Retail technology innovation of the week: Zalando shapes future of fashion e-commerce logistics
Retail Technology Innovation of the Week is a series brought to you by RTIH, highlighting stand out deployments, launches, and initiatives by retailers and tech suppliers. Every week, we showcase forward thinking tech plays that have impressed our Editor and the Retail Technology Innovations Report judging panel, building up to the publication of the 2026 report later this year.
And this week we’re focusing on Sereact, Zalando and CEVA Logistics who have announced the launch of AI powered automated returns processing across key fulfillment facilities in Germany (Greven) and Poland (Świebodzin). Powered by Cortex, Sereact’s physical AI platform, the dual-arm robotic systems have entered live operations to autonomously process returned fashion items, marking the initial phase of a broader initiative to scale returns automation across Europe.
Cortex groups previously unseen objects - identifying, grasping and sorting items dynamically without requiring article specific training or pre-determined article sets. The technology is designed to work alongside humans. By taking on highly repetitive handling, it aims to reduce physical strain on employees, allowing them to move into higher value roles where human expertise and judgement are required.
“At the heart of our collaboration with Sereact and CEVA is a fundamental belief: true innovation happens when technology and human potential advance together. By solving the most complex challenges in modern fulfilment today, we are actively shaping the future of e-commerce logistics for fashion and lifestyle,” says Masood Choudhry, SVP Logistics at Zalando, which in July joined Sereact’s Series B round as an investor.
And honourable mentions this week to...
Deliveroo
Deliveroo is gearing up to roll-out delivery robots, supplied by US company Coco, in the UK. These will be used for takeaways and groceries, with Deliveroo claiming that the robots will not replace human riders but rather complement them during off peak hours.
Canary Wharf, Milton Keynes, Leeds, Stockton-on-Tees, and Nottingham are the initial areas to get the service, with plans afoot for a broader UK roll-out.
Deliveroo runs a three-sided marketplace across roughly restaurants, grocers and retailers, all promising delivery in as little as 30 minutes. It is also a DoorDash subsidiary now, after being taken over by the US giant in a deal valuing the business at £2.9 billion. So this move shouldn’t come as a huge surprise.
The Very Group
The Very Group, which operates digital retailers Very and Littlewoods, has partnered with Made With Intent. By using over 800 behavioural signals, Made With Intent’s agentic decision engine predicts customer’s intent in real-time, helping to decide what they see and when.
Very says it will now be able to spotlight discount offers unique to customers based on individual shopping trends, as well as provide prompts at crucial moments throughout the shopping experience. Made With Intent’s engine is built on a proprietary model and optimisation AI agent that work together to allocate experiences across hundreds of intent combinations, learning what works for which visitors and contexts then applying it to future sessions.
Sarah Hanna, Digital Director at The Very Group, comments: “Made With Intent’s agentic platform unlocks fast paced, scalable real-time personalisation that can be executed to help enhance the customer experience, ultimately influencing our commercial KPIs. In fact, in the first month of the partnership, we’ve already seen promising results including revenue per customer increasing by a fifth in one of our agentic strategies, and an uplift in overall conversion.”
“Made With Intent gives our e-commerce team a brand new lever that they can effortlessly activate to make a difference on what our customers see and when, whether that’s one-off discounts or personalised payment options. It’s all about giving customers the right experience at the right time.”
