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 Deliveroo, John Lewis Partnership and Trendyol.

1. Amazon veteran Devesh Mishra joins Deliveroo as Chief Product and Technology Officer

Deliveroo has announced the appointment of Devesh Mishra as Chief Product and Technology Officer.

Mishra will have responsibility for Deliveroo’s tech org, which contains the food delivery company’s engineering, data science, design and product development functions.

Sitting on the executive team, he will start work in early September. He joins from Amazon, where he has spent the past 16 years.

2. Kiwibot and Sodexo bring food delivery robots to US college campuses

Kiwibot has partnered with food services and facilities management giant Sodexo to bring its robots to US college campuses.

Students and faculty at New Mexico State University, Loyola Marymount University and Gonzaga University now have the option to order fresh meals via robots from Sodexo serviced locations on campuses.

It’s a welcome boost for Kiwibot, whose main competitor, Starship Technologies, has made more than 1.5 million autonomous deliveries around the world, and operates in many college campuses.

The robots have landed: Kiwibot delivering fast, hot food to NMSU campus community 🤖🤖🤖https://t.co/6H5Ci76TiB @NMSUDining @sodexoUSA @gokiwibot #robotsaretakingover pic.twitter.com/Xdkeln48u7
— NMSU News (@NMSUNews) August 5, 2021

3. John Lewis announces new distribution centre as online demand soars

The John Lewis Partnership has inked a deal with Tesco to lease a one million sq ft distribution centre at Fenny Lock in Milton Keynes.

It says that the move will help it meet growing customer demand for online orders. Since the start of the Covid pandemic, online sales have grown from 40% to over 60% of John Lewis’s total sales.

The warehouse, leased for 11 years, will become its second largest distribution centre after its two million sq ft campus at Magna Park in Milton Keynes.

4. E-commerce venture Trendyol becomes Turkey’s first decacorn

Trendyol, a Turkey-based e-commerce platform, has raised $1.5 billion, valuing the company at $16.5 billion.

The new financing also makes it Turkey’s first decacorn. The round was co-led by General Atlantic, SoftBank Vision Fund 2, Princeville Capital and sovereign wealth funds, ADQ (UAE) and Qatar Investment Authority.

It comes just months after strategic - and majority - backer Alibaba invested $350 million in the venture at a $9.4 billion valuation.

Trendyol’s Chairman, Evren Ucok comments: “There is tremendous growth potential in Turkey given its young and growing population and impressive human capital.”

“We will leverage our strong team, our extensive technological capabilities, and Turkey’s strengths in manufacturing and logistics to become a leading player in EMEA and to create new export channels for Turkish merchants and manufacturers.”

.@Trendyol, Turkey’s leading e-commerce platform, is now the country’s first Decacorn following a $1.5B investment co-led by GA. We will work with the Trendyol team to support and scale their marketplace model for consumers around the globe. https://t.co/qjHKTpBFc3 pic.twitter.com/hsArEwfFlg
— General Atlantic (@generalatlantic) August 9, 2021

5. Wendy’s and REEF announce dark kitchens tie up

Wendy’s and REEF are partnering to open and operate 700 delivery kitchens over the next five years across the US, Canada and the United Kingdom.

This builds upon a test of eight dark kitchens in Canada beginning in late 2020. Through this commitment, SoftBank-backed Reef will become the first Wendy’s franchisee in the United Kingdom.

The pair expect to open approximately 50 delivery kitchens in 2021, with the remainder launched by 2025.