Do you like numbers? Do you like retail tech news? Then this is the article for you. Including JD Sports, Zebra Technologies, Currys, Just Eat, Screxfix, Gophr, MediaMarkSaturn, TSB, Adobe, and the 2026 RTIH Innovation Awards.

98% and 20%...Zebra Technologies says that it has helped JD Sports to achieve 98% on-shelf availability and 20% faster replenishment, so high demand sizes move from the storeroom to the shelf when and where customers want them.

JD Sports has nearly 5,000 stores across 46 countries. As the retailer scaled, inventory visibility in stores remained a challenge. To reliably offer one-hour Click & Collect or 30-minute delivery, the stock count needed to be accurate. It sought a real-time inventory visibility solution that could support omnichannel retail, was easy for retail assistants to use and fast to roll-out across stores.

A pilot across five stores highlighted the capabilities of Zebra’s TC2 Series mobile computers paired with RFD40 UHF RFID sleds to read tags faster and at greater range. JD Sports also selected Zebra OneCare which allows its store associates to address everyday wear and tear and accidental damage by simply swapping devices at no cost if something breaks.

Alongside Zebra, JD Sports worked with Renovotec, a Zebra partner who led the device deployment, and Checkpoint Systems, a Zebra eegistered ISV who integrated its ItemOptix software, giving a single view of inventory data across the retailer.

"What Zebra gives us is the ability to scale with trust,” says Daniel McGrath, Head of Customer Operations, JD Sports. “Things just land and work. Colleagues open a box, turn it on, and they are up and running. That lets our teams spend their time where it matters: with the customer.”

£28.52 billion...British consumers will splash out a record £28.52 billion online between 1st November and 31st December 2026, according to research released by Adobe.

Spending this year is anticipated to increase by 6.2% year-on-year (YoY) as total Q4 (October–December) e-commerce spend is projected to reach £40 billion (+6.4% YoY). Powered by Adobe Analytics, the research analyses direct consumer transactions across hundreds of billions of visits to UK retailer websites, tracking 100 million SKUs across 18 product categories.

The findings reveal a consumer base that is spending with greater intent, leveraging deep online price advantages, relying on social and influencer discovery, and increasingly turning to generative AI assistants to uncover the best value.

8...Focal Systems, PMC, Poq, VoCoVo, Deliverect, Enactor, SOLUM, Pricer, TCS, Toshiba Global Commerce Solutions, Vusion, Quorso, Datitude, and Sitoo were among the winners on Wednesday night at the eighth edition of the RTIH Innovation Awards.

We received a record number of entries this year, showcasing truly impressive innovation across both traditional and digital retail spaces.

To quote a member of our star studded judging panel: "Reviewing such inventive, high impact solutions has been a truly rewarding experience. The depth of engineering, scalable architecture, and strategic vision displayed throughout the submissions underscores the rapid transformation happening across modern retail technology."

Our 2026 hall of fame entrants were revealed during a sold out event which took place at The HAC in Central London and consisted of a drinks reception, three course meal, awards ceremony presided over by actor, comedian and writer Aurie Styla, and after party until 1am.

Congratulations to our 2026 winners, and a big thank you to our sponsors, judging panel, the legend that is Aurie Styla, and all those who attended last night’s gathering.

236 MediaMarktSaturn stores across 141 cities in Germany are now available on Just Eat's Lieferando Deutschland service.

In a LinkedIn post, the retailer said: "Someone in Berlin once ordered over 7,200 euros worth of laptops and smartphones through a food delivery app. It arrived within the hour. That's the extreme end of what's now possible through our expanded partnership with Lieferando Deutschland. Most orders are a lot smaller, a power bank, a missing cable, a couple of AirTags, but the range stretches from one end to the other."

The rapid delivery service is growing from ten cities to 141 across Germany. The product range is also expanding, up to 10,000 items per store, delivered within an hour, Monday to Saturday, at the same prices as in stores.

One and three...TSB is warning online shoppers to be on their guard against widespread purchase fraud ahead of Black Friday and Christmas, as new research (involving 2,000 Brits) reveals one in three has fallen victim to a purchase scam on social media or secondhand platforms. 

