Joachim Pinhammer

Sainsbury’s has appointed a new Head of Martech. With immediate effect, Dave Cain is responsible for strategy, governance and futureproofing of the British supermarket operator’s martech and adtech stacks. Martech plays currently a central role in Sainsbury’s digital transformation.

Belgian Colruyt Group has decided to operate its unattended Okay Direct convenience stores exclusively in the vicinity of a traditional Okay outlet in future. This explains the closure of two of its three existing locations at the end of last month. At the same time, the company has announced plans to bring the 24/7 stores to the capital, Brussels.

Waitrose is currently rolling out electronic shelf labels from the Korean supplier SoluM. The British supermarket operator of the John Lewis Partnership has now equipped more than 200 of its about 420 stores with the technology.

The Very Group is implementing an AI-based solution for price optimisation. The UK-based online retailer has signed a three-year contract with software provider UiPath for this purpose. From the move, the pure-play retailer expects to increase agility in pricing and improve margins.

Tesco is trialling Simbe Robotics’ inventory robot, Tally, in one of its stores. This reports Toby Pickard, Retail Futures Senior Partner at British trade association Institute of Grocery Distribution (IGD). Tally moves autonomously through the store’s aisles to detect out-of-stocks, pricing errors and misplaced products.

In collaboration with Google, Salling Group has launched a project in agent-based retailing. The Danish retail group plans to use Google’s AI assistant, Gemini, to help online customers of its BK, Bilka and Salling retail chains select suitable products. The group aims to be the first Danish retailer to proactively utilise this new technology.

Partner Tech Europe and Anker Group have jointly acquired the rights to the Bottlecomp systems from insolvent Trautwein SB Technik. This is intended to safeguard operations and future viability of the product platform and protect investments made by retail customers.

Jumbo has launched a pilot project using agentic AI. The Dutch supermarket operator aims to support online customers with their shopping using its own AI agent. The tool is designed to inspire shoppers and help them put together their shopping baskets, according to Dutch trade magazine Distrifood.

Danish furniture retailer Jysk is significantly expanding its partnership with Vusion. By 2027, the provider of AI-powered digitalisation solutions is supposed to equip a total of 2,500 Jysk stores across Europe with electronic shelf labels featuring the latest cloud-based technology. The company will also migrate its existing local installations to the Vusion Cloud.

Tesco has signed a multi-year contract with Hanshow for the supply of electronic shelf labels, according to Retail Week. Within two years, the British market leader plans to roll out the Chinese supplier’s labels to all of its approximately 3,000 UK stores – across all retail formats. The rollout is set to begin at a Tesco Express convenience store and…