The retail technology space during the coronavirus pandemic

RTIH rounds up the key retail systems related Covid-19 developments from last week.

Tyl by NatWest has launched an app, Tyl Rewards, which encourages consumers to continue supporting local businesses as coronavirus restrictions ease in the UK.

Misfits Market, a US-based e-commerce platform specialising in the delivery of food that would otherwise be wasted, has completed a $200 million Series C funding round.

This brings the company's total funding to $301.5 million. It is now valued at $1.1 billion.

Pinterest and Shopify are expanding their partnership to the UK and 26 other countries.

This includes France, Italy, Spain, Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands, Brazil, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Czech Republic, Malta, Australia, and New Zealand.

Deliverect, a Belgian startup that connects the likes of Uber Eats, Deliveroo, Doordash, and Just Eat Takeaway.com to restaurants’ PoS systems, has raised $65 million in a Series C funding round.

Tesco reached a record £0.5 billion in gift card sales during the financial year ending 28th February 2021.

The 65% year-on-year increase was achieved through a combination of in-store and digital sales.

Our range of Gift Cards are proving more popular than ever with shoppers. In the recent financial year we saw record sales thanks to several enhancements made to our Gift Card proposition in 2020. https://t.co/9Ou0TMrPsj
— Tesco Bank (@TescoBankNews) April 22, 2021

Smart lampposts, capable of reading body temperatures and detecting overcrowding, could stop the spread of Covid-19 and regenerate cities, according to a report from UrbanDNA, Hydro, Itron, Lucy Zodion, Signify and the Smart City Infrastructure Fund.

Adyen has helped Edinburgh-based heritage brand Hunter to reduce chargeback rates by 90%.

Digital operations platform specialist Brightpearl has launched its search for the inaugural Lightning 50, a league table of the UK’s fastest growing e-commerce businesses over the last 12 months.

Get on it Ecomm Growers 👊 https://t.co/qyjLIntTxB
— Brightpearl (@BrightpearlHQ) April 23, 2021

Home Delivery Service (HDS Global) has raised $3 million for the launch of its robot powered e-groceries and general merchandise offering.

This is the brainchild of Louis Borders, who also founded Borders Books & Music, Synergy Software, and Webvan.

Iceland is offering NHS workers a 10% shopping discount, kicking off today and running until 2nd May.

40% of UK customers have witnessed a staff member suffer verbal or physical abuse at a retail or hospitality venue in the last year, according to research from NFU Mutual.