The retail technology week in numbers

£8.57 billion…British shoppers are set to spend a record breaking £8.57 billion this Black Friday weekend.

$4 billion…PayPal is set to buy Honey Science Corporation, the company behind shopping and rewards platform Honey, for $4 billion.

9.86%…Retail Assist has released the results from its Black Friday survey, which is now in its fifth year. Highlights include a 9.86% rise in the number of people planning to participate this year - the highest level since 2016;

15%…US home decor and furnishings retailer, Industry West, reports a 15% increase in average order value and an 8.1% rise in revenue since introducing AI-powered e-commerce technology from Nosto.

74% of UK consumers won’t be venturing to the High Street for Black Friday offers, according to a study from Genesys.

Two in five…Only two in five British consumers are looking forward to Artificial Intelligence (AI) in online customer service, according to research from Acquia.

£62.5 billion…VR and AR will add £62.5 billion to the UK economy, a 2.4% boost to GDP, by 2030, according to a report by PwC.

1%…The general election and continuing Brexit uncertainty will derail UK retailers this Christmas, according to GlobalData. Total retail is forecast to grow by just 1% in Q4 2019, it says.

73%…Black Friday could start in the UK as soon as this Wednesday, according to eBay Advertising.

It bases this on the fact that last year searches for ‘Black Friday’ on ebay.co.uk shot up by 73% overnight on Wednesday, 14th November, just under a week and a half ahead of the official occasion.

6…Kroger and Ocado have announced Pleasant Prairie, WI, as the sixth US location for their Customer Fulfilment Centre (CFC) project.