TSB's own internal data found that purchase fraud accounts for 45% of all TSB bank transfer losses, and up by 4% year-on-year.  Younger shoppers are most likely to have experienced this, with 49% of 25–34-year-olds and 44% of 18–24-year-olds having been caught out. Overall, 53% of Brits surveyed have either fallen victim to purchase fraud themselves or know someone who has, highlighting the scale of the issue. 

With Black Friday and Christmas approaching, polling shows that consumers expect to spend an average of £245 on gifts and purchases over this period. TSB is urging consumers to be vigilant, with customer data showing that purchase fraud losses total £2.3million at TSB this year alone and with an average loss of £540 per customer. 

Its customer data also reveals that Facebook accounts for two thirds of cases (65%), followed by TikTok (14%), Snapchat (7%) and Instagram (6%).  

100...Two independent convenience retailers say their Just Eat business has grown around fivefold since they stopped updating marketplace listings by hand, as the number of indies using Snappy Technologies’ Order Aggregation (OA) platform passes 100.

OA brings orders from Just Eat, Uber Eats, Deliveroo, Foodhub and Snappy Shopper onto one device and sends price, promotion and stock changes to every platform at once.

Independent users trade under fascias including Premier, Morrisons Daily, Keystore, Costcutter, Nisa and Londis. Across independents and retail groups, including East of England Co-op and Southern Co-op, OA has now processed more than half a million orders, with over 300 stores currently trading on the platform.

6 and 75...AI assistants are becoming the place shoppers ask what to buy, and the next step, letting an AI agent buy for you, is already live for US shoppers in Gemini, Meta's Muse and Microsoft Copilot.

Research published by Human Forward, a startup based out of London, shows most of Britain's best known brands are not ready for this brave new world.

Human Forward asked six AI assistants (ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity, Google's Gemini, DeepSeek and Meta's Muse) the questions shoppers ask about 75 leading UK retailers and direct to consumer brands, and checked each brand's website for the standards AI agents use to find products and complete a purchase. It found:

Most brands can't be bought by an AI agent. Of the 50 sites it could check, 35 were not set up for an AI agent to buy from, including Marks and Spencer, Dunelm and Moonpig. The 15 that were ready all run on Shopify, which builds it in for its merchants. Brands on their own technology have been left to work it out alone.

One in five is never recommended. Asked for the best brands in their own category, no assistant named 15 of the 75 brands. Among the big retailers it was 12 of 50, including boohoo, New Look, Matalan, River Island, Schuh and AO.

The assistants disagree. When one assistant recommends a brand, on average 39% of the others leave it out. ChatGPT is the hardest to get into: it named a brand unprompted 40% of the time, against 60% for Claude.

Everyday names get lost. Ask an assistant “What is Iceland?” and all six describe the country, not the supermarket.

Being recommended is not being ready. Moonpig tops the table for AI answers at 99 out of 100, yet no agent checkout was found on its site.

26...Currys opened its new Cambridge store last Friday. The retailer has relocated to new premises a few doors along from its previous store at Cambridge Retail Park, marking its 26th year in the city.

New digital screens, an upgraded gaming zone, hands on demo areas and a Business Hub aim to put customers at the heart of the design, giving them more ways to see, feel and try tech.

“I’m so excited about the opening, and about where it takes Currys next, with our stores and online working together as one," says Lindsay Haselhurst, Chief Operating Officer at Currys.

"Colleagues are at the very heart of what makes us special, and our stores give them a brilliant place to bring amazing technology to life, helping customers discover, experience and get the most from the latest tech. I can’t wait to welcome Cambridge customers into the new store and see them enjoying even more ways to see, feel and try the tech for themselves."

The store will also test improvements that could be introduced elsewhere across the retailer's almost 300 locations estate, depending on customer response and results. 

One in nine self-checkouts in London convenience stores are out of action at any given moment because of technical faults, according to new research released by Scalefusion.

The research, covering 730 self-checkouts in 100 London stores run by four of the UK’s largest supermarket brands, found that on average 11% of machines were unavailable to shoppers. In one instance, every self-checkout was running but none could take contactless card payments, a fault that lasted for several days in a row.

Scalefusion is warning that, with so many convenience stores competing for the same customers, a single faulty machine will create delays and queues that erode customer experience and drive business elsewhere.

