The retail technology week in numbers
1,200…Amazon plans to open a fulfilment centre in Bolton in 2018, creating 1,200 new, full-time permanent jobs, including operations managers, engineers, HR and IT specialists. Bolton will be equipped with Amazon Robotics technology. The robots slide under a tower of shelves where products are stowed, lift it and move it through the fulfilment centre.
Last year, the e-tailer announced that it would open fulfilment centres in Daventry, Doncaster, Warrington and Tilbury in 2017. The Daventry site opened in February while Doncaster, Warrington and Tilbury have recently started their operations. Amazon says that it has invested £6.4 billion in the UK since 2010 in its UK-based research and development, head office and fulfilment and logistics infrastructure.
$9 billion…Kroger is set to retool around 20 to 30% of its 2,793 stores as part of its Restock Kroger campaign. The US giant will spend $9 billion in capital investments over the next three years, with the aim of boosting its operating margin by $400 million.
Two million…PayPal has announced that more than two million US retailers will soon be able to offer Venmo as a payment option at checkout. Venmo users will be able to use their app balance or linked cards and bank accounts anywhere PayPal is accepted in the US via the mobile web.
14%...UK online retail sales were up 14% year-on-year in September, according to the IMRG Capgemini e-Retail Sales Index. But whilst this was the third strongest growth rate so far in 2017, there were signs of macroeconomic pressures influencing shopper behaviour.
24%...Click & Collect is driving in-store sales across Europe, according to the JDA/Centiro Customer Pulse Report Europe 2017, conducted by YouGov.
This surveyed 8,238 consumers in the UK, Germany, France and Sweden. 24% of European adults (23% in the UK) bought additional items while picking up their order. At the same time, however, 55% of European adults (56% in the UK) experienced a problem with an online order during the last 12 months. UK shoppers are ahead of the curve when it comes to Click & Collect use: 54% used it in the last year (the European average was 42%). Meanwhile, 56% of European shoppers used a mobile device in-store (51% in the UK).
10… Kohl’s has launched its new Amazon Smart Home Experience in 10 stores across the Los Angeles and Chicago areas. These will sell the e-tailer’s smart home products and also offer customers free, Amazon returns.
56%...of Brits plan to buy their Christmas presents online, according to Salesforce research.
