The five most important retail tech news stories of the week
It’s Friday, 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 few days.
1. Walmart e-commerce boss Marc Lore announces departure
Marc Lore, President and CEO, Walmart E-commerce US, is leaving the big box retailer at the end of the month.
He will stay on as a consultant through to September.
2. Tesco Pay+ notches up mobile commerce milestone
Tesco’s Pay+ mobile payment app, which launched in 2017, surpassed £1 billion in payments shortly before Christmas.
The offering now has 1.2 million registered users and a transaction using the app takes place, on average, every 1.4 seconds.
Shoppers can use it to make contactless payments up to £250.
3. Klarna OOH campaign tackles BNPL regulation critics
Klarna has launched an OOH campaign in the UK that addresses calls for regulation of the buy now, pay later space.
4. Situ Live interactive shopping experience preps Westfield London launch
Situ Live, a new experiential retail concept, will launch at Westfield London during the spring.
This will feature live theatrics and storytelling performances across six curated arenas: ‘Fitness & Wellbeing’, ‘Connected Home’, ‘Nutrition Kitchen’, ‘Entertainment’, ‘Home & Mobile Working’ and ‘On The Move’.
The aim is to allow consumers to connect with brands, with an emphasis on personalisation, picking products suited to their lifestyle, complemented by advice from Situ Live’s team.
5. Bloom and Wild announces major Series D funding round
Bloom & Wild, a London-based flower and gift delivery startup, has secured £75 million in Series D funding.
The round, which values the business at £500 million, was led by General Catalyst and also included Index Ventures, Novator, Latitude Ventures, D4 Ventures, as well as existing investor Burda Principal Investments.
