Retail's global innovators:
P-S

Panda Retail
(Saudi Arabia) 

Saudi Arabia’s Savola Group announced in February it is planning to expand its market-leading grocery business Panda Retail, saying the business had returned to profitability and claiming future growth can be supported by expansion and new digital initiatives. 

The retailer, which runs more than 185 stores across Saudi Arabia and serves 90 million-plus customers annually in Saudi Arabia and Egypt, bolsters its operations via strategic tech partnerships with Relex and Aptos company Revionics, among others. 

In January, Panda selected Revionics’ intelligent pricing platform as part of its efforts to adopt a more data-driven and customer-centric approach to its pricing decisions. One key aspect of Panda’s success has been its investment in modern technology systems that enhance customer satisfaction and business profitability; the Revionics deal was in line with that as Panda looks to benefit from speedy and automated pricing decisions. 

A year earlier, Panda expanded its relationship with supply chain and retail planning solutions company Relex to start using the vendor’s promotion-planning and space-management optimisation tools. The aim was to improve the efficiency of promotions and reduce operational costs, and it is interlinked with Relex’s supply chain planning software that was already in place serving the retailer’s stores and distribution centres. 

Patagonia
(US) 

Patagonia has built its brand on providing sought-after fashion products and gear for outdoor pursuits, but the retailer is viewed as a sustainability leader in the world of commerce. 

Its commitment to environmental welfare was underpinned in September 2022 when Patagonia founder Yvon Chouinard announced he had given the company away to two new entities to combat the climate crisis. The move meant all profit not reinvested into the business goes towards the fight against climate change. 

Many of the tech and digital investments Patagonia has made in the years since also have sustainability in mind, including the introduction in 2023 of a 24-hour repair platform that enables consumers to register, send off and track the progress of goods to be mended. Mobile repair shops also travelled to snow destinations in France, Italy, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, and the UK in 2024, offering sports enthusiasts free repairs and advice on how to fix items. 

While fixing clothing and keeping products in circulation for as long as possible is a key aim for Patagonia, like any other retailer the business needs to put systems in place to ensure its operations don’t fall apart. The retailer worked with connected tax technology provider Vertex on its Microsoft Dynamics 365 enterprise resource planning and order management applications in 2022 to help run its business more smoothly – these are integrated into its front-end Salesforce platform.

Pets at Home
(UK) 

Petcare retailer Pets at Home launched a new ‘store of the future’ concept in Brentford, London, in August, which will act as a test bed for new store openings and improvements across its store estate. Four concept stores are planned for 2024 and this frames its innovation strategy. 

The Brentford Pet Care Centre has almost doubled in size from its original footprint, and includes fresh, frozen and raw pet food in a ’Nutrition Hub’; interactive screens for shoppers with a range of features including the ability to design a fish tank; a bigger healthcare centre for pets; and dedicated consultation areas. 

The new-look stores arrive with Pets at Home currently undergoing an omnichannel evolution that involves its shops becoming bigger contributors to its online fulfilment network. Primarily through building a single pool of stock across its business, with the support of tech company OneStock, it has created new ways to serve customers. 

It initially added the capability in 2020 but has been continually building it out across its estate so now around 40% of ecommerce orders are picked up by customers in stores. The tech deployment has allowed the retailer to understand inventory better and has paved the way for one-hour click-and-collect options, a reduction in average picking times for online orders and 60-plus stores now able to act as home-delivery hubs. 

Primark
(Republic of Ireland)

From improving supplier relationships and increasingly switching to plant-made fibres for sustainability reasons to connecting many of its UK stores to a click-and-collect network, the post-pandemic period has certainly been one of transformation for Primark. 

But aside from the addition of click and collect in the UK in November 2022, which took Primark into the ecommerce space for the first time, technological investment is primarily reserved for behind-the-scenes operations rather than grand in-store digital statements and displays.  

