The retail technology week in numbers

$53.6 billion…Amazon shares plunged on Wednesday, wiping about $53.6 billion from its market value, following a report that US President Donald Trump wants to go after the e-commerce giant.

£824 million…Brits will this year splash out £824 million on Easter related products, up 6.4% on last year, with 50% of shoppers heading to the discounters.

1,000…Mobile payments/loyalty app startup, Zapper, has made a number of its UK staff redundant and put on hold roll-out plans with the likes of Gillett's Spar. The service is available in more than 1,000 UK convenience stores including Costcutter, Londis, Nisa, Premier and Spar.

7%...UK online retail delivery order volumes were up +7% year-on-year in February, according to the IMRG MetaPack UK Delivery Index. There was a month-on-month drop from January in terms of volume, though the rate of decline (-21%) was sharper than has been typical over recent years. This is likely highlighted by a strong performance when January online order volumes were at their highest since 2013.

400…Walmart is ditching Alibaba’s Alipay offering and switching to Tencent’s WeChat Pay for all its stores in the western part of China.

Walmart, which along with Carrefour is among the biggest foreign retailers in China, has been accepting Alipay in its more than 400 stores in the country. A company spokesperson declined to comment on the decision to jump to WeChat Pay in western China, observing: “In the future, we will cooperate with more partners to provide payment solutions with more convenience and benefits."

470…PizzaExpress’ much hyped new waiter-less payment app, set to be available across its 470+ restaurants, has been experiencing some teething troubles.

5,000…Walmart is to remove the women's fashion title, Cosmopolitan, from checkout aisles at 5,000 stores across the US, and limit it to the magazine racks section.

According to a message posted online by the National Center on Sexual Exploitation (NCOSE), which pushed for the policy change amid the Me Too movement: “Walmart is using its platform to take a stand against sexual exploitation…Families and individuals will no longer be automatically exposed to Cosmo’s hypersexualised and degrading article titles that regularly promote pornography, sexting, BDSM, group sex, anal sex, and more, all while marketing toward young teens with Disney star cover models.”

£100,000…UK startup, Aura Vision Labs, is progressing from the University of Southampton’s Future Worlds incubator and joining the Collider accelerator, after completing a £100,000 seed investment deal.

183…Select has become the latest High Street retailer to run into trouble.

Genus UK, the owner of the fashion chain aimed at young women, is seeking a Company Voluntary Arrangement (CVA) that would let it slash rents and close unprofitable stores. It has called in business advisory firm Quantuma for help with this. A creditors’ meeting has been convened for Friday, 13th April to determine its future. In the year to June 2016, Genus UK Ltd made a loss of £1.5 million on sales of £81 million. Select operates from 183 stores across the UK supported by centralised head office and warehouse facilities, plus online trading, and has around 2,000 employees. 

25…Next reports that 2017 was the most challenging period it has faced for 25 years, with both sales and profit dipping.

13.1%...UK online retailers received a Beast from the East boost in February, with sales up +13.1% year-on-year, according to the IMRG Capgemini e-Retail Sales Index.

20…C&A has launched a new English language, EU shop, delivering to customers in Croatia, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, the Czech Republic and Hungary, where the retailer has branches. It also serves Denmark, Finland, Greece and Sweden, where it is not represented. The move extends the reach of C&A’s e-commerce activities from 9 to 20 countries.