In today’s retail landscape, technology is not just a support function but a key competitive differentiator. AI and cloud platforms have emerged as powerful enablers for personalisation, efficiency, and omnichannel harmony.
From fashion to grocery and luxury segments, retailers are investing heavily in technology partnerships and modern systems to meet evolving customer expectations and operational challenges.
This article explores recent standout developments from major brands like Gap, Revolve, MediaMarktSaturn, The Body Shop, and others illustrating how AI and cloud innovations are fundamentally reshaping retail.
AI-Driven Personalisation and Visual Shopping
Gap’s multi-year partnership with Google Cloud exemplifies the integration of AI across retail functions. This is enabled through Google’s AI technologies such as Gemini, Vertex AI, and BigQuery that unify product creation, customer experience, and employee enablement platforms.
Similarly, Revolve Group’s "Build a Look" experience brings AI and computer vision together to allow shoppers to create digital closets and mix outfits virtually. Powered by Zelig AI, it addresses key online shopping pain points like high return rates and poor product discovery by rendering garments accurately and offering occasion-based styling recommendations. This fusion of AI-generated lifelike visuals and stylist expertise marks a new frontier in immersive online shopping.
In beauty, Perfect Corp.’s AR-enabled Virtual Try-On technology partnered with Erborian creates interactive product discovery on platforms like TikTok, allowing users to virtually test multiple shades and coverage levels in real time. These AI and AR solutions drive greater engagement and informed purchase decisions without physical trials.
Enhancing Operational Efficiency with AI and Cloud
Behind the scenes, The Body Shop’s shift from manual ERP processes to a unified AI-driven RELEX platform exemplifies retail supply chain transformation. The Body Shop aims to optimize forecasting, replenishment, and inventory management globally to support franchise growth. Such AI-powered systems allow faster, more accurate responsiveness to demand, vital for maintaining lean and resilient supply chains.
Eurocommercial, a European property investor, leverages an AI platform across flagship shopping centres to collect and analyze real-time sales data from 750+ tenant units, enabling better benchmarking and leasing insights. This illustrates the penetration of AI in real estate facets supporting retail operations.
Similarly, Glik’s adoption of cloud-native Aptos ONE POS and OMS exemplifies the trend of unified, mobile-enabled retail operations facilitating seamless customer experiences and centralized management. City Beach’s deployment of Teamwork Commerce’s mobile POS and order management systems further mirrors this omnichannel operational uplift.
Retail Media and Programmatic Opportunities
Retail media is scaling rapidly, as demonstrated by MediaMarktSaturn’s programmatic in-store retail media inventory integration powered by One Tech Group’s platform. This connects advertisers directly to one of Europe’s largest retail media networks at the point of sale, facilitating hyper-local and timely campaigns.
In the US, Love’s Travel Stops launched Love’s Media Group, the first retail media network uniquely focused on travel stops and professional truckers—a high-intent, mobile audience. This platform unifies digital signage, app assets, and loyalty program channels for comprehensive advertising reach.
Breuninger’s partnership with AI retail media specialist Topsort shows how luxury retailers use sponsored listings and banner ads powered by first-party data and omnichannel presence to drive revenue while maintaining premium brand safety and customer experience.
Key System Implementations and Marketplace Evolutions
Asda recently completed a massive multi-year project migrating from Walmart’s systems, laying foundations for more agile growth and peak readiness. Concurrently, Tesco is evolving its marketplace technology, migrating from Marketplacer to Mirakl for enhanced seller and customer experiences, illustrating the dynamic nature of marketplace platform choices.
Rackhams, a historic department store reborn as a marketplace, credits Marketplacer for rapid scaling and marketplace onboarding flexibility, reinforcing the criticality of adaptable technology in seller support and customer experience consistency.
Ben Sherman resolved e-commerce platform constraints with Remarkable Commerce to unify and scale their global sites, unlocking performance and flexibility essential for competitive omnichannel retailing.
Conclusion
The retail sector is embracing AI and cloud technologies not only to personalise shopping and improve customer engagement but also to drive operational efficiencies and media monetization. Partnerships like Gap with Google Cloud and Revolve with Zelig AI show how unified AI platforms can accelerate innovation and customer delight. Meanwhile, developments in retail media and marketplace systems highlight new revenue models and growth strategies for retailers globally.
For retail leaders, investing in AI-driven technology stacks and cloud-native systems is now foundational to compete effectively amid evolving consumer expectations. Exploring integrations across advertising, inventory, and customer management platforms will be key to unlocking sustainable omnichannel advantages going forward.
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Nathan Sellars
Staff Report
Staff Report
