The five biggest retail technology news stories of the week

The weekend is almost upon us, so let’s kick back and reflect on another eventful week for the retail systems space. Here's your briefing on the biggest stories from the past few days.

1. Walmart set to buy virtual fitting room platform Zeekit

Walmart has announced plans to acquire Zeekit, a virtual fitting room startup based in Israel. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

2. parcelLab pockets $112 million in Series C round

Shipping software platform provider parcelLab has secured $112 million in Series C funding led by Insight Partners.

Endeit Capital joined as a co-investor and existing backers Capnamic Ventures and coparion also participated.

Barely 48 hours have passed since we announced the outstanding $112M Series C and the response has been amazing! Read this great blog from @coparion_vc to hear the investors' perspective 🤝🚀#OperationsExperience

Read full article: https://t.co/6oI7h9pWBy
— parcelLab (@parcellab_en) May 13, 2021

3. Starship Technologies reports Covid boost as it hits a milestone

Starship Technologies says that its autonomous delivery numbers have quadrupled globally since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic, and its service is now available to one million people.

Today, we’re proud to announce Starship autonomous deliveries have quadrupled in the last year and our delivery service is now available to 1 million people globally. 🤖https://t.co/LDogoaqPYd #StarshipRobots pic.twitter.com/MLwxAQF9FN
— Starship Technologies (@StarshipRobots) May 13, 2021

4. Klarna enlists artist Ignasi Monreal for Discover the Truth campaign

Buy now pay later big hitter, Klarna, has teamed with Spanish artist Ignasi Monreal for a campaign which invites UK consumers to discover the “truth” about the brand.

Klarna, which earlier this year launched an OOH campaign in the UK that addressed calls for regulation of the buy now, pay later space, says that over the past few years it has seen a rise in the number of misconceptions about the company.

Monreal has therefore created a series of seven murals - each based upon a misconception seen online or in the media.

In a world of misinformation, it is time to set the record straight! We've created 7 mythical paintings inspired by the most common misconceptions about Klarna in the UK & are inviting you to discover the truth 🧞: https://t.co/wYS4v0f205 pic.twitter.com/6LdRIAS4QO
— Klarna (@Klarna) May 12, 2021

5. UK online retail growth drops away as coronavirus lockdown eases

Despite the easing of coronavirus restrictions, the UK online retail space grew in April, with sales rising 10.2% YoY, according to research by IMRG and Capgemini.

Some impact of non-essential physical retailers reopening was, however, evident in the month on month numbers, which were down 12%.

The results are below the three, six and 12 rolling averages of 50.4%, 50.1% and 49.8%.