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Tag: Retailers

  • Topshop future in stretch as crucial vote delayed

    Topshop future in stretch as crucial vote delayed

    The future of fashion label Topshop is in limbo after a crucial vote on a Company Voluntary Arrangement for parent Arcadia Group was delayed last week.

    Arcadia’s chairman Sir Philip Green is trying to gather approval from creditors for a scheme which would see them convert debt to future equity and rents reduced on UK stores in return for sa further investment by Green’s family of £50 million (US$63.8 million). The scheme would also see 23 stores shuttered in the UK and the closure or sale of all 11 of Topshop’s US stores – on top of 25 UK store closures already planned.

    “Against a backdrop of challenging retail headwinds, changing consumer habits and ever-increasing online competition, we have seriously considered all possible strategic options to return the group to a stable financial platform,” Arcadia CEO Ian Grabiner said when unveiling the CVA last month.

    “This has been a tough but necessary decision for the business.”

    But a meeting of creditors – who include suppliers landlords and pension funds – was postponed last week when it became clear support would fall short of the 75 per cent required for it to be approved. That vote will now likely be held this week. However if it fails, creditors may call in administrators opening the possibility of a sale of Arcadia’s brands, which also include Miss Selfridge, Dorothy Perkins, Evans and Topman.

    UK retail industry sources say landlords are especially cynical to the CVA, casting doubts on whether Green can revive the troubled business in an era of dwindling high-street retail sales and growing e-commerce.

    One major retail landlord told The Business of Fashion that cutting rents to Arcadia to help its survival would be “quite a tough message to communicate to other tenants paying full rent”.

    Arcadia’s like-for-like sales reportedly fell 7.5 per cent in the year to August 2018, with total sales down 10.5 per cent to £1.7 billion. That decline was largely due to a 20 per cent slump in Topshop sales.

    The chances of Green’s plan did receive a boost last week after The Pensions Regulator and Pensions Protection Fund indicated their support. That followed a commitment by Sir Philip’s wife Lady Tina Green to invest a further £100 million in the fund to protect staff.

    Lady Green has also promised landlords who accept the deal a 20 per cent share of the proceeds should Arcadia be sold.

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  • Kiehl’s pop up opens at Sha Tin, using AR to engage

    Kiehl’s pop up opens at Sha Tin, using AR to engage

    A Kiehl’s pop up at Sha Tin features an AR gaming app to engage with shoppers.

    The beauty products retailer’s short-term store at the New Town Plaza in Sha Tin has been launched to promote Kiehl’s Calendula Serum-Infused Water Cream, and displays a giant 3D Calendula flower in the centre of the atrium that is only visible through visitors’ mobile phones.

    Visitors who upload images from the pop-up to their social media can redeem a special cosmetics product. Other product samples and a skin analysis are available for customers browsing the store.

    Kiehl’s has also designed an AR game that can be used at its regular stores after the pop-up closes, which will be playable until June 30. The game has collected 8000 registrations over the course of the campaign.

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  • The space where purchasing decisions are made, Fitting Rooms

    The space where purchasing decisions are made, Fitting Rooms

    Why do customers walk into a fitting room when they are in a retail space? The answer is logical: because they have found a piece of clothing they like – and it should be considered a sure sign of purchase intent, even if the customer does not buy what they try.

    This small but mighty area of a retail store is actually the room where purchase decisions are made.

    Yet, far too many retailers still tend to overlook the importance of fitting room design. So here are some fresh ideas to help retailers boost sales through intelligent fitting-room design…

    How fitting rooms affect sales

    Let‘s start with some numbers and hard facts. First and foremost, the fitting room area is one of the most significant advantages brick-and-mortar retailers have over online retailers. Whereas online, one in five shoppers return their purchased items, in brick-and-mortar stores, fewer than one in 10 customers return purchases. Returns usually result in costs for any retailer – online or offline, so it is important for retailers to minimise the potential for returns. Here’s where an effective fitting-room design can play a part.

