- Over the next decade, innovation in retail technology is likely to matter as much as location, pricing and assortment.
- A2Z positions its Cust2Mate smart-cart platform as a modular system that can retrofit existing carts with a large touchscreen and a “sensor fusion” approach.
- For investors and retail operators watching the space, the core takeaway is that innovation is no longer optional “futureproofing.”
Retail is in a race to make shopping faster, more personalized and more efficient, and the winners are increasingly the ones investing in technology that connects what shoppers do in-store with the intelligence retailers have built online. A2Z Cust2Mate Solutions (NASDAQ: AZ) is focused squarely on that shift through its smart-cart platform, designed to retrofit existing carts with a digital interface and a sensor-driven, data-enabled in-store experience.
Over the next decade, innovation in retail technology is likely to matter as much as location, pricing and assortment. Stores are under pressure from labor constraints, rising fulfillment expectations and consumers who want “online-level” convenience in physical aisles. Think easy product discovery, frictionless checkout and relevant offers delivered in the right way and at the right moment. Deloitte’s 2025 retail outlook highlights how retailers are prioritizing efforts that strengthen digital commerce and enhance omnichannel experiences, moves that depend heavily on better data, smarter operations and smoother customer journeys.
One major area of change is the push toward automation and “smart-store” operations that reduce routine work and improve accuracy. Industry forecasts show retail automation as a sizable and expanding category, reflecting investment in systems that streamline workflows, improve visibility, and raise productivity. For example, Grand View Research estimates the global retail automation market at about $24.1 billion in 2023 and projects it could reach about $44.8 billion by 2030, implying strong growth through the end of the decade. That growth is showing up in self-checkout upgrades, computer-vision tools that reduce shrink and speed transactions, and back-of-house automation that supports faster replenishment and fulfillment.
A second game-changing shift is real-time inventory intelligence, where retailers are trying to eliminate the “I came in, but you didn’t have it” moment. Radio-frequency identification (“RFID”) is one of the most practical technologies driving this transformation because it can make inventory counts faster and more accurate and can help detect errors earlier in the supply chain. ABI Research notes that the retail RFID software market is expected to more than triple between 2025 and 2030, reaching more than $1 billion by 2030, an indicator of how quickly retailers are operationalizing item-level visibility at scale. As RFID, sensors and analytics mature together, the strategic value is not just knowing what’s in the building but knowing what’s on the shelf, what’s missing, and what should be replenished before sales are lost.
A third shift is the rise of in-store digital engagement as a revenue line, not just a cost center. Retailers have been building retail media networks online for years, and the next phase increasingly brings that model into physical stores through screens, apps and context-aware placements. Forrester forecasts global retail media spending could grow from $184 billion in 2025 to $312 billion by 2030, underscoring how meaningful “commerce-driven advertising” is becoming. The implication is significant: Stores are turning into measurable media environments, where promotions can be personalized and tied directly to outcomes, including basket size, category trade-up and repeat visits.
These technology arcs point directly to where A2Z Cust2Mate fits. The company positions its Cust2Mate smart-cart platform as a modular system that can retrofit existing carts with a large touchscreen and a “sensor fusion” approach that can incorporate tools such as barcode scanning, computer vision, AI, weight and RFID, enabling real-time engagement and workflows while shoppers are in motion. In practical terms, smart carts can support guided shopping, help shoppers find items, reduce friction during checkout and create new touchpoints for targeted promotions, all while also generating store-level data that can improve decisions on merchandising, labor allocation, and marketing effectiveness.
In addition, there’s a broader strategic point: As shoppers return to stores while still expecting online-like personalization, smart carts and connected-store systems become a bridge between digital intelligence and physical behavior. Industry coverage has highlighted how retailers are using AI, IoT and sensor-driven tools, including smart carts, to connect online insights with in-store actions and to create more responsive operations. That’s the direction of travel for physical retail over the coming decade: fewer disconnected moments, more context and better measurement of what actually drives conversion inside the store.
For investors and retail operators watching the space, the core takeaway is that innovation is no longer optional “futureproofing.” Rather, it is becoming a near-term lever for margin, loyalty and differentiation. A2Z Cust2Mate’s focus on smart-cart technology places it in the middle of several converging trends: automation to offset operational pressure, sensor-driven inventory accuracy, and in-store digital engagement that supports personalization and monetizable retail media.
For more information, visit https://cust2mate.com.
NOTE TO INVESTORS: The latest news and updates relating to AZ are available in the company’s newsroom at https://ibn.fm/A2Z
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