The retail technology space in a coronavirus hit world

Retail Technology Innovation Hub rounds up the key retail systems related Covid-19 developments from last week.

May saw footfall levels improve across the UK’s high streets, retail parks and shopping centres, thanks to a further easing of Covid-19 restrictions, and a successful vaccination roll-out.

At the same time, however, restrictions on travel have denied many businesses, particularly those in larger town and city centres, of vital overseas tourist spending.

Autonomous delivery services venture, Starship Technologies, has appointed Alastair Westgarth as Chief Executive Officer.

Westgarth was most recently CEO at Alphabet’s Loon, which started as part of X, Google’s Moonshot Factory, and focused on bringing internet access to unserved and underserved communities around the world via a network of balloons operating on the edge of space.

We are excited to announce Starship’s new CEO, Alastair Westgarth.

Alastair was formerly CEO of Alphabet’s Loon, and has 30 years experience building and running several tech companies. He joins Starship as we focus on scaling our business globally. https://t.co/OQ8a9CeIcI pic.twitter.com/pErdecKAUf
— Starship Technologies (@StarshipRobots) June 1, 2021

eBay UK has launched a new hub on its marketplace, designed to make shopping from small businesses that give back to local communities, more accessible.

eBay for Change connects over 29 million eBay shoppers with up to 50 ventures at launch, with plans to scale. They will be able to access products from clothes to homeware, and jewellery to collectables.

SellersFunding, which provides financial solutions for sellers on Amazon, Shopify, Walmart and other marketplaces, has provided Cath Kidston with a £5 million credit line over a period of three years.

This comes as the British home and fashion brand pivots its traditionally brick and mortar business to a digital first model amid the Covid-19 outbreak.

Mulberry reports that, by leveraging Google Cloud’s data analytics capabilities to generate customer insights and streamline delivery processes, it has boosted sales by up to 25% during the Covid-19 pandemic.

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.