Waitrose keeps the faith with Trust Retail through to 2031 as inventory technology roll-out expands
Waitrose has extended its partnership with Trust Retail, a Trust Payments business, for a further five years, taking the relationship through to November 2031 as the supermarket prepares to accelerate the roll-out of Trust Retail’s inventory management technology across its store estate.
The technology was first trialled in a Waitrose store in March 2026 and is now live across eight stores. A wider roll-out is scheduled to begin at the end of September, with approximately 125 stores expected to be live before Christmas and the remaining Waitrose estate scheduled to follow by March 2027.
Trust Retail’s inventory management technology gives Waitrose partners a real-time view of stock, replacing processes that previously relied on batch updates. Transactions are reflected immediately across connected inventory and accounting systems, providing a more accurate and up-to-date view of stock throughout the trading day. Using handheld devices, store partners can access current inventory information to support day-to-day activities including replenishment, stock management and markdown decisions.
Mike Dotson, Managing Director at Trust Retail, says: “Implementing inventory management technology across a retail environment of this scale is a complex undertaking, but our teams have worked closely together to understand Waitrose’s operational requirements, integrate the technology across its existing systems and create a solution that gives colleagues a more accurate, real-time view of stock. With the initial stores now live and the wider roll-out beginning, we’re excited to take the next step in the partnership and support Waitrose as it brings these capabilities to colleagues across its store estate. The lessons learned from this partnership will help us to deploy inventory management in any grocery and convenience retail premises moving forwards.”
Laurence Booth, Group CEO at Trust Payments, says: “Extending our partnership with Waitrose for a further five years is a substantial milestone and reflects the close collaboration that has underpinned this project from the outset.”
Stuart Gibbon, Product Lead, Stock & End-to-end End Programme at Waitrose & Partners, comments: “Having accurate and timely stock information is important to how our partners manage products across our stores and ultimately to the service we provide our customers.”
“As the technology rolls out more widely, it will give our teams greater visibility of stock and support faster, more informed decisions throughout the trading day. Trust Retail has worked closely with our teams to understand our requirements and how we operate. Extending the partnership gives us the continuity to build on the work already completed and support the next stage of the roll-out across our store estate.”
2026 RTIH Innovation Awards
Inventory management 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.
