retail technology

Retailers are embracing ChatGPT and Google Gemini as a high-intent source of product discovery, but the emerging model is less about keeping all customer data away from AI platforms than keeping the retailer’s account, cart, checkout and post-sale relationship intact. Reuters reported Friday...

Kmart Australia says an AI-powered hiring chatbot has cut its average recruitment cycle from 44 days to 11.8 days, reduced costs by an estimated $5 million to $6 million over three years, and enabled the retailer to assess roughly 600,000 applications annually. The result is a striking case...

Apple is reportedly piloting an AI-assisted “Live Notes” system for Genius Bar appointments that records conversations, creates transcripts and summaries, and lets staff save the resulting notes to Apple’s internal support system. Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman first reported the test, which is aimed...

The Register reported on May 5, 2026, that a Sainsbury’s self-service checkout in the United Kingdom was displaying an “Activate Windows” watermark over the retailer’s kiosk application, after reader Mark Powell spotted the message at his local store. That is funny in the way all retail tech...

Wesfarmers’ new multi‑year strategic partnership with Microsoft is a striking example of how a large, diversified retail conglomerate intends to turn generative AI and cloud-first engineering into measurable competitive advantage across operations, stores and supply chains. The agreement — which...

Claire’s plan to replace aging back‑end systems and deploy a modern point‑of‑sale (POS) platform in 2026 is both a practical recovery move and a clear signal that legacy specialty retailers now view technology as a frontline tool for customer experience, cost control, and operational resilience...

Hanshow’s announcement at NRF 2026 that it is partnering with Microsoft to “explore the future framework of Store Digital Twin” signals a practical step toward a new, measurable phase of retail digital transformation—one that stitches in-store sensing, edge intelligence, and cloud-based digital...