Merchandising & Store OpsSunday, September 13, 2026
Amazon is closing its branded Go stores by 2026 while licensing its Just Walk Out technology to over 360 third-party locations globally.
Appetronix, a developer of robotic quick-service kitchens, has raised a $6M seed-plus round led by Donatos Pizza founder Jim Grote, bringing its total funding to $10M.
Coco Robotics and Starship Technologies recently raised substantial capital for their autonomous food delivery operations.
A group of retail health technology companies raised over $136 million in May 2025 for AI workflow automation, portable diagnostics, and nutrition intelligence platforms.
Walmart is testing checkout-free stores using computer vision and shelf sensors to auto-bill shoppers, while deploying AI to manage self-checkout lanes and reduce theft.
PubMatic introduced AgenticOS on January 5, 2026, an agent-to-agent platform that uses AI to plan and optimize programmatic campaigns in real time.
