Klarna makes a blockbuster stock market debut: presenting the retail technology week in numbers

Do you like numbers? Do you like retail systems news? Then this is the article for you. Including Instacart, Morrisons, Primark, Wolt, Strongbow, finmid, Blue Yonder, eBay, Walmart, Curve, Office Depot, and the 2025 RTIH Innovation Awards.

45%...New research conducted by VistaPrint flags growing demand for independent shops on UK high streets.

VistaPrint surveyed 2,000 UK adults in August 2025 and found 45% visit their local high street at least once a week. 36% said their high street is busier than it was a year ago and 85% want to see more small businesses opening stores.

Survey respondents feel that independent businesses help create jobs, improve the community and improve the appearance of town centres.

1...There is now just one week left to get your entries in for the seventh edition of the RTIH Innovation Awards, sponsored by Vista Technology Support, 3D Cloud, EdTech Innovation Hub, and Retail Technology Show.

Deadline for submissions is Friday, 19th September.

The awards celebrate global tech innovation in a fast moving omnichannel world. Check out our 2024 winners here.

It’s free to enter and you can do so across multiple categories here.

Our latest winners will be revealed at the 2025 RTIH Innovation Awards Ceremony, taking place at The HAC in Central London on Thursday, 16th October.

Key dates

Friday, 19th September: Award entry deadline 

Tuesday, 23rd September: 2025 finalists revealed

Wednesday, 24th September - Wednesday, 8th October: Judging days

Thursday, 16th October: Winners announced at the 2025 RTIH Innovation Awards Ceremony, taking place at The HAC in Central London on Thursday, 16th October.

84%...A new survey conducted by supply chain tech specialist Blue Yonder has found that two in every three consumers are reluctant to purchase items due to tighter restrictions on returns.

Blue Yonder surveyed more than 6,000 consumers across the UK, Australia, New Zealand, France, Germany, the Middle East and the US. Across all nations, 84% of those surveyed said they would stop stopping at their favourite retailer if stricter returns policies were introduced.

Consumers in the Middle East were most likely to be deterred from purchasing due to tighter restrictions, followed by those in France, Germany and the UK.

More than half of respondents globally believe stricter returns restrictions are inconvenient and unfair for customers. 

6...Stephen Regan, Group Board Executive at Primark, has taken to social media to discuss recent store openings in the USA and Europe and a relocation project in the UK.

In a LinkedIn post, he said: “September has already been an incredible month for us. In just a few short weeks, we’ve celebrated the opening of six new stores across the US and Europe, including two in a single day, as well as the relocation of one of our UK stores into a bigger and better space for colleagues and customers alike.”

He added: “From Texas to Spain, France, Romania, Italy, and the UK, each new store represents more than just expansion. It’s about bringing Primark closer to more people, creating new jobs, and offering even more customers our unique mix of style, quality and value they know and love.”

“Behind every ribbon cutting is the tireless work of our teams and partners, who pour their energy and expertise into making each opening a success. I’m so proud of what we’ve achieved together this month - a brilliant example of our strategy for responsible growth in action. And we’re only just getting started.”

$19.65 billion...Klarna shares jumped 30% in their New York debut on Wednesday, valuing the buy now pay later big hitter at $19.65 billion, ending the company's years long wait for a listing. The Swedish FinTech's shares opened at $52, compared with their IPO price of $40 apiece.

"This (going public) is really an opportunity…primarily for new shareholders, our 111 million consumers and others to really partake in that journey to disrupt the financial services industry and be the next generation of personal finance," Klarna Chief Financial Officer Niclas Neglén told Reuters.

1...Instacart and Morrisons are teaming up to bring the former’s AI powered Caper Cart smart trolleys to the UK for the first time. These will become available starting in early 2026 at one initial Morrisons store, with the potential for a further roll-out.

Caper Carts let customers scan items as they shop, track their running total in real-time, and check-out.

The trolleys feature interactive screens, built-in scales, and AI powered sensors that guide customers through scanning and placing items directly into the basket, including weighing fresh produce directly in the trolley.

As items are scanned, it identifies them instantly, helping customers keep track of their spending and move through the store at their own pace. To complete their purchase, shoppers scan the barcode displayed on the trolley’s screen at the store’s self-checkout area.

For Morrisons customers, the smart trolleys will be integrated with the More Card loyalty programme.

29% and 50%...New research from eBay Advertising UK reveals that Brits are putting themselves at the top of their gift lists. A survey of more than 2,000 Christmas shoppers found that 29% tend to spend more on themselves than friends or family at Christmas - jumping to 50% of Millennials. 

Fashion and accessories top Brits’ self-gifting list this Black Friday and Christmas (31%), with beauty and wellness (27%), electronics (24%), household essentials (23%) and gaming (19%) close behind.

The research reveals an opportunity for retailers, with shoppers planning to splurge more this festive season. In fact, 32% are looking to spend more this year than last - up 24% from 2024.  

The trend is even more pronounced among younger shoppers, with 56% of Millennials and 51% of Gen Z planning to increase their budgets. Millennials are also the biggest spenders overall, with an average Christmas budget last year of almost £1,000 (£993.77), compared to the UK average of £779. In contrast, Generation X are showing signs of caution, with just 26% planning to spend less.

$6.2 million...LocalExpress, an AI native unified commerce platform working with grocery and food retailers across the US, Canada and LatAm, has secured $6.2 million in venture funding led by OXZ Capital.

The company says it has built AI powered systems that harmonise and process millions of transactions and inventory updates across hundreds of retailers.

