Retail’s Reality Check

Fielding’s Wood Grill in The Woodlands, Texas, enhanced kitchen efficiency with Epson’s TrueOrder™ Kitchen Display System (KDS), integrated by POS provider Lavu. The digital system improved order accuracy, communication, and speed, prompting Fielding’s Culinary Group to expand TrueOrder KDS to its other restaurant locations.

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Wonder-owned Grubhub is expanding its automated delivery testing by partnering with Dexa to launch drone deliveries from Wonder’s Green Brook, N.J. location. Using Dexa’s DE‑2020 drones, the three‑month pilot integrates aerial delivery into Grubhub’s app, offering eligible customers faster, no‑fee drone orders across 15 restaurant concepts.

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Waitrose has deployed Satalia’s AI route optimisation platform across 170 stores, two CFCs and 1,400 vans to plan delivery schedules, cut travel times and fuel, and lower emissions while improving delivery slot accuracy and convenience for 160,000 weekly home deliveries.

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Agentic AI is transforming grocery shopping from keyword search to automated decision-making. The article highlights how grocers like Kroger, through tools like its Kroger iQ API, can integrate with agents such as Perplexity, ChatGPT, or Siri to automate meal planning, pricing, and curbside pickup, evolving retail media networks into dynamic agent-driven ecosystems.

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Donatos Pizza, led by CEO Kevin King, is redefining mid-sized pizza chains through AI and robotics. Its partnership with Appetronix created the first fully autonomous robot-run pizzeria, while collaboration with Revmo introduced a voice-ordering AI achieving 99.9% accuracy. These innovations enhance efficiency, guest experience, and scalable growth across 450 locations.

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At MURTEC 2026, Red Robin’s VP and Head of Technology Deena DePhilips detailed the brand’s partnership with OpenAI and its company-wide AI adoption strategy. She highlighted initiatives like AI Office Hours and internal AI Summits driving innovation, while emphasizing change management as essential to avoid “professional extinction.”

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Newell Brands is using CommerceIQ’s AI agents to automate PDP compliance and optimization across SEO, AEO and GEO, delivering a 40x time savings after building a custom agent in under 80 days. The partnership also adds AI agents for sales, shelf and media, while peers Coty (generative asset optimization) and Brown-Forman use AI to optimize PDP content and visual engagement as more consumers rely on AI for product discovery.

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Bamboo Rose expanded its partnership with Australian footwear brand R.M.Williams, which is live on the Bamboo Rose Plan (part of the TotalPLM™ platform). Using Item Planning and progressing toward Merchandise Financial Planning, R.M.Williams is enhancing connected, data-driven planning for its Made-in-Australia boots and other product ranges.

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Co-op is investing £1.5 million to replace its home delivery fleet with over 50 new Toyota Proace City EV vans, supporting rural deliveries and cutting emissions. The move aligns with its carbon reduction goals and online expansion, following its recent partnership with Just Eat offering member discounts on 150 products.

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Do it Best and True Value launched the 2026 Spring Market in Denver, highlighting progress in integration and innovation. CEO Dan Starr emphasized supporting independent retailers. The group unveiled its Retail Pulse data platform and showcased tech partnerships with Adobe, Microsoft, and Oracle, plus a new e-commerce platform driving 38% sales growth.

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CDS Superstores, owner of The Range, wilko, Homebase and Bathstore, is rolling out RELEX Solutions’ AI-driven forecasting and replenishment across its 285-store network to support a regionalised distribution model. The project, implemented with partner Demandtex, replaces manual planning to boost availability, efficiency and scalable growth.

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B&Q will join the UK PaintCare trial, an initiative by the British Coatings Federation tackling leftover decorative paint waste. Alongside Brewers, Dulux, and Johnstone’s, B&Q stores will collect used paint and tins for reuse, remanufacture, or recycling, supporting PaintCare’s goal to boost recycling rates from 2% to 75% by 2032.

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Royal Mail has begun a six-month trial of parcel lockers at selected Tesco stores across the UK, enabling 24/7 parcel collection, sending, and returns. The lockers, which include label printing, expand Royal Mail’s out-of-home network and complement Tesco’s existing locker partner, InPost, to enhance customer convenience.

