The six 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 biggest stories from the past five days, including Twitter, Amazon, Jumbo Supermarkten, Gorillas, and Klarna.
1. Twitter boosts e-commerce push with Twitter Shops launch
Twitter is beta testing a new mobile first feature called Twitter Shops, which will allow merchants to showcase up to 50 curated products on their profiles.
The feature, which is free to use, gives people the chance to view products from the profiles of brands, so when they talk about and discover products on their timeline, they can also browse them on Twitter.
“When you go to the profile of a merchant that has Shops enabled, you’ll see a “View shop” button just above their tweets,” Twitter says in an online post.
“When you tap the button, it will open up that merchant’s shop, where you can scroll through items.”
“When you’re ready to purchase, you can click on the product of your choice which will open an in-app browser where you can learn more about the product and checkout on the merchant’s website.”
2. 2022 RTIH retail technology awards opens for entries next month
The fourth edition of the RTIH Innovation Awards will open for entries in early April.
The awards celebrate global tech innovation in a fast moving omnichannel world.
We received a record number of submissions in 2021, and winners included Metapack, Asda, Carrefour UAE, Situ Live, Starbucks, Oracle, Go Instore and Halla.
Winners and highly commended companies were announced on Wednesday, 8th December at an exclusive roundtable discussion/networking event in central London.
For 2022, we will be introducing new categories and expanding the physical event in December, further details on which will be revealed in the near future.
3. Amazon buys UK retail technology firm Veeqo
Amazon has acquired Veeqo, a Swansea, UK-based company that offers inventory and fulfilment tools for e-commerce sellers.
Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
It builds on Amazon’s acquisition of Selz last year, which set tongues wagging about the former competing more directly with Shopify in providing e-commerce services regardless of whether sales take place on Amazon.com or elsewhere.
4. Amazon Fresh brings Just Walk Out tech to Kensington, London
Amazon has opened an Amazon Fresh store in Kensington, London, powered by its Just Walk Out technology.
Located at 138 Kensington High Street, this is the 17th such location in the UK, lining up alongside the likes of Southwark, Camden, Ealing, White City Canary Wharf and Holborn Chancery Lane.
To shop, customers scan the QR code from their Amazon app, buy what they need, and walk out.
5. Klarna research: London well placed to tap global boom in digital shopping
London saw record levels of venture capital investment in the digital shopping space during 2021, according to Klarna sponsored research from London & Partners and Dealroom.co.
Global VC investment into digital shopping more than doubled in 2021 following a significant consumer shift to e-commerce platforms amid the Covid pandemic, with a total of $140 billion raised in 2021, up from $68 billion in 2020.
British firms bagged $7 billion in 2021, over double the total amount raised in 2020 ($3 billion).
The UK was the top ranked European country for venture capital investment into digital shopping in 2021, and fourth globally behind China, India and the United States.
London was a driving force behind UK investment growth, with a record $5 billion raised by digital shopping companies based in the capital.
It also ranked fourth on the global stage, behind San Francisco, New York and Bengaluru.
6. Jumbo Supermarkten goes live with Gorillas rapid grocery deliveries
Dutch supermarket chain Jumbo Supermarkten has started a rapid grocery delivery service via a partnership with German startup Gorillas.
The pair are kicking things off in Groningen, Rotterdam and Tilburg.
In the coming weeks, the service will be expanded to the other Dutch cities where the latter is active.
Jumbo will supply a large part of its range to Gorillas, including private label products and some from the La Place brand.
Gorillas also works with Tesco in the UK, and Casino Group in France.
