The retail technology year in review: March 2021
March brought with it mega funding rounds, digital transformation initiatives, checkout free stores, supply chain woes, and the launch of the first ever RTIH Top 50 Retail Technology Influencers List.
Good month for…
Otrium, a marketplace which helps fashion and clothing brands sell excess inventory that would otherwise go unsold, announced a $120 million funding round co-led by BOND and Index Ventures.
Bazaarvoice, a provider of product reviews and user generated content solutions, landed a majority investment from private equity firm Thomas H. Lee Partners.
Fake meat startup, LIVEKINDLY Collective, announced a capital raise of $335 million. This brought the total raised in its first 12 months to $535 million.
European e-grocery marketplace, Everli, raised $100 million in a Series C funding round led by Verlinvest.
The startup, which was previously known as Supermercato24, is using the cash to accelerate growth and expand its international footprint.
Bookshop.org generated over £1 million in profit for UK indie booksellers in just over four months of trading, with 410 retailers and 200k+ customers tapping into the new platform.
German delivery startup Gorillas, which promises grocery orders within 10 minutes, raised $290 million, taking its valuation past the $1 billion mark.
Also this month, the venture launched in London, following expansion in Germany and the Netherlands. It is now delivering to Angel, Shoreditch and the surrounding areas.
Getir, a Turkish grocery delivery startup, completed a $300 million Series C funding round, led by Sequoia Capital and repeat investor Tiger Global.
This closely followed a $128 million Series B round and valued the company at $2.6 billion.
E-commerce marketing startup Yotpo bagged $230 million in Series F funding, putting its valuation at $1.4 billion.
Colin Huang, the founder of Chinese e-commerce group Pinduoduo, stepped down as Chair to explore “new, long-term opportunities”.
The announcement came as Pinduoduo overtook Alibaba by annual shopper count for the first time, with 788 million people buying on its platform in the past year, compared to 779 million for Alibaba.
SumUp raised a €750 million facility from Goldman Sachs, Temasek, Bain Capital Credit, Crestline, and funds managed by Oaktree Capital Management.
Shares in UK-based fast fashion e-tailer In The Style started trading on the London Stock Exchange's AIM market after its IPO completed this month.
The venture said it was valued at £105 million after strong demand from investors.
Online payments provider Stripe raised $600 million at a $95 billion valuation.
This cemented its position as the most valuable US unicorn, moving it ahead of SpaceX.
US grocery delivery venture Instacart raised $265 million from its existing investors, including Andreessen Horowitz, Sequoia Capital, and D1 Capital Partners.
This valued the company at $39 billion, up from $17.8 billion at the time of its previous fundraise, which closed in November last year.
Paris-based luxury fashion resale website Vestiaire Collective announced a $216 million financing round backed by Gucci owner Kering and US investment firm Tiger Global Management. This valued it at over $1 billion.
Czech online grocer, Rohlik, raised $230 million to expand in existing markets and enter new countries across Europe.
US-based e-commerce fulfilment company, Deliverr, announced a $170 million Series D led by Coatue with participation from Brookfield Technology Partners, Activant Capital, 8VC and GLP.
Bad month for…
Online fashion retailer boohoo was facing a possible United States import ban due to allegations over the use of slave labour.
WHSmith India was left red faced when its social media team tweeted about getting female shoppers to buy more items.
Also this month…
Amazon acquired Perpule, an Indian startup, in a $14.7 million, all-cash deal.
The US e-commerce giant was expected to spend an additional $5 million or so to compensate Perpule’s employees.
The latter offers a mobile payments device to offline retailers to help them accept digital payments and also establish a presence on various mini-app stores including those run by Paytm, PhonePe and Google Pay in India.
March saw the launch of the first ever RTIH Top 50 Retail Technology Influencers List, sponsored by Selazar.
This annual offering, which is presented in no particular order, covers retailers, technology suppliers, startups, consultants, analysts, and thought leaders who are making an impact in the retail technology space during 2021.
Over 50 UK retailers signed up to a diversity and inclusion charter led by the British Retail Consortium (BRC).
The likes of Sainsbury’s, Aldi, AO, Argos, John Lewis Partnership, Ocado, The Co-operative Group and The Very Group will focus on oversight, recruitment, progression, reporting, inclusivity and responsibility.
M&S launched 46 flagship websites in new markets, expanding its online reach to over 100 countries.
This was part of the retailer’s Never the Same Again transformation programme, and nearly doubled the number of international markets where it had a pureplay presence.
Amazon opened a convenience grocery store in Ealing, West London, its first physical outlet outside of North America.
UK shoppers were for the first time able to use the e-commerce giant’s Just Walk Out tech, which was pioneered at the Amazon Go offering in the States.
US retailer Kroger opened an automated warehouse in Monroe, Ohio.
The $55 million, 335,000 square foot customer fulfilment centre, also known as a shed, is the first of 20 facilities to be created as part of a partnership between Kroger and Ocado.
Ted Baker became the first British fashion brand to launch a culture platform on invitation only audio-chat iPhone app Clubhouse.
Waitrose opened a new customer fulfilment centre in Greenford, West London.
This will deliver 25,000 weekly e-commerce orders, helping to offer five times more online slots each week in London than before the coronavirus pandemic.
Russian e-commerce venture, Ozon, opened a new IT lab in St. Petersburg.
It plans to hire more than 300 developers and engineers at the facility in 2021, making it one of the largest tech employers in the city.
Australian buy now, pay later venture, Zip, ramped up its expansion in the UK.
Founder and CEO Larry Diamond announced that Homebase, boohoo and The Fragrance Shop would be among the first retailers to join its UK platform, which enables customers to pay for products worth up to £1,000 in interest-free instalments.
Buy now, pay later specialist Klarna pledged 1% of the $1 billion capital it has raised to an initiative that focuses on key global sustainability challenges..
Accenture acquired REPL Group, a UK-based technology consultancy specialising in solutions for supply chain, workforce management, store operations and customer experiences.
Digital retailer The Very Group refurbished its Liverpool HQ with an emphasis on hybrid working.
