From unmissable insight and innovation at Retail Technology Show, to Mountain Warehouse going composable, Heron Foods turning to headsets for staff safety and consumers’ decluttering to drive a re-sale parcel boom, what’s been making waves in retail this week?

RMN drives +13% sales uplift for Cotswold Outdoors Group

Speaking at Retail Technology Show (RTS), Cotswold Outdoor Group’s CEO, Jamie Kristow, shared how its is leveraging new engagement opportunities to drive revenue.

Having deployed a retail media network solution, powered by Zitcha, last June, the outdoor retailer has opened up new sales streams via media campaigns, delivered through in-store digital screens and a mix of on- and off-site digital activations.

In-store campaigns have led to a +13% uptick in revenues, whilst online retail media activity with brand partners, such as Hoka, have helped boost brand share of category by +30%.

Sharper data and CRM investment spell the next stage of Cotswold’s RMN journey, Kristow said, as it looks to build in deeper segmentation and personalisation into its campaigns to further strengthen engagement and ROAS.

Read the full session write up: RTS 2026 | Retail media drives +13% sales uplift at Cotswold Outdoor says CEO Jamie Kristow.

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Mountain Warehouse goes composable with BigCommerce

Mountain Warehouse has launched a new composable ecommerce platform with BigCommerce to accelerate innovation across its global online operations.

The new platform will replace a decade-old custom-built system, enabling the retailer to scale more efficiently and reduce operational complexity.

“Moving away from our legacy platform was critical to unlocking the next phase of growth,” said Simon Neale, CTO at Mountain Warehouse. “We now have the flexibility to innovate faster, integrate best-of-breed technologies and focus our engineering efforts on delivering better CX.”

The move to composable, headless architecture will create improved time-to-market for new features, as well as improving platform security and reliability. It also enables flexible integration with third-party solutions, including Contentful, Algolia and Dotdigital, and in-house development.

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Re-sale parcels soar as consumers declutter for Spring

UK consumers are ‘cashing in’ on Spring wardrobe clear-outs, says data from Collect+, which has prompted 6.3million parcels from re-sale apps to be sent or collected from its local store delivery and collection network.

It said parcel volumes processed through Collect+ stores peaked at over 250k in a single day, as people used the Easter Bank holiday to declutter wardrobes.

“People are not just decluttering – they’re cashing in… it’s turning local corner shops into essential parcel hubs for communities, as people look for safe and familiar places to collect and send parcels,” said Sam Holden, Director of Parcels and E-Commerce at PayPoint.

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Vusion crowned winner of the RTS 2026 Innovation Awards

Vusion was announced as the winner of the RTS 2026 Innovation Awards, earlier this week.

Chosen for its EdgeSense AI operating system, which connects more than 250million endpoints globally, Vusion uses ESLs, AI cameras and sensors to power a single intelligent network and works with retailers including Carrefour and Morrisons.

The RTS judges, made up of a panel of industry experts, including Andrew Busby, Natalie Berg (Retail Disrupted), Oliver Banks (OB&Co) and Toby Pickard (IGD), were impressed with the solution’s scalability, its multi-use benefits and inter-connectivity.   

Retail Analyst and Senior Advisor at BOXTEC, Andrew Busby, commented: “Physical retail is where brands connect with their customers, which is why we’re witnessing rapid digital transformation. Vusion is reshaping store experiences for both store colleagues and customers.”

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Ann Summers cuts cost of complexity with IT modernisation

Partnerships and people sat front and centre of Ann Summers’ recent digital transformation project, its Technology Director, Jeannette Copeland told audiences at RTS 2026 earlier this week.

Copeland spoke alongside unified commerce IT services provider, PMC, and outlined how the lingerie retailer had modernised its operations, to build for the future while removing reliance on a “tangled web” of legacy software and systems.

Deploying PMC’s Graphene platform created a composable, modular-based, microservices approach, helping the retailer unify its business functions and surface data more effectively.

Read the full session write-up: RTS 2026 | Lessons from Ann Summers on its ‘heart and lungs’ retail tech transformation.

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Heron Foods turns to tech to improve staff safety

Value-led supermarket chain, Heron Foods, has improved customer experience (CX), streamlined operations and enhanced colleague safety with an in-store communication platform from x-hoppers.

Connecting its teams across frontline roles with the help of the solution, which combines connected headsets with a mobile app to streamline operations, it has improved connectivity to support greater staff safety.

Integrating with StaffSafe, an always-on security solution, via the x-hoppers headsets, each team member now can feel more confident, connected and safe when walking the shop floor on every shift.

“The headsets extend functionality beyond our previous solution, improving team collaboration, enhancing CX with prompt service and increasing colleagues’ sense of safety,” said Jon Newson, Head of IT at Heron Foods.

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46% of shoppers experience payment failures – TNS study

Nearly half (46%) of UK consumers have experienced a payment failure at the checkout in the past 12 months, says the latest research from Transaction Network Services (TNS), a managed network and payment solution provider.

TNS warns that, as retail stores expand and add more internet-enabled devices, such as self-checkout (SCO), kiosks and smart sensors, networks can become over-strained, leading to friction and failure. And this risks lost revenue opportunities as well as poor CX.

“Retailers’ priority must shift to ensuring their infrastructure is able to withstand the pressures that today’s commerce environment demands, whether that’s ensuring continuous uptime, reducing complexity or providing maximum security,” said Matthew Thomas, MD UK&I for TNS Payments Market.

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