The retail technology week in numbers
Do you like numbers? Do you like retail technology? Then this is the article for you.
$3.5 billion…Third party sellers, most of which were SMEs, surpassed $3.5 billion in sales on Amazon Prime Day 2020, a nearly 60% year-over-year increase.
£35,000…Stockholm-headquartered startup Bambuser has entered into a live video shopping pilot agreement, worth £35,000, with online fashion venture Farfetch.
5…Online electricals retailer AO is partnering with Tesco to launch its first ever physical retail experience.
It is working on five store-within-a-store concepts as part of a six-month pilot with the grocery giant. The first will open in Middleton on 22nd October.
200…Selecta has clocked up its 200th MicroMarket in Europe with a launch at medical supplies manufacturer Renolit, based in the Netherlands.
The self-service solution, branded FOODIE’S in mainland Europe and Express HUB in the UK and Ireland, can be found in workplaces, enabling employees to get fresh lunches, snacks and a range of drinks 24/7.
122%…FinTech venture GoodBox has partnered with Pret A Manger to enable The Pret Foundation donations via in-store contactless devices across Manchester and London.
A trial was launched two weeks ago, with the retailer reporting that it has increased total donations in participating stores by 122%.
3…PayPal is taking on the likes of Klarna and Laybuy with the launch of Pay in 3, which allows UK shoppers to pay for purchases between £45 and £2,000 in three interest free instalments.
Retailers including Crew Clothing, French Connection, Robert Dyas and Ryman are integrating the solution, which will be available from late October.
One in five online merchants don’t think their e-commerce offering will cope with this year’s festive sales rush, rising to 22% for smaller retailers, according to research by Checkout.com.
6…Laybuy has become Premier League club Manchester United’s official buy now, pay later provider in the UK, New Zealand and Australia.
Fans will be able buy club merchandise in the Manchester United Megastore at Old Trafford stadium and spread their payments with weekly interest free instalments over six weeks, via the Laybuy app.
3…Autonomous checkout startup Standard has landed a new customer, the University of Houston.
The university and its dinning services partner, Chatwells Higher Education, have worked with Standard to open the first store retrofitted with checkout-free technology. Standard is partnering with Chartwells on two additional stores in North Carolina and Ontario, with more to follow.
A$15 million…Cover Genius, an Australian InsurTech venture that works with the likes of Booking Holdings, National Express and eBay, has raised A$15 million as it looks to expand its product suite and partner network globally.
This was led by King River Capital and supplemented by a loan from Leap Capital. It builds on a Series B $10 million funding round that closed in November 2019.
$1.7 trillion…Blockchain technology has the potential to boost the global economy by $1.7 trillion over the next decade, according to PwC.
6.1%…September saw a big improvement in UK retail sales growth, although sales over the last six months are still down on the previous year, according to research by the BRC and KPMG.
They increased by 6.1% in September on a like-for-like basis from September 2019, when they had decreased 1.3% from the preceding year.
1,500…Waitrose has launched its first dedicated website overseas, Waitrose.ae.
This will offer more than 15,000 grocery products with over 2,800 delivery slots available each week, reaching 1,500+ homes across Dubai and Abu Dhabi. The website will provide same-day delivery.
10…Apex Hotels has begun the roll-out of Infor technology across its ten UK property portfolio, including a 100% remote implementation at its flagship London site.
The platform, which comprises Infor’s Hospitality Management Solution and Sales & Catering, delivers a cloud-based architecture that replaces a legacy system.
$263 billion…The market for consumer subscriptions for physical goods will grow from an expected $64 billion in 2020 to more than $263 billion in 2025, according to Juniper Research.
770…Sainsbury’s is accelerating the roll-out of its SmartShop solution.
The technology will be deployed at all 770 of its convenience branches over the next three months, in time for Christmas. This is up from 250 Local branches currently, alongside all Sainsbury’s supermarkets.
2…Buy now, pay later specialist Openpay has added English football club Wolves to its merchant roster.
It becomes the second Premiership side to offer Openpay’s solution to fans, following last month’s partnership announcement with Fulham FC.
30.1%...At the beginning of September, UK footfall rose to a post-coronavirus lockdown peak, buoyed by back to school shopping and the final week of the Eat Out To Help Out scheme.
By the end of the month, however, a tightening of coronavirus restrictions had torpedoed any hopes of a quick(ish) recovery. Year-on-year UK footfall decreased by 30.1% in September, with only a 4.7 percentage point improvement from August, according to research by the BRC and ShopperTrak.
2…US retailer The Kroger Co. is launching two on-premise ghost kitchens at stores in Metro Indianapolis, IN and Metro Columbus, OH.
Developed in partnership with startup ClusterTruck, these will provide freshly prepared meals on-demand with no service or delivery fees.
