The five biggest retail technology news stories of the week
It’s Friday, the week is almost done, so let’s kick back and reflect on another eventful week for the retail systems space. Here's your briefing on the most important stories from the past five days, including Carrefour, RELEX Solutions, Walmart, and Gopuff.
1. Everli and Carrefour launch in 10 French cities including Paris
Carrefour has made its hypermarkets and supermarkets available on the Everli same-day grocery delivery platform in 10 French cities: Lille, Lyon, Nice, Toulouse, Bordeaux, Montpellier, Nantes, Grenoble, Rennes, Paris and their surrounding suburbs.
This builds on a partnership in other markets.
The pair will provide shoppers in these cities up to 25,000 products from more than 140 stores.
Everli is giving new customers free delivery plus €40 off across their first four orders with Carrefour when they spend a minimum of €60.
Founded in 2014, the venture allows customers to order large basket shops from supermarkets via a network of Everli Shoppers, who go to the store to pick and deliver products within a one hour window of their choice.
2. RELEX Solutions raises €500 million at €5 billion valuation
RELEX Solutions has announced a €500 million funding round led by funds managed by Blackstone Growth (BXG), Blackstone’s growth equity investing business.
This puts its valuation at €5 billion.
The company, which previously raised over €200 million, is set to hire hundreds of developers and experts to grow its technical team that currently stands at over 400 people.
Headquartered in Helsinki, Finland, RELEX Solutions employs over 1,300 people globally and has offices in the US, UK, Germany, Italy, Spain, Portugal, France, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Poland, Singapore, Australia, and Hong Kong.
Clients include Dollar Tree, M&S Food, Franprix, Morrisons, PetSmart, Sephora, and Rossmann.
3. Veho hits $1.5+ billion valuation with mega Series B funding round
Logistics tech company Veho has announced a $170 million Series B raise led by Tiger Global with participation from SoftBank Vision, at a $1.5+ billion valuation.
This closely follows the firm closing an oversubscribed Series A round at a $1 billion valuation, bringing it to $300 million of capital raised to date.
From a network of company operated warehouses, Veho facilitates next-day delivery for e-commerce brands.
Its technology powers a platform that matches demand for deliveries with crowdsourced drivers. These drivers collect packages from its warehouses and get them to consumers.
Veho is looking to grow its headcount from nearly 500 employees today to 2,000 by end of 2022, including hiring more than 150 additional software engineers, and also evaluate opportunities for strategic acquisitions.
4. Gopuff and McLaren Formula 1 team ink global partnership deal
US-based quick commerce startup, Gopuff, has become the official instant delivery partner of McLaren’s Formula 1 team.
Gopuff branding will be featured on McLaren’s cars. The partnership will also involve fan experiences and rewards.
To kick off, drivers Lando Norris and Daniel Ricciardo took to the streets of London and surprised fans with a delivery from Gopuff, while Gopuff branded McLaren cars were also seen at iconic locations in the UK’s capital city, including Tower Bridge.
5. Walmart adds reusable tote bags to InHome delivery service
Walmart is testing out reusable tote bags as part of its InHome delivery service, which is expanding across the US.
The pilot project is part of a broader effort by the retailer to move toward reusable, recyclable or industrially compostable packaging and reach zero waste in its own operations in the US and Canada by 2025.
Tom Ward, EVP & Chief eCommerce Officer, Walmart U.S., said in a LinkedIn post: “Congrats to Whitney Pegden (VP and GM, Walmart InHome) and the InHome team on launching this important work. Our commitment to becoming a regenerative company is real and I’m excited to see what we learn here.”
