Retail Reality Check

Swiftly has announced a new collaboration with 7-Eleven in the U.S. alcohol cashback market, now available at over 10,500 stores including Speedway, leveraging its proprietary retail media and shopper engagement platform. The program offers real-time, state-specific cashback on beer, wine, and spirits through mobile offers, supporting increased loyalty and sales for both retailers and brands.

Full Article ›

TrusTrace has partnered with Swedish retailer Ahlens to deploy its AI-powered traceability platform, helping Ahlens map and analyze sustainability data across its supply chain. This collaboration aims to enhance visibility, risk management, and regulatory compliance, enabling more structured, data-driven sustainability efforts for Ahlens.

Full Article ›

Walmart’s 2025 Thanksgiving meal basket serves 10 people for under $40, about $4 per person, making it their most affordable yet. However, it includes only 15 items—down from 29 last year—omitting pecan pie, sweet potatoes, marshmallows, and more, reflecting a trend of smaller portions to offer discounts amid inflation and tariffs. Retailers like Target and Aldi are also cutting prices, with consumers focusing on value and discounts this holiday season.

Full Article ›

Asos reported a 12% sales decline for the year ending August 31, 2025, attributing the drop to cutting discounts and deterring frequent returners through new return fees and bans. To recover, Asos is deploying AI stylists via its "Styled for You" feature to personalize outfit suggestions and plans to enhance customer engagement through loyalty programs.

Full Article ›

Auchan Retail is deploying 50,000 recyclable, lighter IBM Smart Green Pallets with sensors tracking location, temperature, and shocks in real time. This technology reduces food waste, lowers environmental impact, and improves worker safety, supporting Auchan's commitment to cut supply chain carbon emissions by 25% by 2030 with IBM Consulting.

Full Article ›

Dave’s Hot Chicken CTO Leon Davoyan shared operational insights from their autonomous delivery pilot using drones and rovers. Key fixes include automating drone payload handoff and integrating rover deliveries with the KDS system for streamlined order management. Their drone cut typical 15-minute rides to just 60 seconds, showing potential for fresh, fast fulfillment.

Full Article ›

Barry Callebaut is partnering with AI startup NotCo to use its proprietary food data platform to optimize recipe development around taste, texture, nutrition and sustainability, speeding innovation amid climate pressure, ingredient shortages and rising cocoa costs. The initiative extends Barry Callebaut’s multi-year digitalization roadmap, alongside its Microsoft AI-and-cloud partnership and $559 million BC Next Level investment in innovation, service, sustainability and quality.

Full Article ›

Beta Utensili, a leading Italian professional tool manufacturer, has chosen RELEX Solutions’ AI-powered demand planning tool to improve forecast accuracy, inventory optimization, and supply chain agility globally. The partnership enables granular, SKU-level forecasting that addresses seasonal, promotional, and supply constraints for over 30,000 products.

Full Article ›

Simbe celebrated the tenth anniversary of its autonomous shelf auditing robot, Tally, with BJ’s Wholesale Club participating in the milestone. Tally, recently deployed at Harmons across 17 stores, provides real-time shelf data on product availability, pricing, and placement to enhance execution, reduce stockouts, and support associates in delivering better customer experiences.

Full Article ›

U.S. online Black Friday sales reached $8.6B, up 9.4% year over year by early evening, as cautious but discount-driven shoppers favored e-commerce over in-store trips amid inflation and economic uncertainty, according to Adobe Analytics from Adobe Inc. Cyber Monday is projected to hit a record $14.2B, with elevated weekend discounts sustaining momentum.

Full Article ›

Bombas has rapidly expanded from an online sock brand to opening three physical stores in New York City, Boca Raton, and Austin, powered by Shopify and Leap technology. The integration streamlines location sourcing, store setup, marketing, and analytics, enabling Bombas to scale quickly in prime retail spaces through a partnership with ShopSimon Malls. Shopify highlights this approach as lowering entry barriers and driving growth for SMB brands.

Full Article ›

Asda is piloting Zebra Technologies' TC53E-RFID mobile device, which includes integrated short-range UHF RFID, a SE4720 1D/2D Scan Engine, and a larger screen. Made partly from recycled plastic, the device aims to boost worker efficiency and replace older models in stores, enhancing versatility indoors. Max Parker, Asda's Technical Product Owner, highlighted the pilot's positive start.

Full Article ›

Aetna, a CVS Health company, is embedding generative AI across its digital experience to deliver an immersive, personalized health care navigation tool. This assistant, available via web and app, integrates multimodal (voice, text) support, dynamic visual components, and session awareness. The rollout began in October 2025, with broader access planned for 2026.

