the retail technology week in numbers — Retail Technology Innovation Hub

8…Virgin Media O2 is teaming with Netflix for a Stranger Things immersive pop-up experience at eight O2 stores across the UK, including Edinburgh, Manchester and London, starting from now and running until January.

Visitors can step back into the 1980s through zones filled with nostalgic touchpoints – from posing on the famous Byers’ sofa beneath the alphabet wall to taking part in an interactive quiz that sees the room light up with every correct answer.

Fans can relive their favourite moments with a retro wall phone playing iconic lines, a boombox pumping out 80s hits, and test their gaming skills on Dig Dug. A themed coffee table will also feature a vintage viewfinder and calendar revealing key season five dates.

50 and 51…EE ended last week with the launch of its 50th and 51st Experience stores with Watford and Aberdeen going live, the latter being the third to open in Scotland in the last month.

In a LinkedIn post, Asif Aziz, Retail Director at EE/BT Group, said: “Since we launched our revamped retail strategy just over two years ago, our mission has been to reinvigorate bricks and mortar retail, bringing new and exciting experiences to the UK high street. With each new store, we have created tech hubs for local communities across the country to explore, play and connect with technology, all while receiving expert guidance from our excellent EE Guides.”

He added: “As we reach this exciting milestone, I’d like to acknowledge all the hard work of our teams who have made this happen across EE and BT Group, as well as say a big thanks to all our customers who have supported us. Here’s to the next 50!”

1…Nestlé has completed the first part of an overhaul of its global digital core with what is pitched as the world’s largest ever SAP upgrade to SAP S/4HANA Cloud Private edition.

It says that this will enable the deployment of AI at scale to achieve better insights as well as the automation and improvement of processes across the company’s business operations.

It includes embedding SAP’s AI copilot directly into Nestlé’s core business systems to help employees access insights, automate routine tasks, and make faster, more informed decisions. This will help Nestlé better respond to changing consumer trends and retailer needs and improve efficiency in areas such as supply chain management, procurement, order fulfilment for retailers and investment prioritisation.  

Anna Manz, Nestlé CFO and responsible for Integrated Business Services, says: “Driving growth through innovation is a top priority. We are transforming our business to invest more boldly in the best opportunities. We need to combine great consumer insights and innovation with flexibility and scale, to provide great quality products to consumers around the world when, where and how they want them.”

“This upgrade will help us build multi-year innovation pipelines, more agile production and digital-first marketing and sales platforms for areas like cold coffee, therapeutic pet food and modern cooking aids.”

300 and 1,200…Evri and Asda have announced a new partnership that will see the roll-out of ParcelShops in all the latter’s stores, which, they claim, is a first for a UK supermarket.

The tie up will allow customers to collect and return parcels from thousands of different retailers, at their local Asda store.

The service recently launched in over 300 Asda locations, its Express convenience sites and some of its supermarkets and superstores. It will eventually be rolled out to all 1,200 Asda stores across the UK by April next year.

The announcement follows Evri’s £50 million investment, revealed in June, to double its network of ParcelShops and lockers to 25,000 locations by 2030.

24…Sereact, a specialist in AI driven robotics, and Rohlik Group, a European online grocer, are teaming up.

A roll-out begins with 24 robots across Rohlik’s German and Austrian brands – Knuspr and Gurkerl – operating in Berlin and Vienna fulfilment centres, with Frankfurt to follow. The programme is designed to expand quickly, with both companies aiming to deploy more than 100 robots as the partnership grows.

This will allow Rohlik to optimise key parameters such as throughput, reliability, and the coordination between fresh and dry food zones.

“Rohlik is showing how AI robotics can scale beyond pilots and single sites,” says Ralf Gulde, CEO at Sereact. “With 24 additional robots committed and a roadmap targeting more than 100 across its European network, Rohlik is setting a new benchmark for what large scale robotic fulfilment can look like in grocery e-commerce.”

1…Grubhub is expanding its partnership with Avride to launch a robot delivery pilot for customers ordering from Wonder’s Jersey City location.

This marks the first time Grubhub has offered autonomous delivery in its marketplace outside of college campuses – and the first time Wonder is bringing robot delivery to its customers.

During the pilot, customers can place orders from Wonder’s Jersey City location through the Grubhub platform as usual. If an eligible delivery address is within a set range of the restaurant, they will have the option to choose delivery via an Avride robot.

Following the pilot, Grubhub plans to implement any learnings and expand autonomous delivery to additional markets nationwide.

£10 million…AI powered climate tech platform, Mondra, has announced the closure of its Series A funding round, raising £10 million from investors including AlbionVC, Planet A, Swisscom, PeakBridge, Ponderosa Ventures and Green Circle Foodtech Ventures.

Led by AlbionVC and Planet A Ventures, the fundraise will accelerate Mondra’s expansion into key European markets including the Netherlands, Germany, and France. It will also support the development of new product capabilities, extending beyond emissions management into supply chain disruption and climate risk management.

Mondra was developed in coalition with the British Retail Consortium (BRC), whose members include retailers Tesco, M&S, Co-op, Ocado Retail, Asda, Lidl, Aldi, Pets at Home, and Sainsbury’s; suppliers including Avara, Samworth Brothers, Greencore, Pilgrim’s, Dunbia, Cranswick, and Bakkavor; and brands such as Starbucks and Nando’s.

Together with NGOs and government partners, this coalition is working to establish a unified standard for measuring product level performance, with the aim of creating a level playing field that enables consistent and credible measurement across the food industry.