Retail stories

AI tops CX investment plans, but few brands yet deploy proactive, predictive tools across channels, leaving omnichannel ambitions stalled.

8x8 rolls out Engage globally, arming frontline and specialist teams with contact centre-grade tools to unify customer experience.

Blue Yonder expands agentic AI and mobile apps across supply chains, embedding role-based agents from planning to customer service.

Homedics launches Bridge vibroacoustic cushion in UK, blending low-frequency sound and vibration for 20-minute daily wellbeing sessions.

RingCentral debuts AIR Pro voice-first AI agents with no-code tools, aiming to move enterprises beyond basic IVR to scalable automation.

Insurers race toward fully AI-run claims within two years, even as most fear biased outcomes and demand stronger oversight and transparency.

Data specialist Melissa debuts a podcast probing how flawed customer and identity data fuels risk, fraud and compliance headaches.

Nvidia survey finds AI now widely embedded in operations, driving revenue gains, cost cuts and fresh spend as firms move beyond pilots.

Epsilon launches UK tool linking digital retail media to in-store sales, promising a single view of online and offline campaign impact.

Quiq names Jen Grant chief marketing officer to steer strategy as enterprises move AI agents from pilots to large-scale customer use.

Altimetrik appoints Dhirendra Nath as Chief HR Officer to steer people strategy and culture integration after its merger with SLK.

Distributors stockpile more inventory as a Phocas report warns planning gaps and data limits are raising costs and operational complexity.

Vudoo partners with PubMatic to bring shoppable, commerce-enabled ads to its programmatic marketplace via a single deal ID integration.

1Kosmos adds embedded identity checks to ServiceNow AI workflows to curb social engineering in high-risk service desk interactions.

AI search tools cast brands in starkly different lights, with Google skewing early negative and ChatGPT souring sentiment near purchase.

French retail tech firm EasyPicky opens a Delaware base as it targets the US to help drive 90% of its revenue from international markets by 2028.

RedCloud passes 100,000 users and deploys agentic AI across its trade platform after enabling over USD $6.91 billion in FMCG transactions.

Criteo joins OpenAI's ChatGPT ad pilot as first adtech partner, testing conversational commerce ads across ChatGPT Free and Go in the US.

Sharp swings in online peak spending and 64% checkout abandonment risk derailing retailers' forecasts and promo plans for 2026.

Amperity names seasoned SaaS marketer Bridget Perry as CMO to drive global growth and sharpen its AI-focused customer data platform.