Online spending around Prime Day reaches record highs: 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 Prime Day, EY, Shein, Temu, EE, Ocado Group, The Range, Whole Foods Market, The O2, Cart.com, Canada Goose, and the 2024 RTIH Innovation Awards.
7…Canada Goose has appointed Alfredo C. M. Tan as Chief Digital & Information Officer.
“Alfredo brings significant global experience and a proven track-record harnessing the power of technology to transform consumer experiences and deliver results,” says Dani Reiss, Chairman and CEO, Canada Goose.
“I am confident in Alfredo's abilities to accelerate our organisation's digital capabilities, drive operating efficiencies across the value chain, and enhance our customers’ omnichannel shopping experience.”
Tan was most recently at Loblaw Companies Lwhere he was the Senior Vice President & Managing Director of the Retail Media division.
“I’m incredibly excited to join Canada Goose, a global leader in Canadian luxury with an authentic heritage and commitment to craftsmanship,” he says. “I believe there is tremendous opportunity ahead for the business as we leverage technology to deliver world class experiences and contribute to the growth of Canada Goose globally.”
$10 million…Human risk management platform, CultureAI, has closed a $10 million Series A funding round.
This was jointly led by Mercia Ventures and Smedvig Ventures, with existing investors Passion Capital and Senovo also continuing their support.
Following seed rounds of $4 million in 2021 and $5 million in 2023, CultureAI says it has seen rapid adoption of its human risk management offering, with significant growth in revenue and clients, including Revolut, RAC, Wickes, Delivery Hero, ClearBank, and Marie Curie.
32%…Despite technology transforming consumers’ retail experience, allowing them to seamlessly shop between online, social media, in-app and in-game, 32% of consumers still crave the personal service that only in-store shopping can provide, according to the EY Future Consumer Index (FCI) – which surveyed more than 23,000 consumers across 30 countries.
People are returning to physical stores for reasons that investment in artificial intelligence (AI) and technology alone cannot satisfy.
57% of shoppers surveyed want to see, touch and feel items before they buy them, and 68% are seeking expert advice on high value purchases to ensure they are making the most informed choices.
In a further sign that consumers are favouring physical store visits, 61% say they would go to a retailer for a store promotion that is not available online.
The report also indicates that while 68% of consumers are happy to receive and trust offers and promotions that have been personalised by AI, 49% are frustrated by smart chatbots that are not effective in resolving their queries.
A further 33% are concerned that AI generated recommendations are biased toward products/brands that may not be in their best interest.
£1.3 billion…Data from Adobe, powered by Adobe Analytics, shows that online spending around Prime Day reached record highs again this year, hitting £1.3 billion as retailers across the e-commerce universe joined Amazon in offering deals during the two-day event.
The summer Prime Day sale has become a key annual shopping holiday, with retailers ranging from small independent brands to e-commerce giants offering deep discounts to stimulate sales over 16th-17th July.
Online spending jumped 8.8% above 2023 levels as discounts of up to 18-19% in electronics, apparel, and TVs encouraged Brits to head online to bag a deal.
The first 24 hours of this year’s Prime Day event saw £633.4 million spent online, making it the biggest day for online shopping so far in 2024. The second day saw a further £618 million spent online, coming in at a close second place.
$105 million…Cart.com, a provider of unified commerce and logistics solutions, has secured a $105 million term loan facility provided by funds and accounts managed by BlackRock. The company says that the latest facility, among other things, consolidates its venture debt at competitive terms.
“Cart.com is one of the fastest growing providers of commerce and logistics solutions today and I’m excited to partner with BlackRock as we continue to aggressively invest to help our customers operate more efficiently,” says Founder and CEO Omair Tariq.
“This latest facility allows us to further expand into new markets while enhancing our innovative technology solutions, particularly our Constellation OMS offering. It also underscores our teams’ relentless work in driving operational excellence and profitability as we continue to partner with larger and larger customers across industries.”
Cart.com offers a suite of tech enabled logistics capabilities, enterprise grade channel and order management software and expert services.
It supports over 6,000 customers and 75 million orders per year and operates 14 omnichannel fulfilment centres across the US. The aforementioned capital follows the closing of a $25 million Series C extension round which brings the company’s Series C total to $85 million at a $1.2 billion valuation.
1…Actor, comedian and rapper, Michael Dapaah, aka Big Shaq, this week made a special appearance at the opening of EE’s latest Experience store in Westfield Stratford City.