    Research shows that shoppers who use fitting rooms are seven times more likely to make a purchase than browsers who do not. Not only that, but if the customer has a good experience with a sales assistant in the fitting rooms, they can buy up to three times as many items in one transaction. Combine those figures and you can estimate that 70 per cent of all purchasing decisions in your store are made in the fitting room.

    Design can influence the buying decision

    Most retailers already recognise the importance of size, colour and lighting in fitting rooms. So let’s take a closer look at other design features.

    A fitting room represents the most intimate area of your store. This is a place where your customers take off their clothes, hoping to try on a new piece of clothing which makes them look and feel good. Here is where design can play a part in that feel-good factor – after all, it is not just about the clothes.

    Take one simple example: remember how uncomfortable you feel when you think you are over- or under-dressed for an occasion. Similarly, if a fitting room design fails to provide the shopper with a character and flare that matches the clothes, the customer can experience the same uncomfortable feeling. An uncomfortable environment can lead the customer to feel something ‘does not look right’. The result: the customer decides against making a purchase and the retailer loses a sale.

    How to create the perfect fit

    We found some great examples of fitting rooms in Mainland China.

    INXX represents a forward-thinking, boundary-shattering exploration of how the genres of streetwear, sportswear and high-end fashion can be reconstructed, reinterpreted and recombined. Through this cool and futuristic fitting room design, the Chinese street-fashion brand not only encourages shoppers to try on their clothes but had also created an atmosphere which is towards their target market.

    With design concepts such as these, it is no surprise the brand has enjoyed continued success over the years. INXX was founded in Guangzhou in 2013 and in less than five years opened 54 stores in 17 Chinese cities. This is a brand we can all learn from.

    Lululemon is a Canadian brand that sells fashionable and high-quality yoga clothing and athleisure wear. One of the brand’s core values is mindfulness.

    Lululemon describes its mission as: “Our manifesto is one way we share our culture with the community. It’s an evolving collection of bold thoughts that allow for some real conversations to take place.”

    Lululemon cleverly uses the fitting room area as a platform to express some of these bold thoughts through its design. Positive affirmation statements frequently used in yoga are integrated in the fitting room design, illustrating how fitting-room spaces can also reflect fundamental brand values.

    So, when adopting slogans and other statements within the design of your fitting rooms, be sure to choose the “perfect fit” for your brand.

    Fitting rooms are a significant advantage for brick-and-mortar stores over online alternatives. Some brands which sell mainly online have begun to recognise this and are finding effective ways to deliver an offline customer experience.

    One of these brands is Jooos, which has combined offline and online experiences by providing the Top 100-selling fashion brands on Tmall with a retail space to showcase their products.

    The design of the fitting-room space here is interesting, because it is located in the centre of the store. Additionally, the exclusivity of the products is highlighted by a small staircase: customers literally have to walk upstairs to reach the fitting room, leaving them feeling “special” when they arrive there.

    Remember, in any fashion store, the fitting room marks the final barrier retailers need to draw a customer beyond in order to achieve a sale. So make that space count.

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  • Mecca to open its biggest store ever

    Mecca to open its biggest store ever

    Beauty retailer Mecca is opening its biggest store yet at Westfield Parramatta on Friday, June 7.

    The 500sqm store brings the retailer’s Maxima and Cosmetica concepts together and offers over 100 beauty brands in one large-format location.

    “We are so delighted to unveil our latest and greatest Mecca store,” Mecca founder Jo Horgan said.

    “We really wanted to offer Mecca’s entire brand line-up in the one location, in an environment that was both glamorous and service-centric but also with new innovations to make it a truly unique shopping experience.”

    The store features Mecca’s first dedicated ‘skin space’, where customers can enjoy skincare consultations and services including a personalised, complimentary ‘skin review. The reviews will take approximately 30 minutes and will help customers learn about the skincare they should be using for their skin.

    Additionally, the store features the Mecca Beauty Lab program, where customers can book a place in a beauty workshop. A Mecca expert will teach participants the skills they need to properly utilise the make-up sold in-store.

