These are the RTIH retail systems articles that caught your fancy last week, including the booming last mile delivery space, McDonald’s getting into the NFT game and retailers preparing for a post-pandemic Christmas.

Last mile delivery space set for explosive growth

Global last mile delivery market revenues are set to hit $117.9 billion by 2030, demonstrating a CAGR of 20.3% from 2020 to 2030, according to P&S Intelligence.

This will be powered by a growing demand for omnichannel retail, increasing internet penetration in emerging economies, including Thailand, Indonesia, and India, and soaring e-commerce sales in developing countries.

Use of real-time tracking technology will also be key here. 

Last week’s biggest retail technology deals at a glance

RTIH rounds up the stand out retail tech deals, deployments and pilots from the past seven days. Featuring Pets at Home, Asda, boohoo group/Debenhams, Target, Amazon and AMC Theatres.

McDonald’s China gets in to the NFT game

McDonald’s has released a set of 188 non-fungible tokens (NFTs) to celebrate its 31st anniversary in the Chinese market. 

Dubbed Big Mac Rubik’s Cube, these will be distributed among employees and consumers as a part of the giveaway. 

The NFTs are based on the three dimensional structure of McDonald’s China’s new office headquarters.

They  are built on the Confluux public blockchain and are created in partnership with Cocafe, ensuring that “each work is unique, indivisible and can not be tampered with.”

Forget offline vs online. The big word in retail is hybrid

Too much time has been wasted on the offline vs online debate. The reality is that both are hugely important to forward thinking retailers. The big word right now is hybrid, that is, the blurring of online and offline and the pursuit of one customer experience.

Fearless Adventures announces fund and support network for D2C startups

Fearless Adventures has launched a multi-million pound fund and a one stop shop of support services pitched at the next generation of direct-to-consumer (D2C) startups in the UK. 

How should retailers prepare for a post-pandemic Christmas?

Check out this insightful article by Barry Flaherty, Head of Strategic Alliances EMEA, Jitterbit.

Don’t miss your chance to enter our retail technology awards

Time is running out to enter (free of charge) the 2021 RTIH Innovation Awards.

The awards, sponsored by PMC, StoreSpace, Critizr, Marxent, QVALON and Selazar, celebrate global tech innovation in a fast moving omnichannel world.

The 2021 categories can be found here and you have until Friday, 5th November to get your entries in.

Wendy’s and REEF pick London for first UK delivery kitchens

Wendy’s and REEF have announced the opening of the first Wendy’s delivery kitchens in the United Kingdom. 

This closely follows their announcement of plans to open and operate approximately 700 delivery kitchens over the next five years across the US, Canada and the UK. 

It builds upon a test of eight facilities in Canada beginning in late 2020. Through this commitment, SoftBank backed Reef becomes the first Wendy’s franchisee in the UK. 

THG Ingenuity switches on Mode Open Banking and Bitcoin service

UK-based FinTech venture Mode has launched its Open Banking payments and Bitcoin rewards solution with The Hut Group’s THG Ingenuity tech platform.

The integration can now be found on all 30+ THG brands at checkout, including Lookfantastic, Myprotein and The Hut.

Klarna flags mismatches between omnichannel retailer and shopper expectations

75% of retailers think their omnichannel capabilities are sophisticated, but half of Klarna users feel they lack consistency between websites and stores.