The Entertainer partners with THG Commerce. 16th September 2026 Toy retailer The Entertainer has appointed THG Commerce, part of THG Ingenuity, as its new digital commerce partner. The multi-year partnership will see THG Commerce design, build and power The Entertainer's next-generation digital experience, creating a more intuitive, inspiring and personalised journey for families, gift buyers and the growing number of adult toy and collectible enthusiasts. The investment is a further step in The Entertainer's journey to build a world-class omnichannel customer experience, combining the expertise, curation and sense of discovery customers value in its stores with the convenience and personalisation of modern digital retail. The new platform is expected to launch in Spring 2027. Malcolm Carter, Digital & Marketing Director, The Entertainer, said: "Our ambition is to redefine the experience for anyone looking to discover and buy toys, whether they are shopping for their children, choosing a gift for someone else or buying for themselves. Toy shopping should be joyful and inspiring, but the sheet breadth of choice means customers increasingly need help navigating it. We have a real opportunity to combine the expertise, trusted brands and passion for play people associate with The Entertainer with intelligent technology that helps customers find something they'll love. Partnering with THG Commerce gives us the technology, capability and ambition to reimagine that experience across digital, stores and wherever our customers choose to shop in an increasing AI-centric landscape. This is an important investment in the next generation of The Entertainer and in how we serve our customers."

THG Ingenuity appoints new CEO in Gemma Spence. John Gallemore moves into chair role of privately held 'commerce operating system' as it succeeds him with experienced figure THG Ingenuity has appointed Gemma Spence as its next chief executive officer. Effective from December 2026, she joins the private company as it enters its next phase of growth as a proprietary commerce operating system. Technology platform THG Ingenuity was split away from former parent company THG, a beauty and nutrition retailer listed in London, at the start of 2025. Spence has over 17 years' experience at the intersection of technology, commerce and growth. She became one of the youngest CEOs within Omnicom, where she founded and scaled its eCommerce consultancy across EMEA, supporting some of the world's largest brands. Her career also includes client-side experience, giving her the relatively rare perspective of having bought, built and scaled commerce solutions from both sides of the table. Most recently, she served as CEO and Country Manager for VML and WPP Luxembourg, leading its Marketplace and Amazon Centre of Excellence. Gemma holds an Executive MBA from the University of Oxford, awarded with Distinction, and has been recognised by Aviva Women of the Future, Campaign's Hall of Fame, The Media Leader's Women of the Future and CIO Magazine's 35 Under 35. Across THG Fulfil, THG Commerce and THG Studios, THG Ingenuity spans content production, commerce technology, marketplaces, fulfilment, automation and robotics capabilities. It featured on our RetailTech 50 ranking for 2026. "Having spent 17+ years in this industry, what excites me the most is the exceptional talent, the operator-led capabilities and the speed of this organisation," said Spence. "Ideas move incredibly quickly from concept to scaled capability. By connecting these through a common decision layer, the opportunity is enormous. "That's the future of commerce, and very few businesses are as well positioned to build and own it as THG Ingenuity." As part of the leadership transitions, John Gallemore will move into the role of chairman. "THG Ingenuity was built to scale the world's most ambitious eCommerce businesses, using data-led technology, automation and robotics to solve the practical challenges of operating at scale," he said. "The next phase will be about making these platforms operate faster, smarter and more connected than ever. Gemma brings extensive experience of building commerce businesses, and a clear understanding of what brands need to grow. "Her track record speaks for itself, and I'm confident she will lead THG Ingenuity in its next phase of growth." Alistair Crane will move from his chair role to become a strategic consultant for THG Ingenuity. He also serves as the CEO of coaching platform Bloom. "I look forward to continuing to work closely with THG Ingenuity, identifying new opportunities for the business and seeing how it develops even smarter solutions through data, analytics and AI," he said.

Tesco appoints first group agentic AI director. Tesco has appointed its first group agentic director, a new role responsible for exploring how the supermarket responds to consumers using AI to do their shopping for them. The supermarket group has appointed Lucy Cooper as its group customer experience & agentic director, who joins from THG Ingenuity. "The most interesting question in commerce right now isn't how AI helps people shop. It's what happens when AI starts shopping for them," Cooper said. "The weekly shop might be the perfect proving ground... high-frequency, habitual and highly personal. Full of decisions most of us would happily delegate," she added. Explore related questions. At THG Ingenuity - the end-to-end e-commerce platform used by Coca-Cola, Nestlé, L'Oréal, Mondelez and Kraft Heinz which demerged from THG last year - Cooper had served as chief commercial officer since the beginning of last year. Prior to THG - in which she remains a "loyal shareholder", she said - Cooper served at Accenture and Microsoft in innovation-focused roles. "Few businesses have a bigger place in British life, serve more people, or have quite so much opportunity to use technology and data to change how millions of customers shop. That combination was pretty difficult to resist," Cooper said. The role is also responsible for finding similar "opportunities" across the wider Tesco group, including Tesco Mobile, banking and health. The appointment follows a series of AI-related deals and developments at Tesco. The company has already doubled the size of its technology team over the past five years and is already using AI, developed both in-house and with partners, across many of its operations. This includes finding the most efficient routing for online orders to create more delivery slots for customers, helping with demand forecasting to ensure availability, and ramping up personalisation through Clubcard. In April, the supermarket launched a trial of an AI assistant built into the Tesco app, with which customers can converse to find personalised recipe ideas and add the required ingredients to their basket. Later that month, the supermarket signed an AI deal with software giant Adobe to "accelerate personal engagement" with its shoppers. The "strategic AI partnership" is focused on personalising the content and offers Tesco serves up to its Clubcard members and "better anticipating" their needs along the shopping journey. In December the supermarket announced a three-year deal with French tech company Mistral AI to develop "cutting-edge" AI solutions, including an overhaul of its personalised Clubcard offers. The partnership gives Tesco full access to the AI company's commercial models, including any future developments, as well as its AI engineers. Latest. Partner features. No comments yet. You will be able to: * Read more stories * Receive daily newsletters * Comment on stories