Merchandising & Store OpsThursday, September 10, 2026
BCG forecasts that retail merchandising will transition from human-driven, siloed workflows to an always-on system of specialized AI agents that accelerate decision-making from weeks to hours.
Walmart is shutting down its 51 health centers and virtual care services due to an unsustainable business model driven by reimbursement challenges and rising operating costs.
Wonder raised a $650M Series D at a $9B pre-money valuation, expanding its network from 46 to over 150 kitchens capable of running multiple restaurant concepts.
Looma secured a $10M Series B and $3M credit facility to scale its in-store screen network across 1,100 retail locations, reaching 27 million shoppers monthly.
Google Cloud identifies autonomous store operations as a key use case, where Vision AI and agentic workflows automate routine work including shelf auditing, stock gap detection via robots/cameras, and automated employee scheduling based on real-time foot traffic.
The autonomous-delivery vehicle company spun out of Rivian in March 2025 signed a second major logistics deal with DoorDash and closed a ~$200M Series C led by Greenoaks, bringing total funding to ~$505M.
