TLDR: Nextail and Gander have been shortlisted for the 2025 RTIH Innovation Awards in the Sustainable Retail category. Nextail is recognized for its AI and machine learning-driven inventory optimization, while Gander is acknowledged for its partnership with Iceland and Olio in pioneering a tech-led solution to reduce food waste. The winners will be announced at a ceremony in Central London on Thursday, October 16th.
The 2025 RTIH Innovation Awards have unveiled their shortlist for the highly competitive Sustainable Retail category, highlighting companies that demonstrate exceptional resilience and dynamism in the retail sector. The prestigious awards ceremony is scheduled to take place on Thursday, October 16th, at The HAC in Central London, and will be presided over by the acclaimed comedian, actress, and writer Tiff Stevenson.
Nextail has earned its spot as a finalist for its innovative application of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning. The company’s platform automates and optimizes critical retail operations, including inventory management decisions, demand forecasting, and in-season merchandising for global fashion retailers. Nextail’s solutions are designed to boost efficiency, enhance profitability, and improve the overall customer experience through smart, data-driven insights. Since the introduction of its new forecast in August 2024, Nextail’s clients have achieved 100% adoption, a 20% reduction in over-forecasting, and a 25% decrease in under-forecasting in stores. A remarkable 94% of their predictions fall within a 0-1 unit error margin. Documented successes include up to a 39.9% increase in units for Gina Tricot, up to a 15.1% rise in Average Selling Price (ASP) for Merkal, and for Guess, a 5 percentage point (pp) improvement in sell-through, a 7% increase in ASP, and a 20% reduction in stockouts, alongside up to a 50% reduction in stockouts and 15-20% lower in-store inventory.
Gander is also a prominent finalist, recognized for its impactful partnership with Iceland and Olio in developing a scalable, technology-led solution to combat food waste. This initiative seamlessly integrates Gander’s real-time ‘reduced-to-clear’ technology with Iceland’s existing inventory system and Olio’s consumer platform. The system automatically highlights discounted food items to shoppers, and any unsold products are efficiently redistributed through Olio’s extensive community network. A key aspect of this project is its ability to achieve these significant sustainability goals without imposing additional processes or labor on store teams, ensuring its simplicity and scalability across retail estates. This affordable, seamless, and revenue-positive initiative exemplifies how sustainability and profitability can effectively converge, establishing a new industry benchmark for tackling food waste through optimized sell-through and redistribution strategies.
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Other notable finalists in the Sustainable Retail category include the British Heart Foundation (BHF), recognized for designing and producing a new concept store that champions sustainability by utilizing waste donated goods for its shop fit. The East of England Co-op, in collaboration with Retail Insight, is shortlisted for its AI-powered WasteInsight solution, which prevented 1.8 million meals from going to landfill in 2024. Longchamp and Yocuda are also finalists for transforming traditional paper receipts into highly personalized digital receipts, saving 1.4 tonnes of carbon by sending 2.3 million digital receipts in 2024. Lastly, Shopopop is recognized for its collaborative crowdshipping platform, which enables retailers to scale last-mile delivery efficiently and cost-effectively.
