The retail technology week in numbers

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

2…Amazon opened its second Amazon Go Grocery store this week.

3,000…Iceland has announced the creation of more than 3,000 new jobs as it looks to meet the demand for online shopping created by the coronavirus outbreak. It will be bringing in additional delivery drivers as well as expanding the supporting in-store teams.

15,000…Just Eat has added Bitcoin payment support for its France subsidiary.

The venture has partnered with Bitpay on this, with the initiative covering 15,000 restaurants across France.

3…Laser Clinics UK has signed a three-year contract with Retail Assist which will see the latter provide its IT Help Desk service.

100…A.S. Watson Group has announced an exclusive franchise agreement with Al-Futtaim to launch its flagship health and beauty brand Watsons in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC).

Plans are afoot to open 100 stores in the region by the end of 2025, with the first one officially opening in Dubai Mall on 1st October, along with an e-commerce portal (Watsons.ae), a mobile app, Watsons UAE, and a Watsons loyalty programme.

€90 million…European payment service provider, Mollie, has closed a €90 million Series B funding round, taking the total amount raised by the company to €115 million.

4.7%…The UK retail sector continued to show signs of recovery from the coronavirus outbreak in August, with like-for-like retail sales up 4.7% compared to last year, according to research from the BRC and KPMG.

$387 billion…The value of transactions processed by smart checkout technologies will hit $387 billion in 2025, up from $2 billion in 2020, according to Juniper Research.

This will be driven by retailers seeking sustainable business models in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic.

5…The Co-op has partnered with startup Pinga to offer zero emission online grocery deliveries in East London.

Over 500 of the convenience retailer’s products will initially be available through Pinga’s app, serving up to one million people living close to five stores located in Hackney, Stepney and Stoke Newington.

50…The Co-op has announced plans to launch over 50 new convenience stores, creating up to 1,000 jobs.

7,000…Instacart has entered the convenience store space with a 7-Eleven partnership.

Its same-day delivery service will roll-out in phases to more than 7,000 7-Eleven US stores over the coming weeks. It has thus far launched in 750 locations in the Dallas, Miami, Baltimore and Washington, D.C., metropolitan markets.

20…Alibaba Group’s online marketplace AliExpress has launched a money saving and social commerce initiative called Bonus Buddies.

This enables users to earn instant rewards upon getting a friend to register on AliExpress. They can withdraw these for their next purchase once they have hit the value of 20 Euros.