The Retail Times is a weekly newsletter covering retail tech news from Canada and around the globe.
Subscribe to R|T using the form at the bottom of this page to ensure you don’t miss out on the most important retail tech news every week!
New physical space, services marketplace lead flurry of Shopify Unite announcements (BETAKIT)
“I think that there will be thousands of businesses started today from the things that we will announce,” said CEO Tobias Lütke.
DMS Recommends: The Petite Alternative puts sincerity at centre of digital strategy (DIGITALMAINSTREET)
After 30 years in the fashion industry, Connie Gougos knows that staying relevant means reading the trends – whether that’s fashion itself or the way consumers are buying clothes.
Tailor Brands raises $15.5 million to grow its AI-powered branding platform for non-creatives (VENTUREBEAT)
The funding was led by Pitango Venture Capital Growth Fund and the UK’s Armat Group, with participation from Mangrove Capital Partners & Disruptive Technologies.
Walmart confirms $16B Flipkart investment, giving it 77% in India’s e-commerce leader (TECHCRUNCH)
Walmart said that it intends to keep Flipkart as a distinctive brand and even help usher the company towards a “publicly-listed, majority-owned subsidiary” in the future.
Smooth Commerce powering Basil Box mobile order ahead and loyalty app (BETAKIT)
Smooth Commerce builds mobile apps for retailers that include payments, loyalty rewards, and discount programs.
Vegan meal kit startup Purple Carrot raises $4M from Fresh Del Monte (TECHCRUNCH)
The company plans to use the funding to improve its supply chain, get access to more retail opportunities and explore expansion into other categories.
Singapore’s ShopBack acquires Seedly, aims to expand financial products vertical (DEALSTREETASIA)
Seedly will continue to run as an independently branded standalone platform.
Alibaba expands South Asia footprint, snapping up Pakistani online retailer Daraz (CNBC)
The deal marks another foray for billionaire entrepreneur Jack Ma’s Alibaba into the South Asian market. Daraz, a Pakistani online retailer, will continue to operate under the same brand.
Southeast Asia e-commerce startup iPrice raises $4M led by chat app Line’s VC arm (TECHCRUNCH)
iPrice was initially a coupon site, before pivoting into an aggregation model which essentially acts as a destination for shoppers to then go on and purchase items from e-commerce retailers.
Canadian Growth Hackers: How TouchBistro uses content marketing (BETAKIT)
“Think as much about content distribution as you do about content production.”
Silver Lake makes a $3B offer to buy property portal Zoopla, the Zillow of the UK (TECHCRUNCH)
Zoopla’s primary business lies in providing a portal where people can search for homes and commercial property to buy or rent in the UK and abroad.
Walmart ends grocery delivery partnerships with Uber, Lyft (PYMNTS)
The end of the partnerships with Uber and Lyft hurts the ride-hailing companies’ vision to provide efficient delivery of anything on demand, whether it’s a person or cargo.