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Carrefour Belgium’s innovation team held a workshop exploring the future of shopping carts, featuring Instacart’s AI-powered Caper Smart Shopping Cart for hypermarkets. The session highlighted Caper’s computer vision, on-cart checkout, and customer experience potential, with Carrefour hinting at further in-store pilots to come.

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Frette has partnered with Proximity to enhance personalized customer experiences across its global retail network. Using Proximity’s clienteling platform, Frette store teams in the US, UK, Italy, and France gain unified customer insights—shopping history, spend, and preferences—to deliver more informed, consistent, and locally tailored service interactions.

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Ocado has become the first retailer to fully integrate Mondra’s AI-powered carbon accounting platform with its Click-PLM product lifecycle management system. This integration automates product-level Scope 3 emissions tracking, enabling dynamic carbon data use in sustainability decisions across Ocado’s food retail operations.

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StrongPoint has signed a NOK 120 million agreement with Norwegian grocery retailer NorgesGruppen to deploy its CashGuard cash management solution. The rollout, replacing older systems across some stores, begins in 2026 and ends in 2028. The deal highlights ongoing investment in cash automation despite low cash usage in Norway.

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Samsung will launch its first AI-powered smart glasses this year, featuring a built-in camera connected to smartphones for processing. Developed in partnership with Qualcomm and Google, the glasses use mixed-reality technology to rival Meta’s Ray-Ban line, expanding Samsung’s push into agentic AI wearables beyond its Galaxy XR headset.

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Papa John’s is partnering with PAR Technology to replace its legacy point-of-sale system with a connected data platform across 3,200 U.S. stores. The upgrade aims to deliver actionable, decision-ready insights while testing AI-powered ordering tools with Google. Success relies on franchisee adoption, training, and operational improvements.

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Global Partners LP leverages its integrated fuel and convenience platform to drive growth, investing in terminals like East Providence and Texas City while optimizing its 1,524-site retail portfolio through divestitures, conversions and raze-and-rebuild projects. The partnership’s wholesale, retail and commercial segments collectively support stronger long-term earnings and cash flow.

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Walgreens is piloting body-worn cameras for employees in select New York City stores to enhance safety and de-escalate conflicts. The voluntary program follows similar efforts by Loblaw, which partnered with Axon Enterprise, and Walmart, both testing body cameras to address increasing retail theft and violence.

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Authentic Brands, owner of Reebok, Champion, and Forever 21, will deploy Seel’s agentic AI platform to improve post-purchase services. Using Seel’s Worry-Free Purchase tool, Authentic will automate claims, refunds, and protections against delivery issues, enhancing customer experience and support across its global brand portfolio.

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AI startup Simile, spun out of Stanford and backed by Index Ventures, created “agentic twins”—AI models trained on real human data—for polling and market research. CVS Health uses these digital twins, built from millions of participant responses, to test messaging and predict behavior, while Gallup partners with Simile for large-scale policy and trend studies.

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UC Irvine Dining has opened Quick Eats, a checkout-free campus market at UC Irvine’s Bren Events Center, powered by Amazon Just Walk Out technology and AWS Applied AI Solutions. It offers hassle-free, contactless grab-and-go F&B for games, concerts, commencements and more, enhancing fan experiences and operational efficiency.

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John Lewis is expanding its AI and omnichannel strategy, integrating with AI platforms like Google Gemini and ChatGPT through its extended partnership with commercetools. It also launched a 90-day TikTok Shop pilot for beauty and gifting items and is expanding on-demand delivery via Uber Eats to four UK store locations.

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Gap Inc. embraced AI in 2025 to enhance design, planning, and customer experiences, according to CTO Sven Gerjets. The retailer also launched Encore, a membership program across Old Navy, Gap, Banana Republic, and Athleta, featuring exclusive product access, cultural collaborations, and entertainment partnerships with Disney, NBCUniversal, and AMC Theatres.

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Target Corp. added Las Vegas to its next-day delivery network, with Charleston, N.C., coming next and several California cities in April. The expansion means 60% of the U.S. population will soon have next-day access. Target offers free delivery for qualifying orders and broader same-day, two-day, and pickup services.

