The retail technology year at a glance: June 2020

RTIH takes a look at the retail technology space during June and rounds up the winners, losers and major developments.

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.

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, argued Jysk Executive Vice President Retail, Mikael Nielsen.

Starbucks ramped up plans to upgrade its US store portfolio as it looked to bounce back from the coronavirus outbreak.

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 was set to be a disruptive year for retail sales in China, but the big hitters would only get bigger when it came 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 disclosed a €1.9 billion hole in its accounts.

Also in June…

John Lewis Partnership shook up its technology operations via a new partnership with Wipro.

Waitrose announced a third London-based online centre as it looked to boost shopping slots in and around the capital.

boohoo bought the online businesses of Oasis and Warehouse for £5.25 million.

US fashion retailer Forever 21 launched a new UK online site, following a collapse into administration in 2019.

Walmart partnered with Shopify, the e-commerce platform provider pitched as the anti-Amazon.

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 said it would launch a rewards programme called Vibe during the summer.

58% of retailers were 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 brought 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.