Another Retail Technology Show (RTS) has wrapped — and we’re kicking off the spring season with fresh ideas, new connections, and a stronger sense of where retail is headed.
At this year’s RTS, held for the first time at ExCeL London, we spent time with peers, partners, and other retailer leaders from across the industry. We learned, engaged, and of course had a bit of fun.
There was plenty to explore on the show floor, but the big takeaway was clear: retailers are under increased pressure to do more with less.
Whether the challenge is leaner store teams or tighter budgets, a common thread was the growing need for technologies that remove friction and build greater flexibility into store execution. Retailer leaders are looking for new strategies to balance resource constraints, an uncertain economic future, and growing workforce gaps.
Let us know what caught your eye if you were at RTS 2025. Here’s what stood out to us.
3 innovations from RTS 2025
RTS offered a first-hand look at where retail technology is evolving — and where there’s still room to grow.
- AI innovation is on the rise, but not every retailer is building in-house
Retailers are ramping up their AI investments, but innovation approaches vary industry-wide. Heineken, for example, announced the launch of its first Global GenAI Lab in Singapore, signaling a serious commitment to developing advanced, in-house AI capabilities. Meanwhile, other retailers like M&S are focusing on overhauling legacy tech systems to unlock more personalized customer experiences.
We had interesting conversations with multiple brands looking for smarter ways to automate their merchandising workflows, improve operational visibility, and move faster on localization and store-level improvements. The unifying throughline was that AI doesn’t have to be built in-house to deliver value, but it does need to solve for real operational friction.
- There’s an execution gap between HQ strategies and in-store realities
Despite the rapid digital transformation on display at RTS, many teams still run into the same issue: merchandising strategies and planograms don’t reflect what’s actually happening on the floor. We heard stories of missed sales, mismatched inventory, and floor sets that break down due to outdated visual guides.
These aren’t edge cases either — they’re operational gaps that show up across locations and retail verticals. We were thrilled to be recognized in the conversation about how to solve this challenge. Our Realgram AI technology was a finalist for RTS’s 2025 Innovation Award — a proud moment for our team and confirmation that smarter, more adaptive execution is resonating with retailers of all sizes.
Our mission is fewer one-size-fits-all planograms, more accurate execution, and time savings for in-store teams. It was great to have this vision validated at RTS. You can read more about Realgram AI’s vertical-specific applications here.
- Frontline teams are ready for smarter tools
Execution support was a hot topic — for HQ teams driving in-store strategies and for store teams expected to bring them to life.
Retailers spoke openly about how stretched thin their in-store teams are. They’re excited about the opportunity for new tools to remove manual steps, shorten task cycles, and offer clear guidance when store-level priorities shift. They’re even more excited about how these improvements will work alongside humans so employees have more time to focus on delivering a great customer experience and propelling strategic goals.
It’s no surprise AI-powered solutions aimed at automating repetitive tasks and improving store visibility were a major draw. We had several great discussions about the evolution of this category of retail solutions and how we can help store teams focus more on the customer, and less on troubleshooting execution breakdowns.
3 predictions following RTS 2025
RTS also gave us a glimpse into what’s gaining momentum across retail spaces. Here are three trends we’ll be watching.
- Retailers will face increased pressure to prove the impact of in-store experiences
From immersive activations to smart shelf tech, brands are making bold bets on physical formats — and those investments are expected to deliver. While these innovations generate excitement, they’re now also being measured against performance goals. Retail decision-makers want more than anecdotal wins — they’re seeking clear, measurable metrics that show what’s working and where refinements are required.
Execution tracking, sales heatmapping, and real-time layout analytics are becoming essential capabilities to close the ROI loop. We saw this trend play out across RTS and on social, with retail leaders sharing their own learnings on how space, product, and people intersect at the store level. Check out some notable quotes from the event here.
- Leaders will reengineer merchandising workflows for speed and clarity
At RTS, the conversation around merchandising centered on optimization. Retailers shared how ongoing challenges — from campaign rollouts to store-to-store variations — are putting pressure on teams to execute faster, with more precision, and less room for manual work.
The shift will be toward tools that support speed and clarity. Attendees pointed to solutions that help flag execution issues, guide localization, and adjust plans quickly without starting from scratch. RFID came up as one optimization example, with teams exploring how the technology can improve visibility into product placement and planogram compliance in real time.
- Real-time data will define the next era of localization
Retailers spent a lot of time at RTS discussing how hard it is to keep national and global plans aligned with in-store realities. When conditions change quickly, slow reporting cycles can leave teams reacting too late — or not at all. This means lost sales, fading customer loyalty, and frustrated employees.
The need for more immediate feedback as part of retail decision-making processes was front and center. Retailers require improved visibility into execution at the store level, especially when they’re managing large store networks with lean teams. Tools that surface live insights on planogram compliance or store performance are also critical to localization efforts, offering teams the context they need to make faster, more accurate adjustments.
While many retailers have already started setting up the infrastructure to generate real-time data insights, there’s still work to do to translate these inputs into reliable and scalable improvements.
What’s on the horizon for Optimum Retailing
Major industry events like RTS always bring us back to the bigger picture. What do retailers need right now? And how can we help them get there?
For the Optimum Retailing team, focus remains on practical, powerful solutions that help retailers execute more efficiently, localize with greater accuracy, and keep pace with changes at the store-level.
We’ll be continuing these conversations at upcoming industry events this spring. You can find us at:
We hope to see you there. In the meantime, let us know what stood out most to you at RTS 2025 — and what trends you’re keeping an eye on as the year unfolds. And click here to watch our recap video.