Milestone for Simbe's Tally inventory solution as 500th robot goes live across Kroger's store network
500 of Simbe's Tally inventory robots are now in operation across Kroger's store network. The milestone was achieved at its newest Smith’s Marketplace location. In a LinkedIn post, Shaun Buck of Smith's Food & Drug Centers, said: "We’re excited to welcome the 500th Tally robot across all of Kroger to our Smith’s Marketplace team!"
"It’s an honour to have our store selected for this achievement. Our team is excited to put Tally to work and use this technology to strengthen our in-stock conditions, improve shelf accuracy, and continue finding new ways to better serve our customers."
"Technology like this allows our associates to spend more time helping customers while giving us better insights to keep the store looking its best. We’re looking forward to seeing the impact Tally will have as we continue working to deliver the best possible shopping experience for our community."
"A huge thank you to our incredible team for embracing new technology and always putting our customers first. Here’s to continuing to raise the bar every day!"
Homebase USA
Homebase USA is expanding its roll-out of the Tally robot and Simbe’s suite of solutions to stores across Texas, Wyoming, Kansas and Missouri following a pilot that reduced pricing errors by 92%, lowered controllable out-of-stocks by 58%, brought total out-of-stocks below 1%, and shortened annual physical inventories from three days to less than one.
Operating stores with extensive assortments across farm, ranch, building supplies, hardware, seasonal, and everyday essentials requires consistent execution at the shelf. For the rural communities and small towns that HomeBase serves, when an essential item is out of stock, the nearest alternative can be far away. With continuous visibility into shelf conditions, the retailer’s teams can identify and resolve issues before they affect customers. For shoppers in these markets, Tally will also be the first encounter with a robot.
"Strengthening how we operate across every store makes it even better to work and shop at HomeBase," said Joel McLiney, Owner and CEO at HomeBase. "Simbe helped our teams focus on what matters most each day, and the results gave us confidence to introduce Tally to all our stores in less than three months."
“Instead of spending time searching for problems, our teams start each day knowing exactly where to focus,” said Tim Blakesley, Store Manager at HomeBase. “That means more time helping customers and making life easier for associates.”
2026 RTIH Innovation Awards
Automation will be a key focus area at the 2026 RTIH Innovation Awards.
The awards are now open for entries and celebrate global retail technology innovation in a fast moving omnichannel world.
Our winners will be revealed at the 2026 RTIH Innovation Awards Ceremony, taking place at The HAC in Central London on Wednesday, 4th November.
Check out our 2025 winners here.
Our 2025 hall of fame entrants were revealed during a sold out event which took place at The HAC on 16th October and consisted of a drinks reception, three course meal, and awards ceremony presided over by award winning comedian, actress and writer Tiff Stevenson.
In his welcome speech, Scott Thompson, Founder and Editor, RTIH, said: “This is the awards’ fifth year as a physical event. We started off with just 30 people at the South Place Hotel not far from here, then moved to London Bridge Hotel, then The Barbican, and last year RIBA’s HQ in the West End.”
“But I’m conscious of the fact that, to quote the legend that is Taylor Swift, You’re only as hot as your last hit, baby. So, this year we’ve moved to our biggest venue yet, and also pulled in our largest number of entries to date and broken attendance records.”
He added: “This year’s submissions have without doubt been our best yet. To quote one of the judges: The examples of innovative developments across both traditional and digital retail spaces were truly remarkable.”
Congratulations to our winners, and a big thank you to our sponsors, judging panel, the legend that is Tiff Stevenson, and all those who attended our 2025 gathering.