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Adams Fairacre Farms partnered with Homesome to launch a unified mobile app and website that integrate grocery, catering, bakery, and floral departments in one digital shopping platform. Using Homesome’s AI-driven commerce tools, Adams now offers cross-department merchandising, centralized reporting, and coordinated production across its five Hudson Valley stores.

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JD Group CEO Régis Schultz criticizes U.S. retail buyers as passive “order takers” and has retrained teams at JD Sports, Finish Line, Hibbett, Shoe Palace and DTLR to curate assortments, keep banner-specific buying teams, and use AI-powered tools and outfitting to create theatrical, trend-led sneaker and athleisure experiences that deepen customer engagement and drive growth.

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Vallarta Supermarkets has partnered with Western Union to offer money transfer, bill payment, money orders, and prepaid services at all store locations in California and Arizona. The five-year deal enhances convenience for Vallarta’s largely Hispanic customer base, supporting everyday financial needs alongside grocery shopping.

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Walmart is expanding digital shelf labels across all 5,200 U.S. stores by next year, replacing paper tags to streamline price updates and improve accuracy. The system links to Walmart’s centralized pricing tools and employee app, enabling LED “pick to light” restocking, faster order fulfillment, and reduced manual work for associates.

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Jack in the Box has rolled out the Restaurant365 centralized inventory and accounting platform across all 2,128 corporate and franchise locations. The solution provides real-time financial visibility and automation. This follows Jack in the Box’s systemwide adoption of the Qu unified commerce platform, SiteZeus AI for site selection, and InMoment Spotlight AI for customer insights.

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Amazon is cutting an unspecified number of roles in its robotics division, part of ongoing workforce reductions tied to efficiency reviews. A spokesperson confirmed the layoffs, noting robotics remains a strategic priority. This follows broader cuts—about 30,000 corporate jobs since 2025—as Amazon restructures post-pandemic overexpansion.

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Cardano Foundation and DFX.swiss have integrated the Cardano blockchain into DFX.swiss’s Open Crypto Pay, enabling ADA payments in 137 SPAR stores across Switzerland. The rollout lets shoppers pay from native ADA wallets at checkout, with real-time processing and around two-thirds lower merchant transaction fees.

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Bloq.it has signed a multi-year partnership with UK delivery firm Evri to expand Evri’s out-of-home (OOH) network using Bloq.it’s NEXT smart lockers and new “drop” standalone returns devices. The rollout begins in March at East of England Co-op sites, supporting Evri’s nationwide parcel and returns network expansion.

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Wyndham Hotels & Resorts has launched a new group booking platform powered by Groups360’s GroupSync Housing to streamline manual group travel management. The integration links directly with hotel PMS systems, automates data via RPA and Salesforce, and enables direct “shoulder night” bookings—boosting revenue and simplifying operations for franchisees at no extra cost.

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CVS Health is partnering with Google Cloud to launch Health100, an AI-driven health engagement platform powered by Gemini models, Cloud Healthcare API, and BigQuery. Using agentic AI, Health100 will offer real-time omnichannel care, cost transparency, and personalized support while protecting patient data through HIPAA-compliant Google Cloud infrastructure.

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Kroger’s new CEO Greg Foran outlined a strategy focused on sharper pricing and stronger digital engagement. The grocer plans to expand store-based fulfillment with Instacart, DoorDash, and Uber, boost AI-driven operations, and deploy Google Cloud’s Gemini Enterprise to enhance customer experience and fund investments through cost efficiencies.

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Quick-service restaurants are rapidly adopting AI to improve efficiency and offset lower sales. Yum! Brands uses Nvidia-powered voice and analytics tools across Taco Bell and Pizza Hut’s Byte by Yum platform, while Chipotle works with PreciTaste and its Autocado robot to optimize ingredient prep, forecasting, and kitchen operations.

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ONEZENO Games, developed by Full Sail University and Create-it Studios, has opened inside Walmart in Franklin, Tennessee. The esports hub offers structured competitions, streaming studios, and real prizes using MSI Vision ZS and Claw equipment. Sponsored by Full Sail, it promotes community gaming, skill-building, and creator development.

