Lead story
RETAIL RUNTIME · By Changwan Kim
AI Can Read the Internet. The Store Is Harder.
Artificial intelligence is beginning to reshape online shopping around information that machines can interpret.
The physical stack
Store Technology
What is changing inside the store—from electronic labels and vision systems to signage and autonomous operations.
CONTINUING COVERAGE
FEATURED REPORTING
Three stories shaping this desk
RETAIL RUNTIME · By Hannah Weber
Hybrid Edeka store in Freiburg tests unattended grocery hours
Beckesepp’s Waltershofen market pairs daytime staffing with after-hours access, AI produce ID and a cashierless bakery—without claiming a fully independent store.
RETAIL RUNTIME · By Lena Ortiz
Weigel’s to put Tote AI POS in all 90 Tennessee stores
The convenience chain is making a fleetwide register change with Tote AI, betting on a more adaptable counter system rather than a shopper-facing AI moment.
RETAIL RUNTIME · By Claire Moreau
Lidl Belgium brings Scan & Go into Lidl Plus
The rollout starts in Melle and Destelbergen before expanding across Belgium.
LATEST
The newest reporting from this deskRETAIL RUNTIME · AUG 28, 2026 · By Hannah Weber
Hornbach extends Dutch in-store navigation to all 18 stores
A year of testing in Nijmegen precedes a nationwide app map that can send shoppers to a specific shelf level.
3 min read ↗
RETAIL RUNTIME · AUG 28, 2026 · By Sato Misaki
Seven-Eleven Japan shifts flea-market drop-offs to Yamato self-ship terminals
Dedicated scan-and-drop hardware is meant to take parcel intake off the register, with a sequential rollout aimed at about 3,000 stores by next spring.
3 min read ↗
RETAIL RUNTIME · AUG 28, 2026 · By Hannah Weber
Edeka Nordbayern trials hybrid Diska store with Anystore
A Thuringia supermarket keeps daytime staffing, then runs card-gated self-service after hours—testing hybrid grocery as a shared store format.
3 min read ↗
RETAIL RUNTIME · AUG 28, 2026 · By Sato Misaki
Sanseido is using unmanned hours to stretch a station bookstore across the day
The ASTY Ichinomiya store now runs without staff from 7–10 a.m.
3 min read ↗