The retail technology week in numbers
1…Ocado is set to open its first mini customer fulfilment centre, in Bristol.
460…Symphony RetailAI has snagged a five-year Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) contract with Poundstretcher which will see the discount retailer migrate its 460-store supply chain to the cloud.
£25 million…Online marketplace OnBuy has announced a £25 million Black Friday price crash.
€250 million…Dutch online supermarket Picnic has raised €250 million to build a 42,000 square metre automated distribution centre in Utrecht.
4,500…Shopping in physical stores remains key for consumers worldwide, but only if the purchasing experience integrates all sales channels, innovative technology and data-driven incentives. That’s according to a Wirecard commissioned study of 4,500 people in eight countries.
$31 billion…Blockchain will enable $31 billion in food fraud savings globally by 2024 by immutably tracking food across the supply chain, according to Juniper Research.
5…Bitstop has partnered with the largest shopping mall operator in the US, Simon Malls, to install Bitcoin ATMs at several locations. These are already in place at five malls in California, Florida and Georgia.
60,000…PayTech venture Klarna secured over 60,000 new merchants globally during 2019, an increase of 140% compared to the full year of 2018.
4,000…A new Aptos Golden Quarter report, involving 4,000 people, emphasises consumers’ escalating expectations for store experiences, stock availability and a unified journey across all channels.
1…Matalan has celebrated the one year anniversary of its UX Lab, which is situated at its head office in Knowsley.
50%…2019 will produce a ‘mobile Black Friday’, according to research from Bloomreach. Based on 2018 data, it predicts over 50% of e-commerce sales will come from mobile devices.
3,800…A.S. Watson Group has opened its 3,800th Watsons store in China.
£5.6 billion…British shoppers plan to spend around £5.6 billion this Black Friday and Cyber Monday weekend. That is £1.4 billion less than in 2018, according to new research by personal finance comparison website finder.com.
£100 million (2.5%) of all goods purchased online over the Black Friday period will be made through voice assistants, according to Wunderman Thompson Commerce.