The retail technology week in numbers
240…UK retailers are inhibiting their online sales potential by up to 30% by not offering a range of payment options, according to research by agency Visualsoft. This found that 19% of the UK’s top 240 retailers only offer mainstream credit or debit cards.
PayPal is the most popular alternative payment method, with 71% of retailers offering this. According to Visualsoft data, retailers featuring PayPal usually see around 25% of customers using it. Vouchers, meanwhile, are not so popular, with only 8% of retailers allowing customers to use gift cards or other common voucher types. Global growth may also be limited, with 38% of retailers offering no option to pay with international currency.
$13.7 billion…Amazon has greenlighted the first major integration between its e-commerce operations and the $13.7 billion acquisition of Whole Foods. It is introducing a free two-hour delivery of products through Prime Now (delivery within one hour is available for $7.99 on orders of $35 or more) with plans to expand across the US in 2018.
84…Poundland’s controversial pre-Christmas Elf Behaving Badly social media campaign has been labelled "irresponsible" by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA). The retailer has been told the series of ads must not appear again and that it must ensure its advertising is presented with "a sense of responsibility" and in a way that "did not cause serious or widespread offence". A total of 84 complaints were received by the ASA.
1,020…SmartTVs and wearable devices have yet to make an impact on shopping patterns, according to the annual Shopper Stock Take report from Shoppercentric, involving 1,020 UK consumers.
The vision here is a 'smart gas station' that can automatically detect when a driver arrives, and everything from selecting fuel types to payment can be done with just a few taps on the car’s touchscreen display. Banma plans to launch the first one in China’s capital within the first half of this year, and then expand to other Chinese cities. The new model could cut the average 10-15 minutes spent at gas stations by up to 50%, according to Shell.
479…Safeway’s surprise return continues apace, with the launch of a website showcasing a range of products available at McColl's.
One of the UK's best known supermarket brands, Safeway was acquired by Morrisons in 2004. Most of its 479 stores were rebranded as Morrisons, with others being sold off, and it disappeared from the UK in 2005. In 2016, however, Morrisons announced that it would be revived and last year the retailer struck a deal with McColl's. The partnership kicked off in January and will see the grocery giant supply Safeway and branded products to 1,300 convenience shops and 350 newsagents.
6 million…Data science venture, Starcount, is to partner with Marks and Spencer as part of the struggling retailer's five-year transformation plan. The aim of the tie up is to help enhance customer understanding and insight through personalisation of M&S’ loyalty and CRM programmes including Sparks Card, which currently has over six million members.
16.3%...Lidl has once again been crowned the UK’s fastest-growing grocery retailer by Kantar Worldpanel. For the 12 weeks to 28th January, the discounter experienced a market share increase of 0.5 percentage points and saw sales climb by 16.3% compared to the same period last year.
0.6%...UK retail sales increased last month by 0.6% compared to the same time in 2017, when they decreased 0.6% from the preceding year, according to BRC and KPMG.
41%...of Brits believe all payments will be done via mobile devices in the future, and that rises to 53% among Millennials. That’s according to Ubamarket’s Retail Trends Report 2018, which surveyed 2,000-plus UK consumers.
$60.5 billion…Amazon announced a record breaking fourth quarter, racking up $60.5 billion in net sales, a year-on-year increase of 38%. Net income hit $1.9 billion, significantly more than the $1.83 expected by financial analysts.
