Merchandising & Store OpsSaturday, September 12, 2026
Standard AI and Trigo are converting ordinary stores into checkout-free environments without major redesigns, while Amazon, Alibaba, and Microsoft lead the push toward hybrid automated-plus-human store formats.
Major retailers and insurers are acquiring health systems and rebranding delivery assets to capture a growing share of U.S. primary care.
Major retailers are closing standalone healthcare delivery units and shifting focus to pharmacy-centric services, health-system partnerships, and digital-health startups.
Chef Robotics has raised a total of approximately $65.6M to expand its deployment of AI-enabled robotic arms that have produced over 40 million meals in US and Canadian facilities.
Mealogic, a white-label meal-delivery platform, secured $16M in funding led by S2G Investments with participation from Dohmen Company Foundation, U.S. Venture Partners, and Unilever Ventures.
Salesforce data indicates that AI and agentic tools influenced 17% of holiday sales, totaling approximately $13.5 billion, during the 2025 Thanksgiving weekend.
