RTIH rustles up 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 Style, Getir, Ikea, Uber Eats, Co-op, Klarna, and Gorillas.
2,000…Retail Technology Show has announced plans to expand the 2023 event, adding 2,000 m² of exhibition space.
After attracting almost 7,000 senior retail professionals to the 2022 show and rebooking 82% of the exhibitors for 2023 on-site, Retail Technology Show will open up into Olympia’s National Hall (adjacent to the Grand Hall at Olympia that played host this year) in 2023.
1…Amazon has opened its first physical clothing store, Amazon Style, in the Greater Los Angeles area.
The 30,000 square feet location is situated at The Americana at Brand shopping destination.
Using the Amazon Shopping app, customers send items to a fitting room, where they can use a touchscreen to browse more options, rate items, and request more sizes or styles that are delivered to the room.
Machine learning algorithms, meanwhile, produce tailored, real-time recommendations for each customer as they shop.
Amazon Style doesn’t use the Just Walk Out checkout-free tech found in Amazon Fresh and Whole Foods locations, instead opting for the Amazon One palm recognition service.
17…After a 17 year hiatus, Tammy Girl is back, with fast fashion giant Asos relaunching the brand on its website.
In 2005, Tammy Girl closed its high street stores after being bought by BHS, leaving UK pre-teens distraught.
Manchester based, digital fashion firm, Daisy Street acquired the brand and partnered with Asos for a capsule collection of 32 styles including dresses, crop tops, and midi skirts.
78% of of e-commerce websites in the UK are unable to convert shoppers due to their inability to “understand” natural language and thus, shoppers’ intent, according to a new report from Klevu.
This found that over three quarters of the 50 retailers researched delivered zero or irrelevant results when presented with conversational queries.
Only 20% have the functionality to understand natural language and respond with products that were a precise match.
Furthermore, a quarter were unable to handle misspellings by shoppers, with 75% missing out on additional sales through relevant product recommendations on category listing pages.
$60 million…FinTech startup Stable has secured a $60 million Series B investment.
14%…Turkish rapid grocery delivery big hitter Getir is gearing up to cut 14% of its staff globally.
10 and 30…Parcel delivery firm DPD is now providing an all electric delivery service to 10 UK towns and cities and is aiming for 30 such locations by the end of 2023.
1…Ingka Group, the largest Ikea retailer, this week opened the first Ikea city store in Canada, as part of its commitment to get closer to its customers.
300…Rapid grocery delivery firm Gorillas is laying off 300 staff and exiting Italy, Spain, Denmark and Belgium.
3%…Lolli has partnered with CVS to offer Bitcoin rewards.
Shoppers can now earn 3% back on all of their CVS purchases at nearly 10,000 locations across the US.
One in five Americans will not purchase an NFT because they believe they will not gain mainstream popularity, according to research from Zakeke.
10%…Buy now pay later firm Klarna has announced plans to cut around 700 staff, blaming a combination of rising prices, a change in consumer sentiment and the war in Ukraine for the move.
"What we are seeing now in the world is not temporary or short-lived, and hence we need to act," said Chief Executive Sebastian Siemiatkowski.
The cuts equate to around 10% of Klarna's 7,000 strong workforce.
$150 million…Livestreaming commerce platform, Firework, has secured $150 million in Series B financing, led by SoftBank Vision Fund 2.
4 million…Walmart is set to expand its DroneUp delivery network to 34 sites by the end the year, providing the potential to reach four million US households across six states – Arizona, Arkansas, Florida, Texas, Utah and Virginia.
$36.8 million and $60 million…BUD, a metaverse user-generated platform built on a mobile app, has announced a $36.8 million Series B funding round.
This was led by Sequoia Capital India, and brings BUD’s total financing to over $60 million.
$5 million…Google Shopping e-commerce marketing platform Bidnamic has completed a $5 million Series A funding round led by Gresham House Ventures.
124 million…Moonpig Group, an online greeting card and gifting platform in the UK and Netherlands, has announced the proposed acquisition of Buyagift, a UK-based gift experiences specialist, for £124 million.
4…Co-op has opened its fourth Lab Store, where it will test ideas in real situations, get feedback, analyse results and adapt for future roll-out.
5 billion…Uber Eats has notched up five billion orders, according to a tweet from Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi.
15…Co-op says it is the first UK supermarket to launch walking deliveries for households and workplaces up to a 15 minute walk from its stores.
40%…Knowledge tops consumers’ expectations when it comes to store associates adding value to shopping experiences, according to research from Retail Technology Show.
Over 2,000 UK shoppers were surveyed for the report.
40% felt store associates were the key factor that could make or break customer experience when in-store, with knowledge the defining factor in crafting positive shopping experiences.
