Jul 4, 2025

Asos comes under fire as disgruntled customers' accounts are closed due to their online returns activity Online fast fashion giant Asos has recently been deleting customers' accounts due to high levels of return activity. This is the result of an update to its fair use policy. Somewhat unsurprisingly, disgruntled customers have taken to social media to vent spleen. For instance, Rhea Sangha, Senior Marketing Manager at John Lewis Partnership, said in a LinkedIn post: "This morning I received an email from Asos to inform me they were closing my account. I was pretty gobsmacked as I am die hard, loyal fan and have been a regular customer for years. It’s my go to for holidays, weddings, parties and I bloody love Topshop!!" "Yes, I’m a big shopper so yes as a result I probably do send a fair amount of returns (which I pay for!) but isn’t that the nature of online shopping? Isn’t that what happens when you can’t feel the material/see the quality/check the sizing/try on the clothes to see how a style suits your figure. And as a curvy girl - NOT easy! Clothes unfortunately do not fit me like a glove…" She added: “I spend hundreds of pounds year with Asos, in the last month alone I’ve purchased 12 items and spent £350+. I know quite a few other friends this has happened to who have complained for several months to Asos with no real clarity or solution. Is this really how retailers should be treating their best customers? Is this what loyalty should feel like?" "Very disappointing. Working in fashion retail myself I know how important it is to protect and reward your most frequent, loyal shoppers so I’m pretty disappointed (hence the post!) Please engage with my post if you agree and let me know what you think?" Carrefour first major European grocer to adopt VusionGroup EdgeSense tech, following Walmart roll-out in US VusionGroup has announced a partnership with Carrefour to trial what is pitched as a new generation of connected stores powered by EdgeSense technology. Carrefour becomes the first major European grocer to adopt the tech, following its deployment by Walmart in the US. Combining AI, computer vision, smart rails and digital shelf labels, EdgeSense delivers real-time shelf monitoring, stockout detection, pricing compliance and precise product geolocation. The partnership is currently being piloted in Carrefour’s hypermarket in Villabé, France, where approximately 70,000 electronic shelf labels, 500 cameras, and 7,000 EdgeSense rails have been installed, with a second site launching soon. Rohlik Group spins out Veloq AI fulfillment platform and hires former Ocado CCO Richard McKenzie as CEO Rohlik Group , a European online grocer and tech specialist founded in 2014 in the Czech Republic, is launching Veloq, an AI driven grocery fulfillment platform that has powered its growth across five markets. Rohlik currently delivers over 1.3 million monthly orders and generates €1.1 billion in annual revenue. Developed and refined within its grocery operations, Veloq is now launching as an independent company, bringing the technology to grocers worldwide. Built on a proprietary software stack and robotics, Veloq unifies the entire grocery fulfillment process into a single modular platform, according to those involved. This includes automated picking, intelligent routing, inventory forecasting and personalised customer engagement. An AI engine powers every layer of operations, including dynamic queue and labour management within fulfillment centres, supply chain forecasting and real-time last mile logistics optimisation. Veloq has appointed Richard McKenzie, former Chief Commercial Officer at Ocado, as its CEO. He says: “The big challenge for grocers today is how they can meet evolving consumer demands for convenience while still delivering a wide range of excellent quality fresh products. Veloq represents a unique answer to that challenge.” “Where legacy providers bolt-on tools that are inflexible or not grocery specific, we now offer an operating system that gives grocers everything they need in one box - and that adapts, learns, and evolves alongside its partners.” “There’s real magic in the software: in how it orchestrates complex operations behind the scenes to deliver simplicity and speed to the end customer. In a market reshaped by consumer expectations for convenience, personalisation, and sustainability, Veloq’s launch marks a turning point – from fragmented software to unified, intelligent orchestration.” AiFi and Microsoft target retail sector as they team to bring ChatGPT level capabilities to physical world AiFi , a spatial intelligence platform enabling businesses to deploy autonomous solutions, has announced a collaboration with Microsoft that promises the delivery of real-world artificial intelligence. Built on Microsoft Azure, this integration taps AiFi’s proprietary spatial intelligence engine, trained on over 90 petabytes of real-world data collected annually. Unlike conventional vision systems, AiFi creates a real-time, context aware digital twin that doesn’t just see what’s happening, it understands where it’s happening, who’s involved, when, and why it matters. “Understanding the physical world with precision is the next frontier of AI,” says Steve Carlin, CEO at AiFi. “That’s what this collaboration is about. By combining AiFi’s spatial intelligence with Microsoft’s cloud scale and enterprise reach, we’re enabling AI to help businesses understand everything that is happening in the spaces that matter to them. Working with Microsoft gives a startup like ours an opportunity to take advantage of cost