Full Article ›

CVS Media Exchange is leveraging 90 million customer relationships and unified loyalty, transaction, and behavior data to power targeted retail media campaigns. Through its “Approach One CVS” strategy, the company integrates merchandising, marketing, and media to drive cohesive, measurable sales and brand growth across in-store and digital channels.

Full Article ›

Destination XL Group (DXL), the largest men’s big and tall specialty retailer, launched FitMap, an in-house mobile app scanning tool that creates personalized fit profiles using 243 data points. Available in over 80 stores and via app, it supports brand sizing. DXL also partners with Bluecore for enhanced personalization and marketing integration.

Full Article ›

East of England Co-op has relaunched Snappy Shopper’s on-demand delivery service in five Food stores, supported by delivery coordination from Nash. The move aims to boost accessibility and efficiency. Snappy Group also appointed Holland & Barrett CFO Vineta Bajaj, a former Ocado executive, as Non-Executive Director to drive sustainable, tech-led local growth.

Full Article ›

Erbert & Gerbert’s Sandwich Shop has upgraded its operations across 80 locations using PAR Technology’s unified restaurant platform. The deployment includes PAR POS, hardware, PAR Pay, payment services, PAR OPS Recovery, and managed services, streamlining ordering, payments, delivery loss recovery, and menu management to boost efficiency and support growth.

Full Article ›

Essity has chosen NielsenIQ as its primary U.S. provider for point-of-sale and consumer intelligence, standardizing NIQ as its main North American data and insights partner. The deal taps NIQ’s omnichannel coverage, cloud-based platform, shopper panels and AI-driven analytics to guide Essity’s ecommerce, category innovation and digital transformation.

Full Article ›

Walmart has opened its first-ever branded store in Africa at Clearwater Mall in Roodepoort, South Africa. Operated through Massmart, the store offers groceries, apparel, electronics, and online express delivery. It supports 15 SME suppliers from Walmart’s Supplier Growth Summit and created 80 new jobs locally.

Full Article ›

Orbisk's Orbi device uses AI image recognition to automatically identify, weigh, and categorize food waste without manual input. It provides real-time data and AI-driven recommendations on a dashboard, helping kitchens reduce waste, save costs, and improve efficiency with no disruption to operations.

Full Article ›

Golf apparel retailer TravisMathew, owned by Callaway Golf Europe, recently completed a complex replatform project transitioning from SAP Hybris to Shopify, while maintaining direct SAP integration. This shift aimed to overcome legacy system limitations, delivering a modern, performance-driven customer experience, faster checkout, and greater front-end flexibility.

Full Article ›

VusionGroup has deployed its electronic shelf labels and VusionCloud platform across over 200 OBI Germany stores, integrating with Cisco-Meraki wireless infrastructure. This partnership aims to optimize in-store processes, enabling efficient price updates and improved communication for store associates, enhancing customer service and operational efficiency.

Full Article ›

Guitar Center's new Pitch Practice app uses voice-based AI role-playing to help staff improve customer interactions by simulating real conversations, scoring performance, and providing feedback. This tool complements their AI-powered Rig Advisor shopping assistant. Both apps aim to modernize in-store training and shopping, with more AI features planned for 2026. Guitar Center joins other retailers like Lowe’s and Best Buy in adopting AI for sales support and employee training.

Full Article ›

HelloFresh has adopted generative AI to drastically reduce recipe card development time from weeks to hours. The new AI system automates layout and visual design, launching first in the US and globally by Q1 2026. Chefs continue overseeing recipes, ensuring authenticity and quality.

Full Article ›

Athletic fashion retailer Hibbett boosted email revenue per send by 46% using Movable Ink’s Da Vinci and Studio AI tools. The solution personalizes creative “stories” and product grids based on shopper data, improving click-through rates by 30%, conversions by 40%, and doubling conversions among low spenders while reclaiming seven weekly work hours.

Full Article ›

JD Sports Fashion is expanding its partnership with Fluent Commerce by rolling out Fluent's distributed order management (DOM) solution for Hibbett, a US sports fashion retailer acquired by JD in July 2024. Hibbett will implement Fluent Order Management and Big Inventory to enhance omnichannel options like BOPIS, ship-from-store, and drop-ship fulfillment across its 1,000 stores. The deployment focuses on Global Inventory and Product Availability modules to support seamless customer experiences.

Full Article ›

Lincolnshire Co-op is investing £4 million to install SOLUM’s electronic shelf edge labels across all 100 food stores by the end of 2025. The digital labels eliminate manual price updates, saving staff time, cutting over £100,000 in printing costs annually, and supporting the Co-op’s sustainability and operational efficiency goals.