A major shift in this area was announced in August 2024, with Tata Consultancy Services extending its partnership with the retailer and promising to make its technology environment more resilient, reliable and efficient. Key to the new five-year deal is helping Primark develop a more agile and product-based engineering model enabled by DevOps technologies.  

By creating such an infrastructure Primark is confident it will be able to more quickly build tech in line with consumer demands and essentially modernise the tech stack sitting under the control of chief information officer Andrew Brothers. The IT team will gain a real-time view of their technology and business systems – crucial as Primark continues its rapid global store rollout programme.  

Reliance Retail
(India) 

India’s largest retailer Reliance Retail – which also supports international retailers’ growth in its home country through a franchise model – said in August it wants to double its business in the next three to four years. Isha Ambani, executive director of Reliance Retail Ventures, announced the target at Reliance’s annual general meeting following  2023-24 year-on-year gross revenue growth of 17.8% to ₹3.06trn (£27.5bn). 

With its position as such a dominant player in the Indian market, retailers such as Asos and Shein are working with Reliance to build their presence offline in the country. In a clicks-and-bricks move, Asos is being introduced to the Indian market by Reliance in several different retail formats, including exclusive brand stores, multi-brand stores and digital commerce platforms. 

Reliance’s tech focus means it is often first to market with new innovations, for instance in February 2023 partnering with Innoviti Technologies, ICICI Bank and Kotak Mahindra Bank to enable acceptance of Reserve Bank of India-issued digital rupee at its stores.  

Elsewhere, Reliance re-entered the quick commerce market in June 2024 with a 30-minute delivery model, and it brings a wider assortment of products to the service than existing quick commerce players such as Blinkit and Zepto. Unlike these rival players, Reliance does not need dark stores, but will instead use its network of retail stores to support the proposition and optimise routes with tech platforms FYND and Locus. 

Rewe Group
(Germany)

German retailer Rewe Group announced a compelling example of using AI to drive productivity and engagement in May 2024 by creating a 3D hologram of chief digital innovation officer Robert Zores, which answers questions to aid staff onboarding. 

Housed in a Holobox, Zores’ digital twin, known as ‘goRobert’, launched with the ability to answer questions on new employee orientation and ongoing digital projects at the retailer. The plan is for goRobert to be available to answer calls and questions via Microsoft Teams, any time of day or night. 

The hologram is illustrative of the forward-thinking retail tech at REWE, which in July opened Europe’s largest autonomous supermarket alongside computer vision tech company Trigo. At 1,200 sq m, the store in Hamburg, Germany, features 20,000 products and four ways to pay – cashless via Rewe’s Pick&Go app; scanning and paying at the self-checkout terminal; shopping via computer vision support without scanning at checkout; and traditional payment at the till. The Pick&Go technology also covers the fresh food service areas for the first time. 

Elsewhere, Rewe is focused on fast and frictionless customer service, launching a rapid delivery service in partnership with Just Eat Takeaway-owned Lieferando in September. 

Sainsbury’s
(UK) 

Sainsbury’s announced its ‘Next Level’ growth strategy in February, and within the all-encompassing programme of improvement is a plan to invest in tech to find £1bn of structural cost reduction. 

Evidence of this work in the months since comes in the form of a series of fresh tech partnerships. 

In September, the grocer announced its intention to ‘revolutionise’ its commercial systems through a new tech partnership with SAP, Accenture and AWS thatwill see it consolidate its legacy systems “through cloud-based solutions, as well as a simplified and cost optimised technology estate”. It followed the news in May that Sainsbury’s had established a five-year tie-up with Microsoft, to use the tech giant’s AI machine learning capabilities to drive greater efficiency for employees and customers. Key to the partnership is to put AI-enabled solutions in staff’s hands to help them achieve day-to-day tasks more productively 

In August, it emerged Sainsbury’s is speeding up the self-checkout experience for customers and providing real-time data and insight to store staff to improve productivity. This work involves using the cloud-based NCR Voyix solution, which allows colleagues to approve transactions remotely by tablet. At the same time, an AI recommendation engine will deliver personalised promotions uniquely tailored to each customer. 

