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!
Shopify shares drop following decelerated revenue growth, lowered guidance in Q4 2021 (BETAKIT)
Shopify’s share price has fallen sharply after the company disclosed slowing growth compared to the record results it saw in Q4 2020. The Ottawa e-commerce company revealed slowing revenue growth, decelerating Black Friday sales, and soft revenue guidance in its latest earnings report, as the tailwinds that drove the rise of e-commerce begin to subside.
Another huge funding round gives Veho room to deliver (TECHCRUNCH)
Leading the round this time was Tiger Global, with SoftBank Vision Fund 2 participating. This latest round gives the company $300 million in total funding raised in the past two years and a $1.5 billion valuation.
New report on Canadian venture, private equity landscape shows firms failing when it comes to inclusion side of D&I (BETAKIT)
Based on a Diversio survey of 413 individuals, the number of women venture capital (VC) investors has increased since 2019, but still make up less than 20 percent of all partners in Canada.
Uber Eats vs. DoorDash: The delivery wars are heating up (PROTOCOL)
Protocol looked at the companies’ revenue, profit and other factors to determine their success.
China orders cuts for food-delivery fees, sparking tech selloff (WALL STREET JOURNAL)
Chinese authorities said the country’s online food-delivery platforms should reduce the fees they charge businesses, sending shares of industry giant Meituan plummeting to their lowest level in more than a year.
Canadian tech salaries jumped 38 percent since 2019, but attracting talent is tough: reports (BETAKIT)
“Global hiring has never been more popular between pandemic-related office closures, fierce talent competition, and a bevy of online tools enabling collaboration and reducing hiring complications,” the report noted.
Quebec Ink: The pandemic didn’t ruin Hopper and Sonder — it made them stronger (THE LOGIC)
There were plenty of reasons why travel startups Sonder and Hopper could have been two of the more whimsically named companies to go under because of COVID-19.
Hospitality platform 7shifts secures $101.6 million CAD to increase staffing, product development (BETAKIT)
On the heels of what it called a significant year of growth, Saskatoon-based 7shifts has raised $101.6 million CAD in Series C funding to scale its restaurant staff management platform. The much larger round comes less than a year after 7shifts scored $25.9 million in Series B capital.
Amazon’s sprawling grocery business has become an ‘expensive hobby’ with a cloudy future (CNBC)
Amazon’s grocery endeavors have cost many billions of dollars over the past 15 years but have yet to yield a coherent strategy.
The many obstacles to inclusion in startups (and one aid from Innovate BC) (BETAKIT)
As companies globally face the Great Resignation or Great Reshuffle, building inclusive workspaces is necessary to not only fill staffing gaps but also stem the tide of resignations within your organization.
He reinvented himself in Silicon Valley. Ex-associates say he’s running from his past (NPR)
In 2010, Australian entrepreneur Domm Holland had an idea: he was going to punk the country’s largest airline.
Dozr raises $27.5 million in Series B funding to support US expansion plans (BETAKIT)
According to Dozr, the startup’s Series B round consisted “mostly” of primary capital, but also involved “some secondary.”
Here’s what actually happens to all your online shopping returns (REST OF WORLD)
Ordering clothes from Chinese brands like Shein is easy. Sending them back is a lot more complicated.
