Kroger and Uber Eats

Uber Technologies and The Kroger Co. have announced an expanded relationship.

Beginning early 2026, customers can shop and schedule delivery from more than 2,600 stores across all Kroger banners including Ralphs, Fred Meyer, King Soopers, Smith’s, Fry’s, Harris Teeter, Mariano’s, and more directly through the Uber Eats app.

Kroger Boost members can get an extended free trial of Uber One for 6% cash back and automatic surge savings on rides, $0 delivery fees, and up to 10% off all Uber Eats orders. Uber One members will also be able to try an extended free trial of Boost, including 2X fuel points on all purchases and $0 delivery fee for orders placed on Kroger.com or in the retailer’s app.

Uber Eats’ restaurant selection will be integrated directly on the Kroger app, allowing customers to place their weekly grocery order and also order dinner from a local restaurant in said app. Kroger will be the first retailer where customers can access their favourite fresh food and exclusive Our Brands products alongside hundreds of thousands of restaurants, with $0 delivery fees and reduced service fees for all Boost members.

The companies will also collaborate to build retail media experiences for brands.

The Quality Group

The Quality Group, a specialist in sports nutrition and supplements, has announced a deployment of its order management solution (OMS) with Fluent Commerce on Amazon Web Services (AWS).  

Headquartered in Elmshorn, Germany, The Quality Group offers over 2,000 individual products in the health, weight loss and fitness sector through brands such as ESN and More Nutrition.

Its digital direct-to-consumer and social commerce business models have seen rapid growth, attracting investment from CVC Partners in 2022 to support and accelerate international expansion.

It sells high volumes of stock in short periods during flash sales, where 300,000 units can sell out in minutes. As a result, fast and accurate inventory availability is critical in peak periods to avoid overselling.

Before working with Fluent Commerce and AWS, its legacy systems often led to overselling and cancelled orders, system outages, inaccurate stock availability and a lack of real-time visibility. The team wanted a modern, central system to organise orders and distribute stock from multiple locations to multiple channels as quickly and efficiently as possible.

Instacart and Pet Supplies Plus

Instacart has announced a new partnership with Pet Supplies Plus to offer same-day delivery in as fast as an hour from over 700 stores across the US.

Instacart customers will also have access to 11,000+ products across 400 brands at exclusive loyalty member only pricing.

The tie up also includes over 20 Wag N’ Wash stores, a self-wash, grooming and natural pet food franchise that’s a sister brand of Pet Supplies Plus. With the launch, Instacart lays claim to being the only online marketplace to feature all five of the top US pet retailers. 

“We know the important role pets play in people’s lives, which is why we’re excited to expand our pet retail footprint and welcome the Pet Supplies Plus group to Instacart,” says Blake Wallace, Vice President of Retail Partnerships at Instacart.

“Customers can now shop for everyday pet essentials to favorite treats and toys, all at loyalty member pricing, and have them delivered with the same speed, ease, and neighbourhood feel they know and love from Pet Supplies Plus.”

EY and Just Around The Corner

Just Around The Corner has announced the launch of an autonomous store in conjunction with EY Portugal.

The company was launched by former Sensei executive Miguel Murta Cardoso with the aim of “simplifying your day by bringing the best of modern retail closer to you”.

The Portugal-based startup specialises in autonomous mini-markets that are open 24/7 and situated in offices and condominiums, offering the likes of snacks, meals, milk and bread, frozen, fresh, drinks, hygiene and cleaning products.

In a LinkedIn post, Cardoso said: “The opening of this new store marks more than a point of convenience: it is an important step in our expansion strategy. With this opening, we prove that it is possible to scale the Corner model to new cities, and that our concept of autonomous and smart stores has the potential to go far beyond Lisbon… and even Portugal.”

He added: “We remain focused on making people’s daily lives simpler and more practical, offering access to essential and healthy products, always just a few steps away. A special thank you to the EY team for their trust and for believing in our vision.”

Louis Vuitton

Perfect Corp. has announced a collaboration with Louis Vuitton, part of the LVMH group, for the debut of the Maison’s first full makeup collection branded La Beauté Louis Vuitton.

The tie up brings AI and AR powered experiences to consumers across 33 countries via web, mobile app, and WeChat in China, with virtual try-on (VTO) technology integrated at launch.

The makeup line includes eight eyeshadow palettes, 65 lipstick shades across three finishes – satin, matte, and balm – and 24 curated makeup looks. At the core of the digital experience is Perfect Corp.’s beauty tech suite, which has been customised to support Louis Vuitton’s approach to luxury beauty.

Nordstrom

Nordstrom has opted to extend its partnership with NuORDER by Lightspeed.

NuORDER will play a larger role in its end-to-end data and integration programme to enable Nordstrom to  improve its merchandise assortment and customer experience.

By creating a universal catalogue of product, category, sizing data, and imagery, NuORDER helps it  operate more efficiently at scale by reducing manual processes and accelerating buying cycles.

Today, NuORDER collects over 50 data points per item. As the retailer develops AI powered processes to get merchandise to customers more efficiently, it will increase data capture to support AI driven forecasting, product recommendations, and personalisation.

Harmons

Simbe reports deployment of Tally, its autonomous shelf-scanning robot, at Harmons, an independent grocer in Utah, USA.

Following a five store roll-out, Tally is now live across 17 of Harmons locations.

The robot captures real-time, shelf-level data on product availability, pricing and placement, with the aim of enabling Harmons to achieve cleaner data, better execution and minimise out of stock inventory.

“It’s not uncommon for associates to have been part of the Harmons’ grocer family for 20, 30, even 40 years, and we wanted to ensure we were introducing tech to fit their world,” says Bruce Hatch, Chief Information Officer at Harmons.

“Our goal for Tally was to empower and support our associates while also improving our operations and the customer experience. Simbe proved to be the perfect partner. Tally provides reliable, actionable data that helps our teams execute better, reduce missed sales opportunities, protect margin, and allow us to focus on what matters the most, our customers. It’s an essential part of how we continue evolving our business while staying true to our values.”