Dapaah, who started out creating comedy on his phone, cut the ribbon and welcomed customers into the new space.
The Experience store is the next of its kind to open in London, following the launch of EE’s flagship Studio in Westfield London last June.
It will showcase some of the latest and greatest immersive technology which has been specially designed to help guide customers through their connected lives across four key areas – home, work, learn and game – featured in dedicated Experience Zones and a Tech Home area.
Consumer usage data from mobile analytics and business intelligence firm GWS Magnify reveals that Amazon has shored up its market dominance in 2024.
Since the start of the year, its monthly active user numbers in the UK have held steady at around 26 million since January 2024.
Challenger Shein has seen the most impressive retail growth in 2024 so far. In January, it had nearly eight million monthly active users. But today it boasts over 10.5 million users – up 37% since the turn of the year.
For the first time Temu’s growth rate appears to be plateauing, with user numbers down slightly (4%) since the seasonal highs at the turn of the year.
But user figures remain high at around 16 million monthly active users today, which is significantly more than Shein or Asos, and only slightly lower than eBay’s nearly 17.5 million.
6…The sixth edition of the RTIH Innovation Awards is now open for entries.
The awards, sponsored by CADS, 3D Cloud, and Retail Technology Show 2025, celebrate global tech innovation in a fast moving omnichannel world, with winners being announced during a glittering ceremony at RIBA’s 66 Portland Place HQ in Central London on Thursday, 21st November.
Key 2024 dates
Friday, 25th October: Award entry deadline
Tuesday, 29th October: 2024 shortlist revealed
30th October-6th November: Judging days
Thursday, 21st November: Winners announced at the 2024 RTIH Innovation Awards ceremony, to be held at RIBA’s 66 Portland Place HQ in Central London.
4…Lincolnshire Co-op has extended its partnership with Retail Insight for an additional four years, as it looks to further reduce food waste across its store estate.
As part of this, Lincolnshire Co-op will roll-out an enhanced version of Waste Trim, the latest feature of Retail Insight’s WasteInsight platform, which aims to optimise stock assortment, minimise overstocking and further cut food waste.
Lincolnshire Co-op is an independent co‑operative, which has been serving its local community for over 160 years, offering a wide range of services from its family of businesses.
Owned by its 300,000 members, it now operates 218 stores within the region, including its Food and Pharmacy stores, Post Office branches and Travel, Funeral and Floristry services.
£1.5 billion…Ocado reported this week that first-half revenue grew 12.6% to £1.5 billion, with pre-tax losses improving from £289.5 million to £153.9 million. Ocado Technology Solutions cash profit (EBITDA) guidance was also raised.
Aarin Chiekrie, equity analyst, Hargreaves Lansdown, says: “Ocado’s half-year results were a mixed basket. Progress in some areas was good, but the group’s still loss-making and some investors are beginning to lose patience.”
“Future growth relies on its so-called Technology Solutions business, where Ocado charges third-party retailers to use its robotic systems.”
“Hundreds of thousands of orders are processed each week with the help of its automated bots scurrying around the trademarked grid system. While this side of the business saw cash profit guidance raised, overall group growth of late hasn’t been as fast as markets had hoped.”
“Some retail partnerships have been paused or delayed this year, denting Ocado’s growth plans and leading to certain high profile analyst houses downgrading the stock as a result.”
“The retail side of the business is showing signs of improvement, with revenue up at double-digit rates. Growth has largely been fuelled by increased customer numbers rather than letting price hikes do the heavy lifting.”
“That helps foster a positive value perception among its customers, but raising prices slower than inflation will put pressure on profitability, meaning other areas of the business will have to pick up some of the slack.”
“The group’s still embroiled in a legal dispute with Marks & Spencer, which owns half of Ocado.com, over payments relating to Ocado missing contractual targets. Regardless of the outcome, this is likely to sour relations between the two retailers.”
$6.5 million…Coldcart, a platform for frozen and refrigerated parcel logistics, has closed an oversubscribed $6.5 million seed financing.
The round was led by Collide Capital and includes previous convertible note investments led by Material. Great North Ventures, Behind Genius Ventures, Feld Ventures, Alumni Ventures, and Service Provider Capital also participated.
With this new funding, Coldcart plans to grow its installed base of perishable shippers and logistics providers.
It was founded by CEO Jason Park, who previously started and scaled Allstate Identity Protection from zero to $100 million ARR, and Blue Apron founder and former CEO Matt Salzberg.
