RTIH takes a look at the retail technology space during August and rounds up the winners and losers.

Good month for…

Amazon opened its first ever Amazon Fresh grocery store, in Woodland Hills, California, including the Amazon Dash Cart, which enables customers to skip the checkout line, and new Alexa features to help people manage their shopping lists and better navigate the aisles.

Amazon also received approval from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) in the US to operate its fleet of Prime Air delivery drones.

UK-based online marketplace OnBuy reported a record 24,000% GMV growth in four years, and said that it had its sights set on creating £2 billion in sales in the next three years.

The co-founder of online retailer and technology venture The Hut Group is in line for a £700 million share windfall.

According to a report by Sky News, Matthew Moulding could land one of the biggest payouts in British corporate history from an incentive scheme that was disclosed this month alongside plans for a £4.5 billion London Stock Exchange flotation.

Tesco is to create 16,000 new permanent roles to support growth in its online business. 

These will include 10,000 pickers to assemble customer orders and 3,000 drivers to deliver them, plus various other roles in stores and distribution centres.

MishiPay launched its Scan, Pay & Go mobile self-checkout solution in Ireland with BWG Foods.

A pilot scheme will see the tech being tested out at two locations within the retailer’s estate: SPAR Cherrywood in Dublin and Londis Newcastle in Galway.

Boosted by the coronavirus lockdown, the UK subscription economy is now worth £323 million, with spending on such services increasing by 39.4% year-on-year in July, according to research from Barclaycard Payments. 

Online electricals retailer, AO, announced the creation of 650 new jobs across the UK in its retail, mobile, tech, financial services and logistics divisions.

UK cash management specialist, Loomis, reported a significant increase in the number of retailers accepting cash again and a rise in the amount of notes and coins being used by consumers since the coronavirus lockdown eased, non-essential retailers re-opened and the Eat Out to Help Out scheme started.

Wrinkly rockers The Rolling Stones are to open a store, RS No. 9 Carnaby, at Carnaby Street in London’s Soho. 

Instagram is the most popular social media platform amongst UK consumers, with 46% selecting it as the app they have consumed the most content on during the Covid-19 crisis, according to research from Influenster.

M&S emailed its customers this month, informing them that on 1st September it would for the first time launch its full product range online. 

SaaS-based e-commerce marketing platform provider Yotpo raised $75 million in funding.

Bad month for…

Monsoon Accessorize stood accused in August of having a critical vulnerability, giving unauthorised access to internal company servers and customer data. 

Also in August…

Best Buy is set to hire more than 1,000 new tech employees in the next two years. And 30% will be people of colour or women.

Ocado’s Chief Executive Tim Steiner hit out at Waitrose as the two got ready to officially part ways, ending a 20 year relationship.

Amazon is adding more than 1,800 electric vehicles from Mercedes-Benz Vans to its delivery fleet in Europe this year. 

Primark launched its first ever mobile game, Primark Legends.

Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba Group put on hold plans to invest in Indian startups.

M&S is tapping Doddle technology for two new Click and Collect trials: in-store contactless collection (at its Hempstead Valley, Camberley & Longbridge stores) and drive-up collection (at Camberley). 

Sainsbury’s brought back bagless online grocery deliveries at the end of August.

Last October, the grocery giant removed plastic bags from its e-commerce offering. But early in the coronavirus pandemic, it temporarily reintroduced them.

Marks & Spencer is set to open a new national food distribution centre in Milton Keynes during September. The move will create 360 new jobs in the local area. 

Walmart is partnering with Instacart to offer same-day delivery in the US as it looks to take on Amazon and its network of Whole Foods stores and Prime offering. The tie up is currently in a pilot phase in four markets across California and in Oklahoma.

India’s Flipkart launched Flipkart Leap, the Walmart-owned e-commerce giant’s first startup accelerator.

This will identify B2C and B2B startups and help them scale through a 16-week virtual programme. 

Walmart once again delayed the launch of its Amazon Prime competitor Walmart+.

Dixons Carphone announced it was to cut 800 jobs as it looked to “make store team management structures leaner and create new roles and ways of working to deliver its Vision – We Help Everyone Enjoy Amazing Technology”.

Electrical retailer Comet returned to action as a pureplay this month, eight years after it folded.

Amazon is planning to open as many as 30 Amazon Go cashierless convenience stores in the UK.

Amazon is set to create 3,500 new tech and corporate jobs across six cities in the United States. 

It’s a notable move amid a coronavirus outbreak that has caused many companies to freeze hiring, while unemployment claims have soared across the country. 

Retail technology provider, Aptos, entered into a definitive agreement to acquire price optimisation solutions specialist, Revionics. 

Alimentation Couche-Tard, which operates close to 14,500 convenience stores worldwide, including under the Circle K brand, selected Standard Cognition to pilot autonomous checkout technology. 

Morrisons customers can now do their full food shop on Amazon.co.uk and get free same-day delivery on orders over £40 as part of their Prime membership.

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