RTIH brings you the retail technology week in numbers
Do you like numbers? Do you like retail systems news? Then this is the article for you. Including mobile self-scanning, Bitcoin payments, NFTs, electric vehicles, and robot deliveries.
$3.3 million and $4.9 million…Autonomous robotics delivery startup Ottonomy.IO has closed a seed funding round of $3.3 million, bringing its total funding to date to $4.9 million.
The round was led by Pi Ventures. Connetic Ventures and Branded Hospitality Ventures and the Founder and CEO of Addverb Technologies, Sangeet Kumar, also participated.
1…Oxford City FC has become the first English National League club to accept match day payments in Bitcoin after entering a multi-year partnership with CoinCorner.
Supporters will be able to purchase tickets, food and drink inside the RAW Charging Stadium with Bitcoin and Lightning, as an alternative to traditional cash and card methods.
The move means payments can also be made using CoinCorner's Bolt Card - pitched as the world's first contactless Bitcoin Lightning card.
$50,000…Tiffany & Co. is launching a series of NFTs.
It flagged up the upcoming sale, set to begin on 5th August, by tweeting out a video of a pixelated grid revealing: NFTiff.
The tweet also specified a price of 30 Ethereum (around $50,000 at today’s price).
This will make it the most expensive public sale in NFT history.
17% and 35%…New research from Opinium and Digital River delves into online spending habits, payment trends, and what consumers now demand from online retailers.
2,000 UK consumers were surveyed for this. 17% stated that they are struggling financially and 35% are just ‘getting by’, yet this was found to have a minimal impact on their willingness to shop online.
30% and one in four…Pitney Bowes has released new data from its BOXpoll survey revealing insights for UK retailers selling to US consumers.
This flags the sustained effectiveness of search (e.g. Google, Bing) and online marketplaces.
30% of US online shoppers are most likely to discover UK brands through these two channels, while one in four discovers British brands through advertising on Facebook.
1…British startup, be Retail Social, has launched with its first customer, fashion retailer, Get Cutie.
Based in Brighton, Get Cutie sells vintage inspired, handmade garments.
It started with beDynamic, one of the first virtual fitting room services from be Retail Social, that provides self-moving, dynamically changing models, garments and fabrics to stimulate customer engagement.
beDynamic allows customers to consider more product variations and ranges, on different model sizes and skin tones.
46,000 and 10,000…Customers can use mobile self-scanning at more than 46,000 stores across the world, according to research from RBR.
During 2021, an additional 10,000 stores globally began offering this service, with customers scanning items as they shop either using their own smartphone or a device provided by the retailer.
Mobile self-scanning solutions have been offered by large, established retailers in European countries such as the UK, France and the Netherlands, for many years.
However, major chains in other parts of the world, such as in the USA, as well as smaller merchants elsewhere, are increasingly getting onboard via smartphone applications.
10…Amazon is adding a small number of bricks and mortar retail brands to its same-day delivery offering for Prime members.
This is kicking off with apparel firms PacSun, Diesel and Superdry, as well as vitamin retailer GNC, in 10 cities across the US.
1,000…Ikea franchisee Ingka Group is expanding its electric vehicles (EV) charger network with more than one thousand new charging points set to be in place by the end of 2024.
Last year, it reached its goal of providing EV charging stations in all stores worldwide where parking was provided.
The latest development results from a partnership with Recharge, with more than 300 being fast chargers, able to fully charge an EV in 15-45 minutes.
They will be available to customers, co-workers and Ikea home delivery trucks.
30…Boots UK and Ireland this week held its first ever Virtual Store Day with 30 leaders each shadowing four different areas of the retailer’s digital team to find out what it takes to keep the online store running every day.
1…Levy UK + Ireland, the sports and hospitality sector of Compass Group UK and Ireland, has launched Tap + Go for stadia, with Leicester City’s King Power Stadium the first to tap the technology.
Levy UK+ Ireland partnered with autonomous retail firm AiFi for this project.
Match day fans will be able to make food and drink purchases, without having to pay at a till.
They need to tap a payment card upon entry, pick up their items and walk out of the gates onto the concourse, where their card will be automatically charged.
Tap + Go, is operated via AiFi’s AI powered anonymised shopper tracking which recognises the products being selected by customers, before adding them to a virtual basket.
Checkouts will be replaced by the installation of contactless payment terminals connected to digital barriers upon exit.
