Jon Cole, Director of Product and Technical Solutions, TNS
with Jon Cole, TNS
Jon Cole introduces TNS as a specialist in payments connectivity, focused on delivering secure and resilient infrastructure for retailers. While not always widely recognised, TNS plays a critical role behind the scenes, supporting tier one retailers with always on payment systems, including terminals, gateways and orchestration solutions.
He explains how retailers rely on TNS for secure connectivity across stores, particularly through solutions such as SD WAN, which allow centralised management of payments while keeping systems like WiFi and CCTV separate. This segmentation is essential for maintaining both performance and security in store environments.
At this year’s Retail Technology Show, Cole highlights resilience and cyber security as dominant themes. With increasing pressure from regulators and a rise in high profile cyber incidents, retailers are being pushed to adopt more robust infrastructures. He notes the importance of balancing cloud based systems with on premise backups to ensure continuity if systems fail.
Ultimately, TNS attends the show to listen to retailers and better understand their challenges, particularly around security, and how their solutions can support evolving needs.
Shazmeen Malik, Partner Brands and Flexible Fulfilment Director, ASOS
with Shazmeen Malik, ASOS
Shazmeen Malik discusses the importance of marketplace curation at ASOS, emphasising that its success is built on balancing a wide range of brands while maintaining strong fashion credibility. By carefully curating its marketplace, ASOS is able to offer customers both variety and relevance without diluting its identity.
She highlights the importance of managing a diverse brand portfolio, from global names that drive scale and authority to emerging brands that bring discovery and excitement. Around half of ASOS’ business comes from third party brands, making this balance critical to performance.
Malik also outlines the company’s flexible fulfilment strategy, which includes wholesale, partner fulfilment and ASOS managed logistics. Each model is tailored to the capabilities of individual partners, allowing ASOS to scale efficiently while maintaining a seamless customer experience.
On the technology side, AI is playing an increasing role in personalisation and discovery. Tools such as AI styling and virtual try on are helping customers navigate a large product assortment more intuitively. Looking ahead, she notes that the evolution of AI and shopping behaviours will require ASOS to continuously adapt to meet customer expectations.
Martin Ward, Head of Software UK&I, Toshiba
with Martin Ward, Toshiba
Martin Ward explores why many retail transformation projects fail, arguing that technology alone is rarely the issue. Instead, failures often occur when projects are driven solely by IT without involving store colleagues who will ultimately use the systems.
He stresses the importance of engaging frontline teams early in the process. Drawing on work with Matalan, Ward explains how involving store staff in design, testing and feedback leads to better outcomes and faster adoption. He also highlights the value of test and learn approaches, where businesses iterate quickly and fix issues in real time.
Ward emphasises that customer needs should drive decisions around store layout, merchandising and tools. While retailers often have access to extensive data, the challenge lies in using it effectively to inform decisions.
On AI, he warns against implementing technology for its own sake. While agentic AI has potential, he believes its success depends on clear use cases. In the near term, he sees AI as a tool to enhance staff knowledge and support better customer service, rather than replacing human interaction.
Gemma Edlin, Director of Retail, Company Shop
with Gemma Edlin, Company Shop Group
Gemma Edlin introduces Company Shop as the UK’s largest redistributor of surplus food and household goods. Operating as a membership based supermarket, the business works with over 800 brands to prevent products from going to waste.
She explains that the company combines commercial objectives with a strong social purpose. By redistributing surplus stock, Company Shop not only generates revenue but also reduces waste, having saved 47,000 tonnes in the past year alone.
The business relies heavily on operational efficiency and technology to manage its fast moving supply chain. With products often needing to move from warehouse to store within hours, tools such as robotics, digital shelf labels and real time pricing are essential.
Edlin highlights the role of data and AI in improving pricing strategies and customer targeting. By using insights from previous sales, the business aims to set optimal prices from the outset. She also points to future opportunities, such as using AI to reduce waste further and personalise offers for customers.
Richard Lewis, Group CEO, RedCat Hospitality
with Richard Lewis, RedCat Hospitality
Richard Lewis discusses the role of customer experience in building loyalty within hospitality. He explains that loyalty begins with consistently delivering great experiences, with technology acting as a supporting tool rather than the foundation.
He outlines how RedCat Hospitality is using technology to build stronger customer relationships, including developing a large customer database, implementing CRM systems and launching new digital platforms to showcase its venues.
Lewis also highlights the role of digital micro donations, enabled through partnerships such as Pennies. These small contributions, added to customer transactions, allow businesses to support charitable causes while engaging both customers and staff in purpose driven initiatives.
On AI, Lewis sees the greatest immediate impact in data analysis. With large volumes of data available, AI can help identify patterns, improve decision making and optimise operations such as labour scheduling and performance management. However, he believes that human interaction will remain central to hospitality experiences.
Meriel Neighbour, Director of Technology Delivery and Transformation, River Island
with Meriel Neighbour, River Island
Meriel Neighbour explores the concept of connected commerce and how retail is evolving towards more integrated and personalised experiences. While many retailers have moved towards unified systems, she believes there are still gaps, particularly around data and integrations.
She explains that future retail experiences will depend on real time connectivity and a deep understanding of customer data. This will enable more personalised journeys, including dynamic pricing and tailored recommendations based on individual behaviours.
Neighbour also outlines the potential of agentic AI to transform the shopping experience. She describes a future where customers can discover products across multiple platforms, add items from different brands into a single basket and complete purchases seamlessly with minimal effort.
To achieve this, she emphasises the importance of strong data foundations. Retailers must build a single view of the customer, improve integrations and simplify processes such as returns. These elements will be critical in enabling the next generation of connected retail experiences.
Key Takeaways
Across the episode, several themes emerge. Resilience and security are becoming critical priorities for retailers, particularly in payments infrastructure. At the same time, businesses are focusing on delivering more personalised and connected customer experiences through data and AI.
However, the discussions also highlight that technology alone is not enough. Success depends on aligning innovation with customer needs, involving frontline teams and maintaining the human element that underpins both retail and hospitality experiences.
