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 Marks & Spencer, Walmart, Amazon and Grover.

1. Marks & Spencer preps groundbreaking clothing delivery service

Marks & Spencer is set to become the first major UK retailer to launch same-day clothing deliveries nationwide.

The move would make M&S faster than competitors such as Asos and Next.

Chief Executive Steve Rowe told the Times it would show how bricks and mortar retailers could use their stores as an advantage in a digital first age.

He said: “People think of the store portfolio as being an albatross around our neck but I don't think it is.”

“I think we are going to have a multi-channel proposition so we can be where our customers want and they can choose how quickly they want it.”

2. Grover raises $1 billion to grow circular economy business

Electronics rental platform Grover has raised $1 billion in a mix of equity and asset-based financing.

The Berlin-based circular economy startup says this will allow it to increase circulations from 475,000 to date to five million by 2024.

Congratulations to the team at @getgrover for securing $1 billion in financing in the largest ever funding round for a consumer tech start-up 🚀

Grover will use the funds to democratise access to consumer tech while tackling the world’s prolific e-waste problem♻️
— seedcamp (@seedcamp) July 28, 2021

3. Amazon looks to shut down Bitcoin acceptance rumours

Amazon has denied a media report stating the e-commerce giant was looking to accept Bitcoin payments by the end of the year.

An anonymous source within Amazon told City A.M.: “This isn’t just going through the motions to set up cryptocurrency payment solutions at some point in the future.”

“This is a full on, well discussed, integral part of the future mechanism of how Amazon will work.”

The “directive is coming from the very top,” referring to Jeff Bezos, they added.

In addition, the report claimed Amazon was exploring the creation of its own cryptocurrency, possibly as early as 2022.

"Notwithstanding our interest in the space, the speculation that has ensued around our specific plans for cryptocurrencies is not true," a spokesperson from Amazon told RTIH.

"We remain focused on exploring what this could look like for customers shopping with us."

4. McDonald’s overhauls customer experience team for a digital age

McDonald’s has announced the creation of a new customer experience team that brings together its data analytics, digital customer engagement, global marketing, and global restaurant development and restaurant solutions teams, under the leadership of Manu Steijaert as its first Chief Customer Officer.

5. Walmart looks to sell its technologies to other retailers

Walmart is to begin offering several of its own omnichannel technologies and capabilities to other businesses and brands.

As part of this effort, it has announced a partnership with Adobe to integrate its Marketplace, online and in-store fulfilment and pickup technologies with Adobe Commerce.

“We’ve built new capabilities to serve the evolving needs of our own customers, and we have a unique opportunity to use our experience to help other businesses do the same,” says John Furner, Chief Executive Officer at Walmart U.S.

“Commercialising our technologies and capabilities helps us sustainably reinvest back into our customer value proposition.”