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, including Made.com, Prime Day 2021 and Etsy/Depop.

1. It's official! UK retailer Made.com is set for London flotation

Online furniture retailer Made.com has confirmed its intention to float on the London Stock Exchange.

There have been rumours about the pureplay, which was co-founded by entrepreneur Brent Hoberman, making the move since February, but it had thus far declined to press the button.

An IPO will see some existing investors sell shares but also raise new money, and looks set to value the business at £1 billion.

2. Depop added to the Etsy e-commerce family

Etsy has signed a definitive agreement to acquire fashion resale marketplace Depop for $1.6 billion.

Josh Silverman, Etsy CEO, comments: "We are simply thrilled to be adding Depop, what we believe to be the resale home for Gen Z consumers, to the Etsy family.”

“Depop is a vibrant, two sided marketplace with a passionate community, a highly differentiated offering of unique items, and we believe significant potential to further scale.”

“Depop's world class management team and employees have done a fantastic job nurturing this community and driving organic, authentic growth in a way that aligns well with Etsy's DNA and mission of keeping commerce human.”

“We see significant opportunities for shared expertise and growth synergies across what will now be a tremendous 'house of brands' portfolio of individually distinct, and very special, e-commerce brands."

We’re excited to announce that we’ll be joining the Etsy, Inc. family of brands.
Together we’ll be able to grow the Depop community even further and advance our mission to build the world’s most diverse and progressive home of fashion!
Read more here >> https://t.co/5vjrshkwbp pic.twitter.com/XGF6JDTyfV
— Depop (@depop) June 3, 2021

3. Amazon Prime Day 2021 will take place in June

Amazon has announced that its annual Prime Day event will be held on 21st and 22nd June.

It kicks off on the 21st at midnight PDT (3 a.m. EDT) and runs through to the 22nd for Prime members in the US., the UK,, the United Arab Emirates, Turkey, Spain, Singapore, Saudi Arabia, Portugal, Netherlands, Mexico, Luxembourg, Japan, Italy, Germany, France, China, Brazil, Belgium, Austria, and Australia.

Due to the increasing impact of Covid-19 in Canada and India, Prime Day 2021 has been postponed in those countries.

🥁 📦 🎈 🎊 #PrimeDay pic.twitter.com/3ULLjti58U
— Amazon (@amazon) June 2, 2021

4. JD Logistics delivers the goods in Hong Kong Stock Exchange debut

Chinese online retail giant JD.com’s JD Logistics subsidiary listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange on Friday, 28th May.

It raised $3.2 billion in the Asian financial centre's second largest IPO this year.

JD Logistics Chief Executive Yu Rui said: "We are going to use the funds raised from the IPO to further improve our networks, including in the lower tier and suburban areas in China, and the infrastructure of overseas markets.”

After JD Logistics' official listing on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, JDL CEO Yui Yu is confident the company’s external business will continue its rapid risehttps://t.co/oJ3Gd9BxUe
— JD.com (@JD_Corporate) May 31, 2021