The retail technology week in numbers

10…The impressive retail tech initiatives keep on coming in 2019. RTIH rounded up the ones that stood out from the crowd during the first few weeks of the year. We then ran a follow up piece. And this week we brought you another 10 innovative players that should be on your radar.

£750 million…Marks & Spencer and Ocado have confirmed a much touted deal which will give the former a food delivery service for the first time.

M&S is acquiring a 50% share of Ocado’s UK retail business, which will be supported by Ocado Smart Platform (OSP), for £750 million. It will fund the deal by selling £600 million of shares and by cutting its dividend payout to shareholders by 40%. The joint venture will be called Ocado and will deliver M&S products from September 2020 at the latest, when the former’s deal with Waitrose expires.

$7 million...Israeli AR/VR/cloud startup Mixed Place is looking to raise $7 million following projects with pan-European supermarket chain Billa and Belgium-based global grocery retailer Ahold Delhaize.

3…Green Book landed three Oscars at the Academy Awards on Sunday: best picture, best original screenplay and best actor in a supporting role. Take a bow Alibaba Pictures, an offshoot of Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba Group which produced Green Book along with Participant Media and Dreamworks Pictures

£4.2 million…Online, wholesale, flower-delivery service, FlowerBx, has closed a £4.2 million fundraising round, paving the way for its US launch, scheduled for May.

£60 million…British FinTech venture, DivideBuy, which provides an interest free credit option for retailers, has closed a funding round of £60 million-plus, headed up by Souter Investments.

3.3 million…People increasingly expect payments to match their “always on” mobile mindsets, according to social media conversations covered by the 2019 edition of the Mastercard Digital Payments Study.

The research, developed in partnership with PRIME Research, analysed more than 3.3 million conversations from the past year across the likes of Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and Weibo. Mobile payments represented more than 27% of the total social media conversation around payments, with total mentions increasing 20% over the prior year. Mentions of mobile wallets more than doubled since 2017.

£14 billion…US private equity firm KKR is prepping a bid for Asda as the grocery giant’s £14 billion merger with Sainsbury’s looks increasingly unlikely to happen.

7%…The UK online retail space recorded its worst January sales growth (+7% YoY) in three years last month, according to the IMRG/Capgemini eRetail Sales Index. There was little relief on the back of a disappointing December, with retailers posting just over half the growth figure achieved during January last year (+13.9%).

Euro 30 billion…Currently one in five adults wear a smart watch or fitness strap and by 2020 the market will be worth Euro 30 billion globally, with fashion brands being key players, according to Mastercard.