Much of the work Sainsbury’s is doing to drive efficiency through tech is checkout-focused. Before the till upgrade, the grocer replaced fresh produce weighing scales with AI-powered ones that recognise what the item is and charge the customer accordingly.  

Selfridges
(UK)

With a strategy to refresh the offering in its flagship London West End destination by continually introducing emerging brands in pop-up form, UK department store business Selfridges is laser focused on not going stale in a sector that has diminished in recent years. 

Selfridges often brings fashion and beauty brands that have already established themselves digitally into a physical shopping setting for the first time. The arrival of repair service SOJO in January and athleisurewear brand Tala in May are evidence of that strategy, while Gymshark chose Selfridges as the destination to launch its inaugural athleisurewear range in March. 

The innovative thinking at Selfridges stretches into new-generation tech deployment, and in July it partnered with social media platform Snapchat to create an AR locker room in its Oxford Street store. Customers visiting in the summer could virtually try on sports kits and experiment with AR – all against a backdrop of the summer-of-sport theme. 

And Selfridges’ ongoing ‘Project Earth’ strategy involves pushing more circular concepts to its customers. This has included ramping up its fashion rental offering, and bringing typically digital services in repair, resale and customisation from businesses such as clothing alterations specialist Sojo, rental platform Hurr Rental, pre-loved business Vintage Threads and vintage shop We Are Cow into prime position in its London flagship. 

Sephora
(France)

Sephora is merging tech and digital to power its global growth and that is showing up both in its online efforts to improve CX and its continued store expansion. 

A pioneer of try-before-you-buy in cosmetics, Sephora has a heritage when it comes to strong customer experience – and it embellishes this with the intentional use of technology. For instance, it leverages AI to provide personalised skincare consultations and embraces AR to provide customers with virtual try-on opportunities both in-store and online. 

Since 2017, it has offered tailored consultations in-store and on mobile, where consumers upload their own photographs and receive recommendations based on their skin type and tone, which are supported via a partnership with visualisation tech provider ModiFace.  

In physical retail, Sephora has focused its attention on the UK and is opening its seventh store in the country following its return in 2023. It has invested in making its stores immersive with its Westfield store, for instance, offering bookable skincare and beauty appointments, personalised perfume engraving services, and playing host to events with beauty influencers. 

Sephora has also revamped its loyalty programme for UK shoppers. In July, it launched its ‘MySephora’ scheme which has an enhanced three-tier points-earning system and rewards users for both spending and engagement with the brand, including attending in-store services and reviewing products. 

Shoprite
(South Africa) 

South Africa's biggest supermarket group, which owns upmarket grocery chain Checkers and discount brands Shoprite and Usave, Shoprite Holdings reported a revenue increase of 12% to R246.1bn (£10.6bn) in the year to June 30, 2024, and tech was at the heart of supporting this growth. 

This year, new efforts in digital have focused on improving the group’s retailers’ delivery service. In May a new version of ‘Checkers Sixty60’ was launched in beta testing mode. This move extends the service beyond groceries and allows customers to shop for 10,000 products, including gardening and home electronics, as well as receive same-day delivery scheduled within a 60-minute time slot.  

In July, Shoprite also brought to life a first ecommerce venture for its wholesale Cash & Carry brand. Bulk-buying customers can browse and purchase goods online and receive free delivery within a 50km radius – which Shoprite said helps smaller businesses overcome some of the obstacles they face such as fuel costs and transportation. 

The new system is particularly innovative in South Africa as it streamlines the purchasing and fulfilment process for Cash & Carry’s in-store traders. Retailers can save orders for repeat use and manage the process through one central platform. 

As of July, Shoprite is also wheeling renewable electricity at its home office in Brackenfell, Cape Town – its third site implementing this innovative energy solution. Wheeling involves buying and selling of electricity between private parties, using an existing grid to transport power from where it is generated to an end user, to create greater access to affordable energy.