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. Ocado boss Tim Steiner questions Waitrose online credentials

Ocado’s Chief Executive Tim Steiner hit out at Waitrose as the two got ready to officially part ways, ending a 20 year relationship.

From Tuesday of this week, Ocado will sell and deliver food from M&S rather than Waitrose. M&S splashed out £750 million last year to acquire a 50% stake in Ocado’s retail business.

2. Amazon hails important step in drone delivery journey

Amazon has received approval from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) in the US to operate its fleet of Prime Air delivery drones.

This will give the e-commerce giant, which has been talking up its drone delivery plans since 2013, broad privileges to "safely and efficiently deliver packages to customers." Amazon joins UPS and Alphabet-owned Wing, who have also won FAA approval in this space..

3. Walmart+ membership programme finally set to launch

Walmart will launch its Amazon Prime competitor Walmart+ on 15th September.

This costs $98 a year or $12.95 a month and comes with a 15-day free trial period. The offering includes the likes of unlimited free deliveries of groceries and general merchandise, discounts on fuel at Walmart gas stations, and in-store use of Scan & Pay in the retailer’s app.

4. Homebase fast forwards digital plans with THG Ingenuity deal

Online retailer The Hut Group’s e-commerce services division, THG Ingenuity, has inked a 10-year, ‘multi-million pound’, digital transformation deal with Homebase.

The British home and garden retailer will have access to THG Ingenuity’s proprietary end-to-end e-commerce solution to replace current systems.