Early backers include founders, C-level, and senior executives from Marley Spoon, Home Chef, Y Combinator, and Bain & Company.
20…Whole Foods Market CEO Jason Buechel, alongside 70 team members, rang the Nasdaq opening bell this week to celebrate the 20th anniversary of its first New York City flagship store.
Since then, Whole Foods Market has grown in the NYC area to 17 locations and more than 5,000 local team members.
"The opening of the Whole Foods Market Columbus Circle store was, in my opinion, one of the most important openings in the history of our company," said Christina Minardi, Executive Vice President of Growth & Development at Whole Foods Market & Amazon’s Worldwide Grocery Stores.
"It made a huge impact on our future growth, and the excitement I felt at that opening is very much what I feel today with our team members."
“Today, we're not just reflecting on our impact in New York City over the past two decades. We’re also looking forward to an exciting future of continuing growth in a city that has embraced Whole Foods Market with such enthusiasm,” said Jason Buechel, Whole Foods Market CEO.
“It made perfect sense for us to launch a new store format right here. Whole Foods Market Daily Shop will conveniently bring our high-quality natural and organic food to even more New York City customers.”
The first Whole Foods Market Daily Shop location is set to open on the Upper East Side at 1175 Third Avenue this autumn.
The company has also announced the second future location for the Whole Foods Market Daily Shop format, at 301 West 50th Street, in Hell’s Kitchen. An additional New York City location and national rollout will follow.
Whole Foods Market Daily Shop stores will feature a variety of fresh, seasonal produce, prepared foods, and essential grocery items. Both of the newly announced New York City locations will also feature Juice & Java, a venue providing coffee, tea, fresh-pressed juices, smoothies, sandwiches, soups, and desserts.
The smaller store format will range between 7,000 to 14,000 square feet, or about a quarter to half the footprint of an average 40,000 square foot store.
Whole Foods Market currently has more than 530 stores in the US, UK and Canada with more than 75 stores in development.
2…The O2 recently became the first indoor arena in England to use Amazon’s Just Walk Out technology, with a new store allowing people to tap their card or mobile wallet, grab their chosen drinks and snacks, and quickly get back to their seats.
And it is now working on a second location, set to open later this year.
In a LinkedIn post, Paul Samuels, Executive Vice President, AEG Global Partnerships at AEG, said: “The O2's partnership with Just Walk Out highlights our continuous investment in guest experience and dedication to innovation, ensuring every moment at the venue counts for the fans.”
“Stay tuned as we plan to introduce more Just Walk Out units at the venue, with a second location scheduled to open later this year.”
He added: “As we welcome Amazon Just Walk Out as a sponsor of the world's number one music venue, we are committed to delivering cutting-edge technology solutions for an unforgettable experience. Exciting times ahead, so watch this space for more announcements.”
“Well done Matt Lowen (Partnerships Sales Director at AEG) and Adam Pearson (Commercial Director, The O2) and everyone else involved for all your work on this partnership.”
A new study from Brightpearl by Sage, who polled over 1,000 businesses, found that on average, retailers are spending an average of 5.7 hours weekly, 24 hours and 38.6 minutes monthly, and approximately 296 hours and 3.2 minutes annually on these tasks.
On average, they’ll wade through hundreds of admin tasks a month – with the study highlighting that working with spreadsheets, managing invoices and billing, analysing sales reports, and stock replenishment are amongst the most despised manual jobs.
1.17 million and 1,600…Home and leisure retailer The Range has opened a new warehouse that spans 1.17 million square ft.
This is located in Stowmarket and will provide 1,600 jobs to the local community.
A year in the making, it will serve both The Range and wilko.com customers across the South, South East, East of England and the East Midlands.
The Range said: “The warehouse is complete with an on-site gym and canteen. Plus, to help ease our employee's commute there’s a bus, bike racks and electric vehicle charging stations available.”
“Recruitment is currently underway for a variety of jobs, including forklift truck drivers, order picking, loading and dispatching, HR, health and safety, catering staff and drivers.”
3…Hasbro has announced three senior appointments that aim to build on the company’s digital transformation and ongoing turnaround efforts.
Dan Shull will join as Chief Digital Information Officer, Stephanie Beal has been promoted to Chief Supply Chain Officer, and Dan Rawson is taking on an expanded role overseeing direct and e-commerce, as well as continuing as Global Play Lead for Dungeons and Dragons and RPGs.
Beal and Rawson’s new roles are effective immediately, and Shull will join on 15th July.
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