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. Trigo Vision lands new funding, eyes global expansion

Trigo Vision, a computer vision startup providing checkout-free systems to grocery retailers, has raised $22 million in a Series A round. This was led by Red Dot Capital with the participation of existing investors Vertex Ventures Israel and Hetz Ventures. Trigo Vision has pulled in $29 million in total funding to date.

2. Starbucks and Alibaba team on voice ordering and delivery

Starbucks is launching voice ordering and delivery capabilities within Alibaba’s smart speaker, Tmall Genie. Chinese customers can now order beverages and food by using their voice for delivery within 30 minutes, tapping Alibaba’s Ele.me platform.

3. Brits not clamouring for crypto as cash holds firm, ING

Consumer knowledge about digital currencies is limited and cash is still king, according to research from ING.

4. Cash falls behind plastic but remains important part of retail, BRC

UK credit card spending overtook cash in 2018, according to the British Retail Consortium’s latest Payment Survey. Debit cards remain the most popular method of payment, accounting for almost three-in-five transactions.

5. El Cortes Inglés tests out Alibaba Cloud digital tech

El Cortes Inglés is piloting Alibaba Cloud’s artificial intelligence and cloud driven technology. The European department store group is tapping the Image Search and Recommendation Engine as part of its efforts to personalise the customer experience online.