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 Uber Eats, Marks and Spencer, boohoo, and buymie.
€7 million…Same-day grocery delivery firm, buymie, has completed a €7 million funding round.
$110 million…Blackrock Capital Group and Mithril Capital Management Group have announced a $110 million investment in robotic fulfilment and inventory optimisation software firm GreyOrange.
$47 million…Storyblok, builder of a headless CMS designed both for technical and non-technical users like marketers to manage content that appears across websites, apps and other digital interfaces, has announced the close of a $47 million Series B funding round.
2…Uber Eats is launching two autonomous delivery pilots in Los Angeles with Serve Robotics and Motional.
Both of the pilots will initially deliver food from only a few merchants.
Serve’s part of the initiative will focus on shorter trips in West Hollywood. Motional’s will handle longer distance deliveries in Santa Monica.
Customers who place food orders via the Uber Eats app can opt to have their order delivered by a robot.
They will see a confirmation screen, receive app notifications and be able to track the robot’s location as their order approaches. Once it arrives, they can use the Uber Eats app to open the robot and retrieve their order.
1…Critizr has announced New Look as the first monthly winner for the second edition of its Proud Of My Store competition.
The aim here is to celebrate the exceptional people working in store teams around the UK.
New Look was recognised for its South Shields team.
100…A survey of 100 UK retailers by Red Ant reveals their highest priorities and most pressing tech challenges since March 2020.
85% of social media marketers anticipate incorporating new technologies like virtual reality, the metaverse, cryptocurrencies, and NFTs into their strategies within the next year, according to research by Sprout Social.
71%…Market research platform Appinio has conducted a survey with 1,000 British online shoppers to gauge their opinion on free returns.
This follows the news that Zara will stop its free policy and start charging its shoppers for returning items, joining other major retailers including Next, Uniqlo, and Sports Direct.
The research found that 71% of Brits are likely to avoid shopping online if they’re required to pay for the postage of their returns.
£414 million…Cross-border tax complexity cost UK retail businesses £414 million in lost revenue last year, according to new research commissioned by tax compliance technology company Avalara rom the Centre for Economics and Business Research (Cebr).
$5 billion…European quick commerce venture Flink is buying rival French firm Cajoo and Carrefour, an early investor and exclusive retail partner of Cajoo, will become a direct Flink shareholder and partner.
The Carrefour equity investment is around €60 million to €70 million, and values Flink at $5 billion post-money.
24…Across two days last week, M&S hosted its fifth 24 hour hackathon, where 18 teams of over 200 colleagues developed digital and data solutions to opportunities on offer to the retailer.
The event takes place every six months and was powered by the BEAM Academy, the home of all things digital and data learning at M&S.
4…Fast fashion big hitter boohoo has partnered with four female artists from the NFT community (Amy Kilner, Reem El, Aoife O’Dwyer and Shar.eth) to create an “affordable and inclusive avatar collection”.
The artists created 230 unique traits and features, with a range of these consisting of statement fashion pieces from boohoo’s product range.
Using these traits, the pureplay came up with a collection of 30,000 avatars which aim to represent the diversity of its community.
€9 million…MagaLoop, a Berlin-based startup whose app-based ordering platform connects independent retailers directly with suppliers, has raised €9 million in funding.
1…Cleveron Mobility and DPD Eesti say they’re the first in Europe to deliver a package to a customer via a driverless autonomous vehicle.
Said vehicle is manufactured by Cleveron Mobility, with delivery taking place under the DPD banner.
