The retail technology week in numbers

168%...Research from cyber security venture Venafi highlights the explosion of look-alike website domains which are routinely used to steal sensitive data from online shoppers.

The company analysed suspicious domains targeting the top 20 retailers in the US, UK, France, Germany and Australia. It found that while there were 3,848 certificates for valid UK retail domains, the number of certificates for look-alikes was 168% higher, at 6,449.

35% of UK shoppers would be tempted back to the High Street by stores more closely matching the prices of online competitors, according to research by jisp, involving 1,000 people.

$45 billion…Retail spend at frictionless payment stores like Amazon Go will grow from an estimated $253 million in 2018 to over $45 billion by 2023, according to Juniper Research.

4,200…Fast-fashion venture Boohoo has partnered with Click & Collect solution provider HubBox to enable Boohoo and BoohooMAN customers to collect their orders from an additional 4,200 locations across the UK.

89…A number of UK retailers, food producers, manufacturers and hospitality and food service companies have committed to milestones laid out in a new Food Waste Reduction Roadmap, developed with IGD and WRAP to tackle the UK’s food waste problem.

There are 89 early adopters, including M&S, Asda, Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Morrisons, Ocado, Musgrave, Lidl, Aldi and Waitrose. By September 2019, the first major milestone on the Roadmap, the aim is to have 50% of the UK’s largest 250 food businesses measuring, reporting and acting on food waste, with all 250 companies doing so by 2026.

85%...The UK’s High Streets are in freefall, according to new research. Close Brothers Asset Finance surveyed 900 SME owners across the UK and RoI and found that 85% believe the High Street is in decline.

17,000…Last year, Walmart started using virtual reality technology to upgrade training at Walmart Academies. And it is now providing Oculus VR headsets to all stores in the US to bring the same level of training to more than one million associates.

Starting next month, VR training will begin its launch across the US, sending four headsets to every Walmart supercentre and two units to every Neighborhood Market and discount store. The plan is to have more than 17,000 Oculus Goheadsets in stores by the end of the year.

$885 million…Farfetch, a technology platform for the luxury fashion industry, reports that its US IPO has raised $885 million.