structures associated with scale, and gives Microsoft the ability to access new capabilities for their agentic layer strategies for their cloud services and analytics.” Don't miss your chance to enter the RTIH AI in Retail Awards, deadline for submissions 18th July Time is running out to enter the RTIH AI in Retail Awards , with deadline for submissions being Friday, 18th July. As we witness a digital transformation revolution across all channels, AI tools are reshaping the omnichannel game, from personalising customer experiences to optimising inventory, uncovering insights into consumer behaviour, and enhancing the human element of retailers' businesses. With 2025 set to be the year when AI and especially gen AI shake off the ‘heavily hyped’ tag and become embedded in retail business processes, our newly launched awards celebrate global technology innovation in a fast moving omnichannel world and the resulting benefits for retailers, shoppers and employees. Our 2025 winners will be those companies who not only recognise the potential of AI, but also make it usable in everyday work - resulting in more efficiency and innovation in all areas. Winners will be announced at an evening event at The Barbican in Central London on Wednesday, 3rd September. This will kick off with a drinks reception in the stunning Conservatory , followed by a three course meal, and awards ceremony in the Garden Room hosted by the rather excellent actress, writer, presenter, and comedian Lucy Porter. Time is running out to enter the RTIH AI in Retail Awards. Deadline for submissions is Friday, 18th July. Our 2025 winners will be announced at an evening event at @BarbicanCentre in Central London on Wednesday, 3rd September #ai https://t.co/YnOwZgTVOc pic.twitter.com/CnEx2ZKQHb Michelle Howchin departs UK grocery giant Asda after taking on major digital transformation challenge Michelle Howchin has left Asda where she spent the past five years, most recently serving as E-commerce Delivery Director. Prior to that, she held the role of Senior Director Legacy Transformation at George at Asda. Earlier this year, the UK grocery giant was granted an extension to the timescale for an £80 million IT upgrade by its former owner Walmart, after it missed a crucial deadline target. This is required to fully separate Asda’s IT system from that of Walmart. Project Future , as it is known, had been set for completion by February. In a LinkedIn post, she said: "It's the end of my time at Asda and what a lot we crammed into almost the last six years. Starting off with leading George Technology with a fantastic team we served 800k customers, across 560 stores a week and delivered: A new end to end omni channel operating model; Completed the first exit from Walmart and migrated SAP to SAP Rise; Introduced a new forecasting solution with SAP UDF; Deployed RFID across all retail stores significantly improving stock accuracy and delivering+95% availability: Plus many upgrades keeping the estate healthy." She added: "Then I moved on to lead Asda's digital transformation and worked with another great team delivering: A new end to end e-commerce platform for food, GM and clothing; A new identity access management solution and migration of 28 million customer records.” “A new order management solution processing 39 million orders, across 540+ stores, integrating with Q-commerce partners; A new in-store picking solution across all stores; New internet sites, apps and security solutions; A new customer service engagement, query management and refund solution; New payment and fraud solutions; Integration to new warehouse management systems, stock inventory, PoS solutions and financial reconciliation." She concluded: "All with the help of some great technology partners. Thank you all! One of my biggest achievements to date and largest and most complex transformations. Now that's done, like many of my other excellent colleagues it's off to pastures new to the next exciting transformation challenge." Walmart Discovered Pass launches on Roblox, pitched as first ever branded game pass on the platform Walmart says that it is raising the bar on Roblox with the launch of Discovered Pass, pitched as the first ever branded game pass on the platform offering exclusive monthly perks across popular and up and coming experiences. The US retail giant worked with GEEIQ and Sawhorse Productions to bring this to life. e.l.f. announces launch of colour e.l.f.nalysis immersive digital experience along with curated Pinterest boards e.l.f. Cosmetics , a brand from e.l.f. Beauty, has introduced ‘colour e.l.f.nalysis’, an immersive digital experience for personalised beauty. With this tool, users can discover makeup shades that harmonise with their unique features and get matched with a curated Pinterest board featuring shoppable e.l.f. products tailored to them. They can snap a selfie (or upload one from their camera roll), and the tool analyses their hue (warm or cool), value (light or deep contrast), and chroma (bright or muted) to reveal their colour season and custom board. “colour e.l.f.nalysis is about breaking down beauty barriers and making personalised colour analysis accessible to every eye, lip, and face - for free,” says Patrick O’Keefe, Chief Integrated Marketing Communications Officer at e.l.f. Beauty . “This tool, developed with Pinterest and in collaboration with real-life colour experts, complements - not replaces - the human touch. It’s a smart, seamless, and fun way for our community to discover what works for them, and find their perfect e.l.f. product matches in just a few taps.” Featured