The Virgin Media O2 Business Movers Index found that 38% of UK shoppers have left a store or avoided returning because of complicated or unreliable technology, rising to 51% among Gen Z. Self-checkouts top the list of frustrations, cited by 33%.

74%, 73% and 61%...Research published by the Coalition for Trusted Reviews (CfTR), an alliance bringing together Amazon, Booking.com, Expedia Group, G2, Holidaycheck, Tripadvisor and Trustpilot, has revealed growing concerns around fake reviews and how they affect purchasing decisions.

The research is based on a survey of 6,000 people across the UK, Italy, and the US. While eight in ten consumers in the UK (85%), US (82%), and Italy (80%) use online reviews at least sometimes when considering a purchase, 74% of UK consumers, 73% of Americans and 61% of Italians have decided not to purchase a product or service due to concerns about fake or misleading reviews. 

Although many online platforms invest heavily in fighting misuse, review fraud is becoming increasingly sophisticated. Bad actors - those who attempt to breach platform guidelines and mislead consumers and businesses via fake reviews - operate across platforms and jurisdictions, reusing identities, tactics and networks. This makes it challenging for any single platform or regulator to disrupt fraudulent activity.

Review and user verification is one of several methods online platforms may use to combat fake content. However, the research also highlights a tension between consumers' desire for authentic reviews and their willingness to accept additional verification measures. In the UK, 56% of consumers say that being required to provide ID would make them less likely to leave a review, alongside 46% in the US and 43% in Italy. 

$1.5 billion and $21.5 billion...Zipline has announced a $1.5 billion raise at a $21.5 billion post-money valuation, led by Paradigm, WCM Investment Management, and Layer Global with participation from Valor Equity Partners, Fidelity Management & Research Company, Uber, Tiger Global, J.P. Morgan, ARK Invest, and Salesforce Ventures.

It will use the capital to expand its US manufacturing facilities and ramp up hiring as it builds a drone delivery network across the country.

Walmart and Zipline are working together to launch 300 additional sites as part of a new national multi-year agreement with potential to grow further. Uber is targeting one million deliveries a day with Zipline by 2029.

“Zipline is now one of the largest autonomous robotics companies in the world - operating with scale, safety, and a magical user experience for consumers and merchants,” says Matt Huang, Co-Founder and Managing Partner at Paradigm. “It's no wonder that some of the largest merchants in the world are partnering with Zipline to use their delivery network.”

600...Earlier this year, Kingfisher owned Screwfix unveiled a new campaign, fronted by Mo Farah, that showcases the speed and convenience customers say is the main reason they choose the retailer.

Screwfix Convenience is designed to drive usage of Screwfix Sprint delivery, Click & Collect and check-In services among tradespeople and DIY customers.

And the Sprint service, which promises delivery within 60 minutes, is now live at 600 stores and counting. 

In a LinkedIn post, Max Britten, Managing Director UK & Ireland at Screwfix, said: "We know how important convenience is for our busy trade customers. They want to stay on the job, avoid unnecessary downtime and get what they need, when they need it. Sprint helps them do exactly that, with tens of thousands of customers using it so far this year."

He added: "So making Sprint accessible to more customers is a real priority for Screwfix. With the additional stores, it now reaches more than 62% of the UK population. A huge thank you to all our colleagues and our delivery partner Gophr who have helped us reach this important milestone, and of course to our customers for continuing to use Sprint."

26...Just Eat has announced a new partnership with Lindt & Sprungli UK to bring its chocolate range straight to customers’ doors in as little as 30 minutes. This makes it the brand's first delivery aggregator partner.

Customers can now order various Lindt's products from 26 locations across the UK. The brand's Pick & Mix offering is available with over 25 flavours available, including exclusives only sold from Lindt stores & Lindor flavours such as Shortbread, Pistachio, and Cherry Blossom Sakura. 

From early next year, customers in eight locations will also gain exclusive delivery access to the Lindt Chocolate Bar through the Just Eat app, offering ‘Crema Gelata’ ice cream, hot chocolates and coffees.

A Just Eat spokesperson said: "The partnership marks another step in expanding our gifting offer ahead of the festive season, so as we approach Christmas there’s no need to worry about securing those last minute presents."