Full Article ›

Lush has launched its new omnichannel Rewards Programme, developed in partnership with Talon.One. Customers can earn points and unlock rewards via the app, shop early product launches, and get rewarded for returning eligible plastic packaging. The initiative took over three years and is now live in the UK and key markets.

Full Article ›

Majors Management launched the MAPCO Car Wash app, developed with Convenience & Energy Advisors and powered by Liquid Barcodes. The app offers a subscription-based model for unlimited car washes, allowing customers to manage memberships, find locations, and play games, reflecting Majors’ focus on innovation and customer convenience.

Full Article ›

Bauer Media Outdoor UK has secured a seven-year contract with Morrisons to install and operate 300 Waferlite digital screens across Morrisons supermarkets starting Q1 2026. This is Morrisons’ first digital out-of-home initiative, expanding Bauer’s retail network and offering advertisers direct access to shoppers at store entrances.

Full Article ›

New York & Company and Cotopaxi use ThredUp’s Resale-as-a-Service to let customers resell gently worn items for store credit and shop pre-loved products. Cotopaxi's program includes a dedicated resale shop and clean out program, emphasizing sustainability and circularity in apparel lifecycle.

Full Article ›

Uber has added PacSun, Camping World , and Lush to its Uber, Uber Eats, and Postmates apps for on-demand retail delivery. The move expands Uber’s retail lineup beyond food, joining partners like DSW, Sephora, and Best Buy.

Full Article ›

Abercrombie & Fitch Co. announced a new partnership with Cymbio and PayPal to enable customers to purchase directly within AI chat platforms like Perplexity. This agentic commerce integration allows US users to complete transactions inside the AI chat seamlessly, leveraging PayPal’s secure payment and buyer protection. Other brands like Ashley Furniture and Fabletics also joined this AI-powered shopping evolution, enhancing the e-commerce experience in the age of AI.

Full Article ›

Waitrose has expanded its partnership with Polytag to roll out invisible UV recycling tags across its fresh milk packaging UK-wide. This allows real-time tracking of plastic recycling, giving Waitrose detailed data to improve packaging recyclability and support a circular economy. It is the first high street supermarket to deploy this technology at scale.

Full Article ›

Primark launched a proof of concept for self-checkouts accepting both cash and card payments at its York store. This trial addresses earlier criticisms of limited traditional tills and no cash option since the retailer began rolling out self-checkouts in 2022. The initiative aims to enhance customer experience and operational efficiency.

Full Article ›

Puma is deploying Logistics Reply’s GaliLEA AI assistant on the LEA Reply WMS in four distribution centers in Austria, South Africa, and India to streamline warehouse management via natural language, text, and voice. The multi-agent, generative AI tool automates technical support, retrieves operational data, and powers custom dashboards, boosting user autonomy, decision speed, and logistics efficiency.

Full Article ›

Logistics Reply deepened its partnership with Puma by integrating GaliLEA, an AI-powered assistant built on the LEA Reply platform, into Puma's distribution centers in Austria, South Africa, and India. GaliLEA uses generative AI for natural language-based warehouse management, automated technical support, rapid data access, and personalized dashboards, streamlining logistics operations for Puma.

Full Article ›

Retail inventory accuracy remains a major challenge in 2025, with the average retailer reporting only about 70% accuracy, and smaller retailers often performing worse. This inaccuracy leads to phantom inventory, lost sales, customer dissatisfaction, and operational inefficiencies. AI-driven shelf visibility and real-time monitoring are key solutions enabling retailers to detect out-of-stock situations and misplaced items instantaneously, improving on-shelf availability and boosting sales. Retailers adopting such technology report increased sales, reduced waste, and improved customer trust, making AI-powered inventory visibility a strategic priority to stay competitive in today’s retail environment.

Full Article ›

Diebold Nixdorf has expanded its partnership with ROSSMANN, supporting the Swiss market entry of the drugstore chain. Diebold Nixdorf provided managed services via its eServices portal and delivered self-checkout and PoS systems, extending a model that has served over 2,350 German stores since 2021 and now serves as a blueprint for broader European growth.

Full Article ›

Royal Farms partnered with Bitstop to install digital currency ATMs at all 310 stores, making Bitstop the exclusive provider. Customers gain access to instant cash-to-crypto conversions for Bitcoin, Ethereum, Dogecoin, Ripple, USD Coin, and more, marking one of the largest Bitcoin ATM retail expansions in the U.S.

Full Article ›

Shake Shack is expanding its autonomous delivery partnership with Uber Eats in Chicago, now using emission-free sidewalk robots from Coco Robotics. The robots integrate seamlessly with Shake Shack's Uber Eats ordering system, delivering orders directly from kitchen to curb without manual steps. This enhances delivery efficiency, especially during peak hours and colder months, with plans for citywide expansion.

