The way of the future: 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 Nuro, boohoo, Sticky, Klarna, Shein, Alibaba Group, and the 2023 RTIH Innovation Awards.
5…After launching in 2019 and delivering hugely successful follow up events in 2020, 2021 and 2022, the RTIH Innovation Awards return in 2023 with a discussion panel and awards ceremony to be held in central London venues during December.
The fifth edition of the awards is now open for entries.
The event celebrates global tech innovation in a fast moving omnichannel world.
We received a record number of submissions in 2022, with winners including Sook, B&Q, 3D Cloud by Marxent, Compass Group, AiFi, Walmart, Ribble Cycles, Obsess, HyperFinity, Red Ant, Pets at Home, and TPP Retail.
Our winners and highly commended companies were announced at a sold out event in central London on Tuesday, 6th December.
For 2023, we are introducing new categories and expanding the awards ceremony in December to accommodate more attendees (further details on that will be revealed in the near future).
Scott Thompson, Editor and Founder of RTIH, says: “Our awards celebrate the dynamic, resilient and innovative retail sector and the companies and technologies that drive it forward.”
“Competition was tougher than ever in 2022, so to emerge victorious was no mean feat.”
“Congratulations to our winners and highly commended companies. I’m excited to launch the fifth edition of the awards. The 2023 event will be the biggest and best yet.”
Deadline for 2023 submissions is Friday, 27th October, with winners being revealed at the aforementioned event in central London during December.
30%…Nuro is set to lay off 30% of its employees, or about 340 people, across the company.
Co-founders Dave Ferguson and Jiajun Zhu said in a blog post that the plan was to shift resources away from commercial operations and toward R&D.
£1.5 million…Sticky, a UK startup which enables retailers to turn more of their physical space into Points of Sale, has secured £1.5 million to fund its expansion plans.
The venture, which counts the burger chain Byron among its clients, has attracted backing from new investors Praetura Ventures and Cornerstone VC. The round also includes follow on funding from SFC Capital.
Sticky uses its own operating system with NFC technology to enable companies in sectors such as retail, hospitality and health and fitness to process payment transactions in less than 10 seconds.
£1.8 billion…Fast fashion pureplay boohoo’s full-year revenue fell 13% to £1.8 billion, ignoring the effect of exchange rates.
UK and International revenues declined 9% and 13% respectively, with lower consumer demand being blamed on cost-of-living pressures and extended delivery times.
Underlying operating profit fell 92% to £6.9 million, impacted by the fall in sales as well as freight, labour and energy cost inflation.
Aarin Chiekrie, Equity Analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, says: “boohoo’s full year results were a painful read for investors. Revenue declined across all geographies, most notably down by double digits in the USA, which is seen as the group’s route to major growth.”
“boohoo’s spent heavily on increasing capacity and that’s already taking its toll on profits. If this turns out to be a systemic slowdown in sales growth, not just a blip, those extra warehouses will become an even bigger problem for profits.”
“The world of fast fashion is a competitive place, by the time the group's US distribution network becomes fully operational in 2024, its American shoppers may well have moved on.”
“Despite falling revenues and collapsing profits, the shares popped on the news that things weren’t quite as bad as feared. But turning the ship around will not be an easy task. It’ll require revenue growth, but given that active customer numbers fell 10% this year, we’re doubtful of any swift turnaround in the group’s fortunes.”
18…New data from buy now pay later big hitter Klarna reveals how retailers will need to adapt their offering to win shoppers in the future.
The company spoke to more than 5,000 consumers in five countries and teamed up with Kate Hardcastle, aka the Customer Whisperer, to explore how the future of shopping could evolve.
Its report also includes predictions from some of the world’s leading retailers and ChatGPT, which recently teamed up with Klarna.
The study examined shopping habits 18 years from now, when Gen Z’ers will turn 40 and together with Millennials be the dominant consumers. Results revealed their predictions on how emerging technologies will influence future shopping experiences.
12…Alibaba Group is targeting spinning off its Cloud Intelligence Group within 12 months ahead of a planned initial public offering (IPO).
Alibaba International Digital Commerce (AIDC) is set to explore external financing while new retail business Freshippo and Alibaba’s logistics arm Cainiao Smart Logistics are green-lit to pursue IPOs. The capital raisings are subject to various conditions and approvals.
The news this week was part of Alibaba Group’s update on implementing the biggest organisational and governance revamp that it has ever undertaken.
This was announced on 28th March and aims to empower its businesses to become “more agile, enhance decision-making, enable faster responses to market changes, and promote innovation to capture opportunities, thereby unlocking shareholder value”.
“In an increasingly complex world, we have proactively transformed our organisation to strengthen the competitiveness of our businesses through greater independence to address the evolving needs of different customers and capture new opportunities,” says Daniel Zhang, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer at Alibaba Group.
1,500…Daisy Corporate Services has announced a multi-year managed services contract with health and beauty retailer A.S. Watson Group.
This will see it provide SD-WAN, cloud unified communications, and fibre connectivity to more than 1,500 stores in the UK.
A.S. Watson’s brands in the UK include Superdrug, Savers, and The Perfume Shop.
30…Online fast fashion retailer Shein is opening 30 pop-up stores this year across the EMEA (Europe, the Middle East and Africa) region.
“These pop-ups form an integral part of the Shein business model, allowing consumers to experience products first hand as well as allowing the brand to engage with consumers,” the brand said in an online post.
£8 billion…UK consumers spent a total of £8 billion online in April 2023, down 1.7% from the previous month, and down 2.2% YoY, according to the Adobe Digital Economy Index.
And they have racked up £4.9 billion in buy now pay later debt for the first four months of 2023 from a total online spend of £32.6 billion.
In April, BNPL usage remained high with consumers spending £1.3 billion through these services, representing 16% of total online spend.
Adobe’s analysis also revealed a 2% increase in average order values using BNPL compared with March, and an acceleration in the amount spent using these services from 20th April onwards.
For the final ten days of the month, order values using BNPL were around £8 higher on average than the period from 1st – 19th April indicating consumers are more reliant on BNPL services in the run up to payday.
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