RTIH presents the retail technology week in numbers
Do you like numbers? Do you like retail systems news? Then this is the article for you. Including Amazon, PayPal, Glovo, Majid Al Futtaim and Target.
$155 million and $700 million…Buy now, pay later (BNPL) venture Scalapay has raised $155 million in equity funding, at a $700 million valuation, as part of a Series A investment round led by Tiger Global.
Along with Klarna’s recent $46 billion valuation, this underscores just how hot the BNPL market is right now, given that Scalapay was only founded in 2019 and $155 million is a serious amount of money for a Series A round.
£72 million…Beauty Pie, which describes itself as a buyers’ club for high end beauty and wellness products, has announced completion of a Series B financing round of £72 million.
2…After launching in Go stores and then larger Fresh supermarkets, Amazon’s cashierless Just Walk Out technology is set to be deployed in two Whole Foods locations Stateside.
The service is coming to Washington DC and Sherman Oaks, California next year.
£18.3 million…The GMB union has accused Amazon UK of being “pandemic profiteers” whose latest tax bill is “frankly insulting”.
The company paid £18.3 million in corporation tax in 2020, a rise of £3.8 million on 2019, as coronavirus crisis demand meant total group revenues passed £20 billion in the country.
9.3%…UK online retail sales fell by -9.3% YoY last month, which was only a small improvement on July’s -9.6%, according to research from IMRG and Capgemini.
August’s performance was well below the six (+2.25%) and 12 month (+21.37%) averages, but above the three month average of -10.53%.
$2.7 billion…US payments giant PayPal is set to acquire Japanese buy now, pay later venture Paidy in a $2.7 billion largely cash deal.
This closely follows Square’s announcement that it would buy Australian BNPL firm Afterpay for $29 billion.
6…Amazon has opened an Amazon Fresh location in Dalston, London.
Situated at 28-31 Kingsland High Street, it is the sixth such UK convenience store to feature Just Walk Out Shopping tech. The other five are in Camden, Ealing, Wembley Park, White City and Canary Wharf.
7…Spanish on-demand delivery venture, Glovo, has expanded in Africa, to include Ghana and Tunisia, bringing its operations to a total of seven countries on the continent.
1…Majid Al Futtaim, which owns and operates shopping malls, retail, and leisure establishments in the Middle East, Africa and Asia, has announced the launch of checkout free store, Carrefour City+.
A first for Carrefour worldwide and opening this week in Mall of the Emirates, this taps AiFi powered artificial intelligence technology.
Store access and shopping payment is enabled via the MAF Carrefour app. Once inside Carrefour City+, every item picked up by customers is automatically added to a digital shopping basket and the purchase is completed by walking out.
3%…Much like the good old British summer weather, UK retail performance in August was mixed.
According to research from the BRC and KPMG, sales growth on the high street continued to slow, with footfall still below pre-pandemic levels and online sales took a retreat from the highs of last year, whilst some discretionary non-food categories continued their recovery.
On a total basis, sales increased by 3% in August, against a growth of 3.9% in the same month last year. This is below the three month average growth of 6.9% and the 12 month average growth of 10.3%.
$43 million…OLIO, a UK-based mobile app for the sharing of food and other items, has closed a $43 million Series B funding round.
8,700…Over 8,700 chain stores disappeared from Great Britain’s retail locations in the first six months of 2021, according to PwC research compiled by the Local Data Company.
One in ten shoppers who use buy now pay later services have been chased by debt collectors, according to Citizens Advice.
According to its research, these people were charged £39 million in late fees in the past year. Of those who were referred to a debt collector for missed payments, 96% experienced a negative consequence.
Yet the charity found that not one of the BNPL checkouts on leading retailers’ websites warned people they could be referred to debt collectors for missed payments. Instead this was only flagged in the T&Cs on a separate page, if at all.
7…Target Chief Information Officer (CIO) Mike McNamara, who has headed up the retailer's IT operations since 2015, is set to retire in 2022.
“I’ve always been planning for Target to be my last job. I’ve loved every minute of my time here, but professionally and personally, the timing is great to begin the process of retiring and transitioning to a new CIO,” he says in an online post.
“The technology team and platform are in brilliant shape and our business is already taking on its next growth chapter.”
