The retail technology week in numbers

20,000…A heated social media row has broken out over a move by Greggs to launch a vegan sausage roll. 

The pastry, which is filled with a meat substitute and encased in 96 pastry layers, is available in 950 Greggs stores across the country. It was promised after 20,000 people signed a petition calling for the snack to be launched to accommodate plant-based diet eaters.

15.2%Next reports that online sales rose 15.2% between 28th October and 29th December from a year earlier, while store sales fell 9.2%. The retailer expects an annual profit of £723 million, slightly lower than its previous forecast of £727 million.

2JD.com has opened stores at Beijing Capital International Airport (BCIA) and Hohhot East Railway Station in Inner Mongolia, as part of its Boundaryless Retail strategy.

58Blake Nordstrom, the Co-President of luxury department store chain Nordstrom, died on Wednesday morning. The 58 year old was being treated for cancer.

100Co-op is embarking on a £200 million investment programme which will see it open 100 new food stores during 2019 and provide major makeovers for a further 200.

£30,000…Shoppers earned more than £30,000 by recycling plastic bottles during an Iceland trial of reverse vending machines.

10…Here are the 10 most clicked RTIH articles from December.

5…RTIH brings you five retail tech companies to watch out for in 2019.

$130 billion…Retailers are set to lose $130 billion in digital CNP (Card-not-Present) fraud between 2018 and 2023, according to Juniper Research

350,000…More than 350,000 shoppers visited Westfield London and Westfield Stratford City on Boxing Day, an increase of 9% on last year. 

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