The five most important retail tech news stories of the week

It’s Friday, the week is nearly done, so let’s kick back and reflect on another eventful week for the retail technology space. Here's your briefing on some of the most important and interesting stories from the past five days.

1. Alibaba preps UK high street move

Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba is putting together a British team as it eyes a possible move into UK bricks and mortar retail.

2. Alibaba Singles’ Day claims another record

Alibaba's annual Singles’ Day has notched up $38.4 billion in sales, the Chinese e-commerce giant reports.

3. Amazon preps grocery store launch in 2020

Amazon is planning to open its first new brand of grocery store in California next year.

4. Black Friday and Christmas 'unlikely to turn UK online retail's fortunes around'

IMRG is predicting UK online retail growth of just 2-3% during the Black Friday period.

5. John Lewis and Waitrose launch Excitable Edgar Christmas ad

John Lewis and Waitrose have for the first time launched a joint Christmas TV advert, telling “the heartwarming story of a little girl and her friendship with an excitable young dragon”.