Fashion and homeware retailer Next continues its hot streak: 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 Amazon, Diebold Nixdorf, DFS Group, Ant Group, Footasylum, NewStore, Mirakl, and PMC.
$134.4 billion and $100 million…Amazon sales hit $134.4 billion, up 11%, for the second quarter of 2023 as retail and AWS sales rose.
The US e-commerce giant also announced that $100 million is being invested in a AWS Generative AI Innovation Centre, which will “connect AWS AI and machine learning experts with customers around the globe to help them envision, design, and launch new generative AI products, services, and processes.”
£845 million…Next has upgraded its full-year pre-tax profit guidance by £10 million to £845 million.
Aarin Chiekrie, Equity Analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, says: “Next has got into a habit of beating market expectations on the upside lately, and its second quarter trading statement continued the hot streak.”
“Full-year pre-tax profit guidance got another bump up today, now expected to come in £10m higher at £845 million. Online sales were the main driver of this upgrade, with sales in this channel growing at double-digit rates.”
End-of-season sales were ahead of group expectations in the period, adding to the positive tailwinds that the retailer seems to be catching lately. It also still has a strong high street presence, with sales here also heading in the right direction.”
“Next’s certainly weathering the storm of economic uncertainty admirably, and looks well placed to prosper further when the cycle turns,” Chiekrie comments.
600…Thalia, an omnichannel bookseller in the DACH region with around 6,000 employees, has selected Diebold Nixdorf to introduce new self-checkout solutions.
Planned through mid-2024, the project will involve a total of 500 modular DN Series EASY eXpress systems for the German market, and more than 100 systems for Austria and Switzerland.
In addition, Diebold Nixdorf will leverage its services technician network to provide on-site troubleshooting and support services for Thalia in all three countries.
$60 million…Indian logistics startup Shadowfax is close to wrapping up a funding round of approximately $60 million.
The Bengaluru headquartered firm counts Flipkart among its backers
It provides logistics services provider to hyper-local, on-demand delivery businesses, and counts Myntra, Zomato owned Blinkit, Decathlon, Flipkart, BigBasket and Practo among its customers.
Its logistics network reaches 9,500+ zipcodes across India and it works with over three million delivery personnels and processes 1.5 million orders a day, according to its website. Shadowfax has raised around $121 million to date.
$5 million…Odore, a UK-based customer engagement platform enabling direct-to-consumer (D2C) brands to streamline their marketing efforts, has announced a $5 million seed round led by Fuel Ventures with participation from existing investors.
The startup counts the entire L’Oreal Group (including the likes of Armani, Lancome, and YSL), Dior, LVMH, and Shiseido among its clients.
It was launched in 2020 by co-founders Armaan Mehta and Karan Gupta, both graduates of London School of Economics.
36, 15, qnd 12…DFS Group and Ant Group have announced a partnership which will see the former leverage Alipay+ to engage with its customers pre, during and post shopping, across 36 stores in 15 markets, and 12 online shops in four markets.
This will involve: increasing visibility of DFS directly within Alipay and Alipay+ partner wallets' apps and mutually offering more targeted, personalised and relevant rewards for shoppers, including exclusive offers.
60…Footasylum has selected NewStore to power the omnichannel experience across its 60 stores in the UK.
The partnership builds on Footasylum’s technology architecture, which also includes Talon.One, a promotion and loyalty automation solution.
“In order to keep up with the pace of innovation and grow our business, we need a technology architecture that is open, flexible, and scalable. But we cannot build it ourselves. We need commerce partners that align with our vision,” says Mike Wallwork, E-commerce Director, Footasylum.
“That is why we are working with MACH certified companies like NewStore and Talon.One. These innovative platforms and tools will help us achieve our goals and continue to provide the exceptional level of service our customers expect."
18% and 83%…While only 18% of retail leaders believe the post-purchase process can be significantly made better, 83% of consumers think there is room for improvement, according to Sorted research.
Its survey, consisting of 1,000 consumers and 250 retail leaders across the UK, revealed that 93% of the former consider the post-purchase experience to be important. However, only 40% of the latter believe that the post-purchase experience is fully optimised.
€100 million…E-commerce technology firm Mirakl has announced the signing of a €100 million revolving credit facility (RCF).
Granted by BNP Paribas, HSBC, J.P. Morgan, Natixis and Société Générale, this builds on Series D and E funding rounds.
The cash will be used to finance Mirakl's growth, in particular by investing in its technology and completing acquisitions.
Following the Series E round of $555 million in 2021, the company was valued at over $3.5 billion. Previous acquisitions include Target2Sell.
$15.1 million…Stay Ai, a customer loyalty operating system for Shopify brands, has raised a $15.1 million Series A, the company's first funding announcement since launching in October 2021.
This consists of an $8.6 million investment headed up by Telescope Partners, with participation from Boulder Food Group, Riverpark Ventures, and Vanterra Capital.
Previous investments total $7.5 million land were led by Watchfire Ventures, alongside the likes of Nik Sharma (Sharma Brands) and Adam Turner (Postscript).
90…Need It For Tonight teams with Gophr for London-based rapid fashion delivery initiative
Need It For Tonight, which is pitched as London’s first on-demand fashion delivery app, has announced a partnership with Gophr to offer customers a 90 minute delivery service.
Fashion brands in the capital that have signed up with. Need It For Tonight include Wild Swans Boutique, Rejina Pyo, Cult Mia and Blue Nude.
Gophr’s real-time delivery tracking is embedded within the venture’s app. Its network of couriers also allows users flexibility to select delivery options without rigid time limitations.
1…Downtown Spirits, a Seattle-based beer, wine and spirits retailer, is gearing up to open the doors to its new, 4,200 square-foot location on 7th Avenue between Olive and Stewart, across from Pacific Place, featuring a fully checkout-free shopping experience powered by Amazon Just Walk Out technology.
This will take place on Thursday, 10th August.
Downtown Spirits is the first ever beer, wine, and spirits retailer to implement Just Walk Out technology made possible by artificial intelligence like computer vision and deep learning techniques, including generative AI, to accurately determine who took what in any retail environment.
Guests enter the store by using the Downtown Spirits app at the front door.
The technology detects what shoppers take from or return to the shelves, and creates a virtual shopping session.
When people have completed their shopping experience, they are able to leave the store without having to wait in line, and their choice of payment method will be charged for the items they took with them.
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