The retail tech space in June: good month/bad month
RTIH takes a look at the retail technology space during June and rounds up the winners and losers.
Good month for…
Chinese e-commerce giant JD.com reported a transaction volume on its platform of RMB269.2+ billion for the 17th 618 Grand Promotion event, up more than 33.6% year-on-year.
Cards accounted for 51% of all payments in the UK in 2019, according to a new report from UK Finance.
Warehouse robotics startup Locus Robotics raised $40 million in Series D funding led by Zebra Ventures.
The physical store will be very much alive in the wake of the coronavirus, according to Jysk Executive Vice President Retail, Mikael Nielsen.
Starbucks is speeding up plans to upgrade its US store portfolio as it looks to bounce back from the outbreak.
Over the next 18 months, it will increase its focus on drive-thru and curbside pickup options, as well as mobile order only Starbucks Pickup locations in dense markets, including New York City, Chicago, Seattle and San Francisco.
Alkemics, a Paris-based startup whose platform enables brands to launch products with retailers, raised €21 million in a Series C funding round.
Logistics technology startup Ontruck raised €17 million in a round led by the Oil and Gas Climate Initiative.
Retailers across every world region increased their investment in self-checkout technology in 2019, with more than 120,000 units shipped globally, according to RBR.
Irish grocery delivery startup Buymie announced a €5.8 million funding round, taking its total capital raised this year to over €8 million.
2020 will prove to be a disruptive year for retail sales in China, but the big hitters will only get bigger when it comes to the major e-commerce platforms, according to eMarketer.
Spanish artificial intelligence startup Nextail was selected by the World Economic Forum to join its Technology Pioneers cohort for 2020.
Parcel delivery firm DPD announced 6,000 new UK jobs and an infrastructure investment in response to what it called “the unprecedented boom in online shopping caused by Covid-19”.
THG Ingenuity, the technology services division of online retailer The Hut Group, inked partnership agreements with Elemis, PZ Cussons Beauty, Burt’s Bees, Nuxe, By Terry and Revolution Beauty.
UK-based PayTech venture Checkout.com tripled its valuation to $5.5 billion following a $150 million Series B funding round.
Bad month for…
German payments firm Wirecard filed for insolvency. It came after the company earlier this month disclosed a €1.9 billion hole in its accounts.
Total UK retail sales decreased by 5.9% in May, against a slump of 1.9% in May 2019, according to research from the BRC and KPMG.
Retail isn’t dying. Rather, a culling of the herd is underway, says Brittain Ladd, a former Amazon exec and supply chain consultant.
Ladd was speaking as it emerged that US retailers could announce between 20,000 and 25,000 closures this year, according to Coresight Research, with 55% to 60% of those situated in America’s malls. That would mark a record, which was previously the more than 9,300 locations in 2019.
Also in June…
John Lewis Partnership is shaking up its technology operations via a new partnership with Wipro.
This will see the latter take over IT infrastructure services for the retailer, with 244 non-customer facing John Lewis employees being transferred to Wipro later this year under TUPE regulations, a measure that acts to preserve staff members’ terms and conditions during a switch of employer.
Waitrose announced a third London-based online centre as it looked to boost shopping slots in and around the capital.
The centre, in Greenford, West London, will be opened and operated with logistics company Wincanton and potentially could be up and running by December of this year.
53% of Brits feel that retailers are doing enough to protect the public from coronavirus, with only 9% disagreeing, according to research from the BRC and Opinium.
boohoo is buying the online businesses of Oasis and Warehouse for £5.25 million.
The two brands collapsed into administration in April. They were bought by Hilco Capital, which has now sold them on to boohoo. No buyer for the high street stores could be found, however.
US fashion retailer Forever 21 launched a new UK online site, following a collapse into administration last year.
Walmart partnered with Shopify, the e-commerce platform provider that has emerged as the anti-Amazon.
The US retail giant is out to capture a bigger share of the coronavirus-driven surge in online shopping. It expects to add 1,200 Shopify sellers to its marketplace this year.
The UK government backed High Streets Task Force announced new training, advice and online resources for high streets in England.
Buy now, pay later specialist Klarna will launch a rewards programme called Vibe this summer.
58% of retailers are being held back from digital transformation by budget restrictions, according to research from Vanson Bourne and Boomi.
For the first time in its 175 year history, The Co-op completed its AGM as a digital only event.
Amazon announced the lease of 12 Boeing 767-300 converted cargo aircraft from Air Transport Services Group (ATSG). This will bring the e-commerce giant’s fleet to over 80. One of the new aircraft joined Amazon’s air cargo operations in May, with the remaining 11 to be delivered in 2021.
Co-op Group CEO, Steve Murrells, spoke out on “the horrific killing of George Floyd” in the US.
Floyd died in police custody after an officer put his knee on his neck for nine minutes, sparking protests and riots Stateside and around the world.