Bagrat Safarian, CEO and Co-Founder at LocalExpress, says: "From day one of launching LocalExpress, we have been helping independents with structuring, harmonising and enriching their grocery data.”

“We have built a tremendous data transformation library and now with the AI revolution, we're growing our proprietary grocery data AI to become the Zapier for grocery data - seamlessly connecting and distributing intelligence across the entire tech ecosystem.”

“This amplifies the data intelligence we've built and helps grocers make smarter decisions with timely analytics. OXZ Capital's investment and expertise will help us scale further and faster, particularly as we bring more AI powered solutions to market that empower independent retailers to compete at the highest level." 

23%...Wolt, a Finland-based technology and local commerce company, has shared that 23% of all its worldwide deliveries were made using either electric vehicles or bicycles between July 2024 and July 2025. 

The company says this marks “significant progress” towards more sustainable last mile delivery and an 8% increase year-on-year in ‘clean’ deliveries. 

Wolt operates in more than 30 markets around the world and says more than 80% of deliveries in Austria and 66% in Germany were ‘clean’ in the past year. In Hungary, Croatia and Poland, it says over 30% of deliveries were ‘clean’. 

15...Office Depot has announced the launch of its 15-Minute Pickup Promise, now available at Office Depot and OfficeMax stores across the US.

Customers can pick up qualifying online or mobile orders in-store or curbside in 15 minutes.

To use the service, they can place a qualifying order at officedepot.com or via the mobile app and select "In-Store or Curbside* Pickup" at least one hour before closing. If their order isn’t ready in 15 minutes, they’ll receive a $15 coupon for their next qualifying purchase within 72 hours.“

“We’re committed to providing the fastest and easiest shopping experience in the nation for our customers, whether they’re wrapping up back to school lists or running their own small business,” says Kevin Moffitt, President at Office Depot.

“Our 15-Minute Pickup Promise is designed to deliver convenience and peace of mind so that customers can get what they need - when they need it - and focus on what matters most.”

30...finmid reports that its embedded lending infrastructure is now available in 30 European markets. The company has added Bulgaria, Croatia, Estonia, France, Hungary, Ireland, Malta, Romania, Iceland and Switzerland to the list of countries it is serving.

“Europe’s dream of a single market has been held back by a financial system that stops at borders,” says Alexander Talkanitsa, Co-founder at finmid. “Embedded lending has always had the potential to change that, but the reality was fragmented and slow.”

“With this roll-out, any platform can, for the first time, offer capital to its customers everywhere in Europe. This changes the game. With this barrier removed, the next decade of growth for European SMEs is made possible on a region wide scale.”

1...Strongbow has partnered with marketing agency, Purple Goat, part of WPP Media, to become the first major alcohol brand in the world to add an assistive technology feature directly to its packaging.

Strongbow’s cider products now feature a NaviLens QR code,  a smartphone readable marker that helps blind and partially sighted shoppers find, understand, and engage with the product. The code links to the NaviLens app which shares key details such as ingredients and ABV, along with brand content and store navigation.

The new feature was incorporated as a result of consumer insight, where Purple Goat led research into how Strongbow’s packaging is experienced by blind and visually impaired consumers, drawing on feedback from a host of creators and community advocates including Lucy Edwards, Yahya Pandor, Claire Sisk and Sylvia Chengo. 

725,000...Walmart has opened a new 725,000 square foot perishable distribution centre (PDC) in Wellford, South Carolina.

The facility is designed to receive and process fresh produce, eggs, dairy, meat and frozen goods for delivery to 180 stores.

“The opening of our new high tech perishable distribution centre, marks a major step forward in how we get fresher products to customers faster - whether that’s in-store, delivered to their home, or even restocking their refrigerator,” says Rob Montgomery, Executive Vice President, Supply Chain, Walmart U.S.

The Lyman area facility is the third of five new PDCs Walmart is opening nationwide, pitched as a significant milestone in the company’s supply chain transformation.

£120 million...Lloyds Banking Group is working on deal to buy Curve, a provider of digital wallet technology, and could announce the acquisition for around £120 million as soon as this week.

A Sky News report, citing city sources, states that the terms of a transaction have been agreed, although a formal announcement might not be made until later in the month.

According to Sky News: “The financial services giant, which owns the Halifax brand and operates the biggest bank branch network in the UK, believes Curve's digital wallet platform will be a valuable asset amid growing regulatory pressure on Apple to open its payment services to rivals.”

Curve was founded in 2016 and has raised more than £200 million in equity to date. In 2019, founder Shachar Bialick said in an interview: "In ten years' time we are going to be IPOed, and hopefully worth around $50 billion to $60 billion."

It currently pitches itself as a rival to Apple Pay, having initially launched as an app enabling consumers to combine their debit and credit cards in a single wallet.

DKK 4.7 billion...In its last strategy period, Scandinavian home furnishing retailer JYSK invested DKK 4.7 billion in its store concept 3.0 where more than 3,000 stores were redesigned. In its latest strategy period, it says that it expects to stump up at least DKK 2 billion in its IT infrastructure, online retail options and other customer facing platforms, so that customers can shop with it anywhere and anytime.

Entitled Customers’ First Choice, this will run until the end of the financial year 2028.

“We need to continue to upgrade and develop our digital solutions to stay competitive. We have invested in our great store network and now our digital touch points must also follow to ensure an easy shopping experience for our customers no matter where they shop with JYSK,” says President and CEO at JYSK, Rami Jensen.

The plan is to prioritise opening new stores in the countries where the retailer is already present. JYSK will also focus on opening more locations in large metropolitan cities in Europe.