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Kroger has deployed Corvus Robotics’ Corvus One drones across its cold chain warehouses to autonomously scan pallet locations in sub-freezing zones. The drones, which don’t require WiFi or infrastructure changes, improve inventory visibility, shrink control, and FIFO compliance while reducing manual counts in extreme conditions.

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Wesco Inc. boosted online sales to nearly $6 million by expanding its partnership with Vroom Delivery. The retailer now offers DoorDash marketplace orders, loyalty integration, automated menu management, and SNAP/EBT payments. Wesco, an investor in Vroom since 2022, continues adopting Vroom’s new digital commerce features to drive sales growth.

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NCR Voyix and Pilot announced a five‑year exclusive platform deal to deploy the Voyix Commerce Platform and POS systems across 900+ travel centers. The AI‑enabled rollout will enhance operational resilience, security, and guest experience while modernizing Pilot’s retail and commercial fuel systems nationwide.

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Fabletics, winner of Manifest 2026’s inaugural Masters of Innovation Award, is rolling out factory-applied RFID tags to individual garments to push store inventory accuracy beyond 95 percent while streamlining labor. The activewear retailer’s RFID and fitting-room sensor combo speeds audits, supports omnichannel fulfillment, and boosts store performance.

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Krauszer’s Food Stores has chosen National Retail Solutions (NRS) as its official point-of-sale provider to support a nationwide expansion. The rollout across 300-plus stores will use NRS’s integrated platform featuring loyalty programs, inventory tracking, e-commerce, and multi-store management to standardize operations and enhance franchise consistency.

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Lush Cosmetics implemented Arkieva’s supply chain planning tools—Demand Planner, Inventory Planner, Executive Reporting, and Financial Planner—to replace manual spreadsheets and improve forecast accuracy across 250 North American stores and digital operations. The AI-powered solutions enhanced inventory visibility, streamlined forecasting, and supported Lush’s sustainability and seasonal product strategies.

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Gong cha, the U.K.-based bubble tea chain with 2,200 stores worldwide, is launching its “Gong cha 2.0” brand refresh featuring automation technology and kiosks. Its proprietary “Super Wu” system cuts beverage prep time from 90 to 30 seconds, reduces labor needs by half, and boosts kiosk sales, satisfaction, and expansion potential across the Americas.

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David’s Bridal, led by CEO Kelly Cook, is transforming its enterprise through agentic AI and multimedia innovation. Its AI-powered Pearl Planner personalizes wedding planning from budgets to vendor recommendations, while the Pearl Media Network and “Love Stories by David’s” use video and streaming content to integrate inspiration, commerce, and customer engagement across channels.

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Marks & Spencer (M&S) Food is enhancing its supply chain efficiency using RELEX Solutions’ AI-driven forecasting and replenishment tools. Implemented across 1,050 stores and 13 distribution centers, RELEX helps M&S improve product availability, reduce waste, automate processes, and support sustainability through precise, data-driven demand predictions.

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Fujitsu Limited and H2O Retailing Corporation have deployed Fujitsu’s Unified Commerce POS solution across all 15 Hankyu Hanshin Department Stores in Japan. Featuring 5,000 wireless tablet units and 400 fixed POS terminals, the system streamlines customer service through mobile checkout, unified operations, and cloud-based, pay-per-use flexibility for enhanced efficiency and shopping experience.

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MGM Resorts ended 2025 as a digital-first hospitality leader under CEO Bill Hornbuckle, integrating AI, automation, and data personalization across operations. Its Marriott Bonvoy partnership drove 900,000 room nights, while MGM Rewards and BetMGM deepened loyalty convergence. AI enhanced dynamic pricing, guest service, and cybersecurity under Zero Trust architecture.

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Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory launched an omnichannel growth strategy using Deliverect’s centralized order management system to integrate with Uber Eats, DoorDash, Grubhub, Instacart, and ezCater. The initiative expands digital and catering access, improves operational efficiency, enhances data analytics, and supports franchisee profitability and national expansion.

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Ikea will open its first Dundee location on March 19 at Kingsway West Retail Park, introducing a Plan and Order Point store. The smaller-format site offers bespoke planning for kitchens and storage, online order collections, product returns, and 250 takeaway home accessories, supported by an eight-person design team.

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