Retail, Consumer Goods & Media
Source: McKinsey Digital reports
Source: Gartner
Source: Industry Intelligence Inc. - AIM’s latest European Consumer Goods Industry Barometer
Today’s consumer brands and retailers must master omnichannel experiences, deepen customer relationships and find efficiencies in complex operations. Zenitech enables companies to automate, optimise and adapt their operations, helping them to deliver exceptional experiences to their customers and stay competitive in an ever changing market.
Common challenges
Bridging digital and physical retail experiences
European consumers have fundamentally changed how they shop, with 83% of UK consumers now preferring a blend of in-store and online shopping. Click-and-collect services are expected to account for almost 11% of UK online retail sales by 2025, with BOPIS adoption reaching nearly universal levels at 88% across leading retailers. Zenitech sees retailers leveraging unified commerce platforms that integrate real-time inventory visibility, AI-powered personalisation engines, and intelligent fulfilment orchestration to deliver the seamless, channel-agnostic experiences consumers demand whilst transforming simple collection transactions into opportunities for deeper engagement and additional purchases.
Building lasting customer relationships beyond transactions
As competition intensifies and customer acquisition costs rise, European retailers are rethinking loyalty beyond traditional points programmes. Generic rewards no longer differentiate in a market where 73% of consumers prioritise personalised rewards in loyalty programmes. The challenge is clear: AI-driven campaigns achieve hit rates of 21-22% compared to just 7-10% for traditional approaches. Zenitech sees retailers deploying next-generation loyalty platforms powered by machine learning and predictive analytics that deliver hyper-personalised rewards, gamified experiences, and real-time engagement across all channels, creating systems that anticipate customer needs, reduce cart abandonment, and build emotional connections that drive long-term value.
Optimising operations through intelligent automation
Rising labour costs and supply chain complexity are compelling retailers to fundamentally reimagine their operations. The European AI in retail market is projected to reach €21.93 billion by 2033, reflecting this transformation. According to the European Commission, AI-driven inventory systems can reduce stock shortages by 20% and decrease surplus inventory by 30%. In the UK, over 50% of fulfilment centres are projected to deploy AI by 2025. Zenitech is helping retailers capture these efficiencies through AI-powered demand forecasting, predictive maintenance systems, and intelligent warehouse automation, with studies showing AI-powered solutions can reduce overall operational costs by up to 30% across the retail value chain.
What we're watching & why
The retail, consumer goods and media sectors are experiencing profound technological transformation driven by changing consumer expectations, the acceleration of digital commerce, and advances in artificial intelligence. Today’s consumers demand seamless experiences across physical and digital channels, personalised interactions at every touchpoint, and the convenience of voice, visual, and social commerce alongside traditional shopping methods. Simultaneously, the deprecation of third-party cookies and tightening privacy regulations are forcing retailers to reimagine how they understand and engage customers using their own first-party data. These pressures are driving adoption of technologies that enable real-time personalisation, autonomous operations, and flexible, composable architectures that can adapt to rapid market changes.
We’re watching this space closely because:
- Computer vision is reshaping both physical and digital retail experiences. In stores, the technology powers autonomous checkout systems, whilst monitoring shelf conditions, etc. in real-time. Online, visual search allows customers to photograph items and instantly find matches.
- Composable commerce is replacing monolithic e-commerce platforms with API-first, headless architectures. It separates front-end presentation from back-end logic, allowing retailers to innovate on customer experience, etc. without disrupting the entire system.
- Customer Data Platforms provide foundational infrastructure for creating unified customer views and delivering personalised experiences across every touchpoint. As third-party cookies disappear, retailers' first-party data has become their most valuable asset.
- Agentic AI represents the evolution beyond generative AI. Unlike earlier AI requiring humans to interpret outputs, agentic AI acts independently: navigating websites to cancel memberships, negotiating shipping rates, or resolving customer service issues before customers notice.
Explore some of our contributions
Creating a personalised job marketplace for increased satisfaction
Zenitech completed a secondary research engagement in partnership with Zenjob (a Germany-based digital agency that connects people with short-term work opportunities). The goal was to determine how to set the best supply and demand equilibrium in a job marketplace, in order to maximise hours worked and satisfaction for both employers and employees.
Reimagining parking: A case study in digital transformation
Car parking has transformed in the past few years. We book and pay for parking on mobile phones on a pay-as-you-go basis, using Apple pay or equivalent. Automatic number plate recognition software and handheld apps by parking inspectors have eliminated the need for physical tickets.
Explore how Zenitech drove digital transformation for a traditional parking provider, creating a dynamic, flexible, and customer-centric experience. We reimagined their user experience, integrated cutting-edge technology, and developed a unique app that reflects the brand’s values.
