Retailers Modernized Technology to Drive New Business Models
Global retailers showcased tech overhauls aimed at boosting margins and automating core store operations.
Updated on Oct. 2, 2026 in Retail
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At the NRF Europe 2026 event in Paris, major retailers demonstrated how technology transformations, such as AI-driven pricing and automated inventory management, are reshaping their business models. These shifts focus on increasing operational efficiency and diversifying revenue streams.
Why it matters
Retailers are aggressively pivoting toward technology-led strategies to combat rising costs and improve margins. By moving to modern infrastructure, these firms are shifting away from traditional inventory models and toward scalable, data-backed operational frameworks.
Westwing derives 90% of its margins from own-label products, which generate 65% of its total sales. Meanwhile, Zabka Group maintains an extensive network of 13,000 stores in Poland and 300 locations in Romania.
The players
Debenhams
An international retailer that operates without warehouses and offers products from 25,000 brands.
Westwing
A home and living retailer focused on a margin-heavy strategy driven by its own-label product line.
Zabka Group
A retail operator managing a large network of 13,000 stores in Poland and 300 in Romania.
The details
Retailers are utilizing specific technical integrations to move away from legacy manual processes. Debenhams, which sells products from 25,000 brands without holding physical warehouse stock, utilized a two-year stack overhaul to implement AI that adjusts pricing across its entire catalog in minutes. Similarly, Zabka Group leverages data lakes to automate store-specific planograms, while Westwing shifted its platform to Shopify to support its margin-heavy own-label strategy.
Timeline
NRF Europe 2026 took place in Paris during 2026.
Market Landscape
The transition toward automated and agentic commerce platforms reflects an industry-wide pivot away from traditional retail inventory models. This shift aligns with the growing trend of agentic commerce, where companies seek to monetize their digital service layers through advertising.
Operators should evaluate whether their current technology stack supports scalable pricing or inventory automation to maintain competitive margins. Reviewing the shift toward own-label products is essential for those looking to replicate the high-margin success seen in firms like Westwing.
The takeaway
The move toward AI-managed pricing and automated store layouts signals that lean, data-integrated operations are becoming the industry standard. Operators should benchmark their current tech integration speed against these models to determine if they are falling behind on automated efficiencies.
Further reading
For more on evolving shopping technologies, visit Retail.
Source note: This article includes information reported by Computer Weekly.
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