Новости за 15.10.2021

In today’s top retail news, the U.S. Commerce Department says retail sales were up in September, though inflation may have something to do with that, while more merchants may be looking to accept cryptocurrency within the next few years. Also, Walmart is trying to expand its conversational commerce capabilities despite Amazon’s dominance, and Toyota is […]

In the early months of the pandemic, as ordering shifted online, quick-service restaurants (QSRs) had the advantage. With a model already highly dependent on off-premise ordering, the shift towards speed and convenience only bolstered their value proposition. Full-service restaurants (FSRs), meanwhile, have been tasked with a more dramatic transformation.  As consumers’ digital ordering habits have […]

Coinbase, the cryptocurrency exchange, announced that it will soon debut a marketplace for NFTs. Meanwhile, Visa and TikTok partnered with creators on new, NFT-focused projects. Bank of America published a report saying crypto and NFTs are “too large to ignore.” Indeed, observers estimated that so far this year, sales of NFTs have totaled anywhere from […]

Through the past week, what might be termed “traditional” initial public offering (IPO) announcements seemed to dominate the headlines, with relatively fewer SPAC-related announcements. Banking-related listings year to date now stand at 56, while firms dedicated to transforming other companies’ workflows now stand at 44. To that end, software development platform GitLab, focused on coding […]

Apple may be facing an investigation by the government of South Korea over whether the tech giant is truly complying with the nation’s new requirements dealing with its payment systems.  As Reuters reported Friday (Oct. 15), the issue stems from South Korea’s recent changes to the Telecommunication Business Act in an effort to prevent tech […]

Uber has begun allowing customers in Brazil to pay more for shorter waits, due to a driver shortage apparently triggered by rising gas prices. As Bloomberg News reported on Friday (Oct. 15), the ride-hailing service is testing a feature in three Brazilian cities that will offer priority rides that cost as much as 20% more […]

The digital-first food ordering habits that consumers have acquired since the pandemic have fundamentally changed the restaurant industry. A single touchpoint in a much broader, decentralized and digital-first ecosystem is at the center of consumers’ dining experiences. Gaining a competitive edge in this new format requires restaurants to not only have digital ordering capabilities in […]

A new report from the Treasury Department shows that American banks and financial institutions (FIs) recorded close to $600 million in suspected ransomware payments during the first half of 2021, more than the total for all of 2020. As The Wall Street Journal reported on Friday (Oct. 15), treasury officials say that the data, pulled […]

London-based FinTech Plum on Friday (Oct. 15) announced the close of a 12 million euro ($13.9 million) Series A funding round, part of an anticipated 20.7 million euro ($24 million) effort that will be used to expand the company and increase interest in its money management app.  Ventura Capital and dmg ventures led Plum’s latest […]

TikTok owner ByteDance’s valuation has reached $400 billion based on anonymous sales by online traders, with some analysts seeing that number climb higher, according to a South China Morning Post report on Friday (Oct. 15). ByteDance recently scrapped its plans for an initial public offering (IPO), leading to anonymous private equity trades being posted online […]

Like other tech enthusiasts, drivers are also now looking forward to receiving the latest feature or software update for their other connected device — their vehicle.   This week, connected vehicles were given the chance to adopt new capabilities via the launch applications that help fleet managers monitor drivers’ safety practices, a service that lets […]

Retail-tech startup Alerzo is taking serving mom-and-pop stores in Nigeria to another level, with the recent acquisition of FinTech company Shago Payments to provide new digital services to its 150,000-plus informal retailers. The B2B eCommerce retail firm was launched in 2019 in Ibadan, Nigeria’s third-largest city by population, with a goal to bring the country’s […]

Nary a day goes by without reports of some new development aimed at removing friction from the consumer shopping journey. This week, for example, grocery chain Aldi deployed its computer vision checkout system at another European location in the Netherlands, in a move that is set to become a budding rivalry with Amazon Go’s “Just […]

Small businesses fail all the time, but it’s not always because they’re bad at doing business. In fact, in many cases, it’s more bad luck than anything else, with cash flow problems causing many thousands to shut up shop — simply because they don’t have the funds to pay their bills on time, regardless of […]

Finnovate Acquisition, a special-purpose acquisition company (SPAC) dealing with the Israeli FinTech sector, has filed with the SEC in hopes of raising up to $150 million in an initial public offering.  The Cayman Islands-based company said Friday (Oct. 15) it aims to raise the money by offering 15 million units at $10 each. Finnovate will […]

As wholesalers compete to win the loyalty of independent grocers, category leaders look to stand out by offering additional ways to meet these grocers’ day-to-day needs. SpartanNash, for instance, offers graphic design services, coupon redemption capabilities, and tools to support in-store pharmacies, among others, while C&S Wholesale Grocers offers ecommerce capabilities for curbside pickup, delivery […]

You can’t keep the American shopper down. As The Wall Street Journal reported on Friday (Oct. 15), U.S. consumer spending rose in September, a signal of both rising inflation and durable demand. Retail sales rose a seasonally adjusted 0.7% between August and September, according to the U.S. Commerce Department, despite a choked-off supply chain and […]

While interest in central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) continues to soar around the world, a group of innovation and regulatory experts in the U.K. are taking a proactive step to promote its launch in the country. Big-name brands including Accenture, Billon Group, Ava Labs, CGI Group, Electroneum and Ripple are some of the companies that […]

Walmart revealed this week that Store No. 8, the retailer’s incubation arm, is currently testing the ability for customers to text Walmart their shopping lists, in what would be a massive step forward for the box store giant’s connected capabilities. Walmart already offers voice shopping through Google Assistant, and Dominique Essig, vice president of conversational […]

Whole Foods Market and Skaggs Public Safety Uniforms were among the companies whose customer records were accessible through a non-password-protected database with more than 82 million records in early July, according to a VentureBeat report on Friday (Oct. 15). The logging records — which were discovered by security researcher Jeremiah Fowler and the CoolTechZone research […]

Toyota Motor Corp. on Friday (Oct. 15) announced scheduled shutdowns of its Japan production plants in November from one to five days, blaming the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and the resulting parts shortage for the halt. Toyota has been altering its production schedule monthly since August because of the auto chip shortage, which was triggered by […]

MotorK, an Italian Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) company serving car dealers, is preparing to go public with an initial public offering (IPO) that could value the firm at 150 million euro ($173 million). The company announced this week that the IPO is expected to happen before the end of the year, with MotorK listing on Euronext Amsterdam.  […]

The ongoing pressures on global supply chains have snarled the normal process of getting goods onto shelves, leaving buyers to scramble to find new routes and suppliers to get what they need. And yet, for all their resourcefulness, these vendors still don’t have much leverage when it comes to setting payment terms or even getting […]

Digital payments are quickly becoming the new normal worldwide, with more than $6.6 trillion in digital payments expected to crisscross the globe this year. This growth is not likely to slow down anytime soon, with a projected increase to $10.5 trillion in value within the next four years. Speed has become the name of the […]

The year still has about a dozen weeks left, but merchants and payments providers are already looking at their 2022 calendars and trying to determine what might be the next big innovation as the digital economy continues to evolve. Lauren Craig, regional manager of the Americas at Checkout.com, said in the next three years, 40% […]