Full Article ›

Deloitte’s 2025 holiday survey shows U.S. consumers plan to spend an average of $622 over Black Friday-Cyber Monday, down 4% from 2024. Shoppers are facing inflation, tariff hikes, and rising debt, prompting more strategic, value-driven spending using tools like RetailMeNot promo codes and cash-back offers.

Full Article ›

Southeastern Grocers, parent of Winn-Dixie and Harveys Supermarkets, partnered with Ideal to launch a dynamic digital circular platform replacing static PDF circulars. Using Ideal’s patented content technology, the solution personalizes promotions, integrates recipes and videos, and soon adds couponing, enhancing SEG’s merchandising and digital customer engagement.

Full Article ›

Bikky, a customer data platform for multi-unit restaurants, partnered with Taco John’s to provide unified guest and menu analytics. This collaboration helps Taco John’s move from intuition-based to data-driven decisions, revealing new guest dynamics, optimizing menu strategies, and aligning teams with a common data language to boost growth and profitability.

Full Article ›

Salesforce reports record 2025 Thanksgiving and Black Friday digital sales, with global Black Friday revenue hitting $79B and Thanksgiving reaching $35.6B, even as U.S. order volumes slip amid higher prices. AI-powered Agentforce Commerce and agentic tools, plus mobile and social channels like TikTok and Instagram, drove strong traffic, higher-priced purchases, and double-digit gains in luxury, activewear, home, and beauty categories.

Full Article ›

Wynn Resorts CIO Dan Regalado’s 2025 tech strategy focuses on a human-centered approach that enhances staff-guest interactions. Key initiatives include digital decoupling for real-time personalization, a resilient AI-powered network, and preparing for AI-driven travel search. Technology investments prioritize service and employee empowerment, avoiding full system replacements while advancing automation and AI training. This approach ensures Wynn leads with tech that supports, not replaces, hospitality.

Full Article ›

BR-DGE and THG Ingenuity have partnered to launch BR-DGE Vault, a PCI compliant hybrid tokenisation solution implemented across 250+ online stores. This integration enhances THG Ingenuity's Checkout by THG Fulfil service by combining network and PSP tokens to optimize transaction performance, reduce PCI compliance burdens, and improve authorization rates globally. The solution supports multi-provider payments and merchant of record automation in over 200 markets, boosting operational efficiency and customer experience.

Full Article ›

Uber Technologies is launching autonomous sidewalk robot delivery for Uber Eats in the UK in December 2025, partnering with Starship Technologies. The rollout will expand across Europe in 2026 and the U.S. in 2027. Starship's AI-powered robots can complete deliveries under 30 minutes within a two-mile range, enhancing Uber Eats' delivery efficiency and scale.

Full Article ›

Walmart is testing ads in its AI shopping assistant, Sparky, using a "sponsored prompt" that shows AI-generated answers alongside click-to-buy ads. This effort aims to monetize chat-based shopping experiences and boost digital sales. Sparky, launched in June, helps customers with product comparisons and recommendations, while Walmart’s AI tools also include supplier-focused assistant Marty and a new partnership with OpenAI for shopping via ChatGPT.

Full Article ›

Walmart said over half of its e-commerce fulfillment center volume now runs through automated systems, cutting shipping costs by about 30%. The retailer uses Knapp’s high-density storage technology, Fox Robotics’ autonomous forklifts, and Wiliot’s IoT sensors to boost productivity across its fulfillment and distribution networks.

Full Article ›

Wolt is expanding its non-food retail categories across Europe this holiday season, adding electronics, pet supplies, and health and beauty. Over 3,000 new retail venues joined its platform. Partners include Bipa, Lili Drogerie, Vita, Tehnomanija, Telia , Verkokauppa, Power, Gigantti and Baku Electronics, using Wolt Drive and Marketplace tools.

Full Article ›

Woof Gang, the fourth largest U.S. pet retailer, has launched its first app for booking and managing grooming appointments, aiming to improve customer and franchise owner connections. The app, available on iOS and Android, will integrate AI features like a smart chatbot and personalized recommendations in early 2026 as part of their digital strategy.

Full Article ›

Salesforce’s Holiday Insights HQ reports Thanksgiving digital sales hit $35.6B globally and $8.4B in the U.S., with Black Friday forecast at $78B and $18B respectively. Agentforce AI shopper agents, ChatGPT, Perplexity, TikTok, mobile wallets and social commerce drove faster growth, higher conversion, and strong discounts across beauty, apparel and home.

Full Article ›