The retail technology week in numbers

8…Klarna has announced the eight retail SME finalists from its Smoooth Stores initiative.

10…The Kroger Co. is introducing Kroger Pay, a mobile payment solution that combines shoppers’ payment information with loyalty cards and promotions. Available in the retailer’s app, it generates a QR code that can be scanned at traditional checkouts as well as self-checkout stations.

The offering recently launched in the retailer's Columbus, Ohio division. It will roll-out to 10 additional markets in the spring, with plans to go nationwide later this year.

7,000…Chinese people visiting the US can now use Alipay at Walgreens. The Ant Financial operated mobile payments service is currently available at 3,000 locations in such cities as New York, San Francisco and Las Vegas, rising to 7,000 by April.

100…RetailEXPO, formerly Retail Business Technology Expo, has announced that visitor registrations for its 2019 show are now open, with over 100 speakers, including Lego, Naked Wines and Asda, so far confirmed as part of the expo programme.

43% of UK shoppers researching complex purchases, such as mobile phones and laptops, make a buying decision within five days, according to survey by Conversity of 1,000 people.

86% of UK retailers haven’t completed the digitisation processes required to give them full control of their supply chain, according to research by Gravity Supply Chain Solutions.

28%…Sentimental spending in the UK has increased by 49% since 2016, according to research by Mastercard. There has, however, been a significant return to last minute online shopping with 28% of Valentine’s Day purchases taking place on the day itself (14th February) in 2018, according to Mastercard.

300%…British furniture and homeware retailer, Heal’s, says that it has improved online conversions and reduced cart abandonment after teaming up with BounceX. The latter deployed its email capture techniques and proprietary identity resolution technology, allowing Heal’s to increase visitor recognition across devices, sessions and browsers by around 300%.

£853 million…UK Valentine’s Day retail sales hit £853 million, up 7.8% on 2018, according to Savvy research across 1,000 Brits.

$940 million…Softbank’s Vision Fund has invested $940 million into autonomous delivery robot startup Nuro, at a valuation of around $2.7 billion.

7…Getronics has snagged a seven-year deal with Intersnack, the holding company behind such brands as Hula Hoops, funny-frisch, Chio, McCoys, POM-BÄR, KP nuts, Estrella, Vico, and ültje.

19%…Visualsoft analysis of the UK’s top 250 retailers has found a 19% year-on-year increase in the number of brands offering the option to pay in international currency.

2…Amazon has announced the launch of Movian and Alkove, its first own brands of furniture available in the UK.

6…The Target Circle pilot has grown to six US cities.