The retail technology week in numbers

Do you like numbers? Do you like retail technology? Then this is the article for you.

20…Sainsbury’s is rolling out its Chop Chop to 20 cities across the UK, bringing fast grocery deliveries by bike to customers outside of London for the first time.

$7.6 million…Shopic, a computer vision startup providing check-out free systems to grocery retailers, has closed an $7.6 million Series A funding round.

46…Superdry has deployed 46 Hikrobots in its Burton-on-Trent distribution centre after a pilot project involving six of the robots in 2018.

23.8%…Following the UK’s first full month under lockdown, online sales hit a 10 year high in April, up 23.8% year-on-year.

7,000…With many stores forced to close their doors during the coronavirus outbreak, spending has shifted online, but consumers won’t revert to old routines once things are back to normal. That’s according to research by Blue Yonder involving 6,000 European consumers and 1,000 people in the US.

83% of UK consumers say that payments tech forms an important part of their decision in choosing which retailers to shop with, according to research by FinTech venture Modularbank and market research specialists, OnePoll.

2,227…The ability to keep up with disruptors is the greatest long-term challenge faced by retail businesses post-Covid-19, according to new research from RetailEXPO.

2,227 retail professionals were surveyed. Other challenges included meeting changing customer expectations (13%)). Also featured in the list were keeping up with tech innovations (8%) and using data from customer insight to drive performance (7%).

81…Decathlon is rolling out MishiPay’s mobile self-checkout solution across its 81 German stores.

The technology is now live in stores in Berlin (Berlin Hauptbahnhof), Munich (Munich Connect), Cologne (Marsdorf), Schwetzingen and Plochingen, with more locations being added every week.

19.1%…With coronavirus lockdown measures in full swing, April saw a record fall in UK retail sales, according to research from the BRC and KPMG. On a total basis, sales decreased by 19.1% in April, against an increase of 2.4% in April 2019.

26%…UK retailers without an e-commerce presence need to overhaul their business models as Brits plan to spend more online in a post-Covid-19 world, according to GlobalData.

The company surveyed 2,000 people and found that 26% will do this after the coronavirus restrictions are lifted. Retailers with a limited (or no) online proposition must therefore consider investment in order to remain competitive.

$3 million…Bitcoin rewards startup Lolli has closed a $3 million Seed II funding round led by Pathfinder, the early-stage investment arm of Peter Thiel’s Founders Fund.

784 billion…Increasing financial inclusion efforts, the rapid uptake of contactless and mobile offerings and new payment systems are contributing to growth in cashless payments worldwide, according to RBR.

Its new study reveals that in 2018 the number of cashless payments grew by 18% to reach 784 billion. Payment cards and credit transfers were the greatest contributors to this growth, with direct debit payments increasing by just 6%.

500,000…Prior to the coronavirus outbreak, Iceland was delivering 100,000 online orders per week. Its network is now in place to deliver over 500,000 and it continues to add more.