. She currently serves on the boards of Morningstar and McCormick & Company.
6. Ashton Gate taps Amazon Just Walk Out technology to improve matchday experience for supporters
Ashton Gate Stadium, a Bristol-based venue that hosts conferences, events and is home to Bristol City and Bristol Bears, has installed Tap & Go Bars ahead of the 20276/27 season. Bristol Bears becomes the first Gallagher PREM Rugby club to invest in Amazon's Just Walk Out technology, with two Tap & Go bars in the Dolman Concourse and one in the South Stand Concourse.
Draught Pravha, Thatchers Gold and Guinness - using new multi-dispense units for fresher pints - cans of Guinness 0.0, Clear Head Alcohol Free IPA, wine, soft drinks, snacks, hot dogs, pasties and pies will be available for supporters to purchase.
Ashton Gate Stadium Chief Operating Officer Ross Wormald says: “We are delighted to partner with Amazon to introduce Tap & Go Bars. As a sports and entertainment venue, which was rebuilt to allow us to be forward-thinking, this innovation will improve fans’ matchday experience. The feedback from the respective supporter groups was really useful in helping us shape how this would look and we are excited to have this technology in place ahead of the new seasons.”
7. Call for entries: new end-to-end submissions platform launches for 2026 RTIH Innovation Awards
The eighth edition of the RTIH Innovation Awards is now open for entries. New for this year, we’ve launched an end-to-end entry platform that provides a more streamlined process for both our entrants and judges.
You will be able to create an account, submit your entry, company logos, supporting documents etc, and keep track of the submissions process through to the judging stage. Sign up for an account and submit your entry or entries here.
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 in Central London on Wednesday, 4th November.
Download a sample entry form here.
Please email our awards team if you have any questions or need further information: awards@retailtechinnovationhub.com
8. Albertsons Companies makes AI powered grocery shopping move with new Safeway plugin in ChatGPT
Albertsons Companies has announced a Safeway plugin in ChatGPT. The aim here is to help consumers discover products, evaluate options and complete their shopping journey in ChatGPT, while remaining in control of their purchasing decisions.
“We are on a mission to power our customers at every touchpoint with AI to deliver a seamless shopping experience that’s faster, easier and more enjoyable,” says Jill Pavlovich, SVP of Digital Customer Experience at Albertsons Cos. “Research tells us that consumers are increasingly interested in using AI to help with grocery shopping. By enabling our plugin in ChatGPT, we are making grocery shopping as simple as having a conversation by meeting our customers when and how they choose to shop. This is another practical way we are using AI to reduce friction and make everyday shopping easier.”
Using ChatGPT, shoppers can activate the Safeway plugin and ask for what they need in natural language, whether they are looking to reorder their favourites, find new products, discover items on sale or shop from a recipe, photo or digital list. People remain in control of their cart and purchasing decisions and can review or modify items before completing checkout. They will be redirected to the Safeway platform to checkout.
9. Sur La Table raids Allbirds to bring in Benny Joseph as its new Chief Technology Officer
Benny Joseph has joined US retailer Sur La Table as Chief Technology Officer. In a LinkedIn post, Sur La Table said: “Benny spent the past nine years at Allbirds, where he was CTO (as well as Chief Culture Officer and Chief Supply Chain Officer during parts of tenure).”
“Yes, you read that correctly, it's not often you see a CTO who is also a Chief Culture Officer. But Benny is a true builder, mentor, and leader who believes deeply in the power of technology to enable great human experiences.”
It added: “He also loves to cook. Ask Benny about his favourite food and he'll tell you about his mom's chicken curry - a dish he's tried for years to replicate but says he never comes close. Welcome to The Table Benny!”
Through its stores and an e-commerce site, Sur La Table sells kitchenware, including cookware, cutlery, cooks' tools, small electrics, tabletop and linens, bakeware, glassware and bar, housewares, food, and outdoor products. It was founded in the 1970s and is based in Seattle, Washington.
10. Morrisons announces roll-out of Everseen computer vision powered Evercheck platform across stores
Morrisons has selected Everseen to deploy its Evercheck solution across 200 of the UK grocery retailer’s stores in an initial roll-out phase. The platform uses real-time computer vision to simplify the self-checkout process.
The move builds on a trial of the technology. On-screen prompts allow shoppers to correct any missed items themselves, with the aim of keeping queues moving. The software integrates with existing systems, freeing store teams to focus on customer service.
Francesca Bezoari, Store Support Office Director at Morrisons, says: “Our new partnership with Everseen enables us to provide the fast and seamless checkout experience our customers want, while simultaneously equipping our colleagues to maintain the exceptional service that Morrisons is known for.”
Joe White, CEO at Everseen, says: “Morrisons recognise that the best AI solutions deliver measurable results without compromising the customer experience. Our Vision AI platform enables Morrisons to improve its satisfaction scores, proving that operational performance and customer service aren't competing priorities. We're proud to bring our experience from deploying across thousands of global checkouts to support Morrisons transformation.”
