Notes on shopping smarter
Practical PriceLens guides, updates and analysis.
Aldi is testing a different operating model for rapid grocery delivery in the UK: riders will do the in-store picking. 🛒
From 6 October, Aldi and Deliveroo will trial “Shop & Deliver” across eight stores.
5 October 2026 · Techtionary RetailTech
Grocery ecommerce is moving from search to intent. 🛒🤖
On 9 September, Instacart and Shipt launched competing AI shopping assistants.
18 September 2026 · Techtionary RetailTech
One order queue can matter more than another customer-facing app. 🛒
Morrisons is now using Instaleap, the fulfilment technology provider acquired by Instacart in April, to manage marketplace orders from Uber Eats, Just Eat and Deliveroo in one place.
14 September 2026 · Techtionary RetailTech
Retailers are starting to build the secondhand market into their own digital estates. ♻️
IKEA UK is preparing to launch a peer-to-peer secondhand marketplace for IKEA Family members, following pilots in Spain and Norway.
18 August 2026 · Techtionary RetailTech
🤖 The shelf is becoming a live data source.
Tesco is trialling Simbe Robotics’ Tally in one UK store, with plans to extend the pilot to a small number of locations.
17 August 2026 · Techtionary RetailTech
AI shopping is becoming measurable, not just discoverable. 🛍️📊
ChatGPT Ads now supports measurement integrations with AppsFlyer and Adjust.
14 August 2026 · Techtionary RetailTech
⚡ Ultra-fast grocery is moving deeper into the mainstream UK retail stack.
"Amazon Now" has launched in Manchester, its first UK city outside London.
11 August 2026 · Techtionary RetailTech
shop vs shop
Where is fresh food cheapest? How the supermarkets compare
We analysed current fresh-food prices across the major supermarkets. Sainsbury's had the strongest overall score and Asda led fruit and vegetables, but Tesco and Morrisons were close behind — and every retailer had a different strength.
8 August 2026 · PriceLens UK
ocado
Ocado's new warehouse deal: the swarm of 3D-printed robots behind it
Ocado has just signed a fast-growing European retailer to build a fully robotic grocery warehouse, sending its shares up more than a tenth. Here's how the technology actually works — the 3D-printed grid bots, the self-taught robotic picking arms, the automated freezers — and why a warehouse deal is really a software deal.
6 August 2026 · PriceLens UK
cost of living
The UK's water crisis, and the cheapest place to buy a bottle of it
Hosepipe bans across eight regions, a record 3.6 million hours of sewage spills, and bills up more than a quarter in a year — the water crisis has made people think harder about what comes out of the tap. So we priced the alternative. Here is the cheapest bottled water in the supermarkets, per litre, from PriceLens data.
30 July 2026 · PriceLens UK
morrisons
Inside Morrisons' new smart trolleys: what the Preston tech actually does
Morrisons has put 30 camera-and-sensor trolleys into a Preston store — they recognise groceries as you drop them in, keep a running total, and let you skip the checkout. Here's how the technology works, why supermarkets are racing to fit it, and what it means for the way we shop.
30 July 2026 · PriceLens UK
food inflation
Food prices are closing in on 50% higher than before Covid
Food prices have already risen about 39% since 2020, and forecasters expect the cumulative climb to approach 50% by the end of 2026. Here is how far it has gone, how fast it happened, and why.
28 July 2026 · PriceLens UK