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 the most important and interesting stories from the past five days.

1. Zappos pays tribute as co-founder Tony Hsieh passes away

Tony Hsieh, the co-founder of online shoe and clothing retailer Zappos, has died. He was 46.

It is with very heavy hearts that we are sharing some very sad news, as we have learned that Tony passed away earlier today (11-27-20). The world has lost a tremendous visionary and an incredible human being. We recognize that...https://t.co/RUMNOFrItZ pic.twitter.com/NSAFGW8p4L
— Zappos.com (@Zappos) November 28, 2020

2. Debenhams website overwhelmed by bargain hunters

Shoppers were waiting in queues for over an hour on the Debenhams website this week as they looked to bag deals following the retailer’s collapse in to liquidation.

The department store chain is being wound down after JD Sports pulled out of talks on a rescue takeover.

The website is trading as usual and stores will be open in line with local Government guidance. We are accepting orders and processing refunds and returns as normal. We continue to accept credit cards, store cards, gift cards and Beauty Club rewards as forms of payment. pic.twitter.com/Pwl3C9y8i4
— Debenhams (@Debenhams) December 1, 2020

3. LVMH Chief Digital Officer to join French crypto startup Ledger

Ian Rogers is transitioning from Chief Digital Officer to an advisory role at LVMH, and joining French crypto hardware and software maker Ledger as Chief Experience Officer.

After 5 great years at @LVMH, I'm joining @Ledger in 2020! Onward! https://t.co/j0ZNhiiYGI
— ian c rogers (@iancr) November 30, 2020

4. Shopify reports record global Black Friday 2020 sales

Shopify has announced record setting Black Friday sales of $2.4 billion from the one million plus independent and direct-to-consumer brands on its platform.

On 27th November, from the start of Black Friday in New Zealand through the end of the event in California, Shopify powered businesses saw a 75% increase in sales from the same day in 2019.

#BlackFriday was, as Lady Gaga put it, “brilliant, incredible, amazing, show-stopping, spectacular, never the same, totally unique, completely not ever been done before, unafraid to reference or not reference”.

Here’s why ⬇️ 🤯
— Shopify (@Shopify) November 28, 2020

5. UK Black Friday sales strong online but delivery test awaits

UK online retail sales growth on Black Friday weighed in at +38% this year, with the full Black Friday week (defined as 23rd-30th November) seeing growth of 30%.

That’s according to research by the IMRG, based on the daily online sales performance of 102 UK retailers.