    During opening day, the first 200 customers in line will receive a free bonus with purchase, while anyone who spends over $85 will be able to choose a gift from a pool of prizes worth over $100,000.

  • Online retail sales slows down last Month

    Online retail sales slows down last Month

    Online retail sales fell 3.8 per cent month on month in April, after a less than stellar March, according to the National Australia Bank’s monthly Online Retail Sales Index.

    The result is consistent with a general slowdown in retail observed by NAB, while the result itself is up 1.7 per cent on a year on year basis.

    “This month, both online retail and broader cashless retail series indicated very weak retail conditions,” NAB chief economist Alan Oster said.

    “While year-on-year growth in online sales has also slowed considerably in recent months, these comparisons are made to a period of elevated sales in 2018, with major new merchants to Australia, and also pre-GST exemption effects.”

    While all categories suffered a contraction in sales during April, games and toys suffered least with only a 0.2 per cent reduction in sales, while takeaway food fell 8.6 per cent – the steepest drop.

    International retailers outperformed domestic retailers on a monthly basis, with international retail enjoying a 0.7 per cent increase in sales, compared to the 4.4 per cent fall in domestic trading.

    However, NAB identifies a considerable weakness in international online sales on a year-on-year basis, most likely owing to the change in how GST is calculated and charged.

    “Tasmania, with about 2 per cent of online sales, was weakest in April after leading growth in March,” Oster said.

    “New South Wales, Victoria and Queensland represent over three quarters of the online market in Australia by sales value. Of these larger sales states, Queensland was strongest over the year.”

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  • Hong Kong retail sales felt Last Month

    Hong Kong retail sales felt Last Month

    Hong Kong retail sales fell by 4.5 per cent in April, contributing to a 2 per cent decrease in year to date.

    Worse, the Census and Statistics Department said that after netting out the effect of price changes year on year, Hong Kong retail sales fell 5 per cent year on year, following a 0.8 per cent fall in March and contributing to a 2.3 per cent decline year to date.

    “The larger year-on-year decrease recorded in April reflected the still-cautious consumption sentiment amid external uncertainties, but was also partly due to the late arrival of the Labour Day holidays in the Mainland (which fell in early May this year but straddled between April and May last year), which has led to a notable deceleration in the growth rate of visitor arrivals,” a government spokesman said, commenting on the data.

    He said that in the near term, consumption sentiment will continue to be affected by various external uncertainties, though the sustained expansion in inbound tourism and the largely stable local labour market should provide support to retail sales business. In other words: it may be too soon to start panicking.

    Predictably, the jewellery, watches and luxury goods sector performed the worst, sales down 11.4 per cent in April. Apparel, the second greatest contributor to the figures, slipped by a more modest 2.2 per cent, with cosmetics down 6 per cent, department-store sales down 4.3 per cent and electrical goods by 13.7 per cent. Sales of footwear and accessories fell 5.4 per cent, furniture by 0.4 per cent; books, newspapers, stationery and gifts by 7.5 per cent; Chinese drugs and herbs by 5.7 per cent, and optical shops by 7.8 per cent.

    On the positive side, supermarket sales rose by 1.1 per cent; food, alcohol and tobacco by 0.8 per cent and fuels by 3.3 per cent.

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  • RedBalloon parent’s newest brand targets purpose-driven customers

    RedBalloon parent’s newest brand targets purpose-driven customers

    Naomi Simson’s Big Red Group has partnered with US experience retailer IfOnly to launch the brand of the same name in Australia.

    Like RedBalloon, Big Red Group’s flagship website, IfOnly offers a range of experiences that customers can buy online, from cooking classes to archery lessons to chopper tours of the Yarra Valley.

    The difference is that every listing on IfOnly benefits a cause, with up to 80 per cent of the proceeds going to an associated charity.

    The decision to launch IfOnly in Australia reflects consumers’ rising interest in supporting businesses that do good, according to Big Red Group co-founder Naomi Simson.

    “People in Australia are choosing [based on] what an organisation stands for, not just what it sells. They want to believe that they’re using their consumer dollar for good,” Simson said.

    This trend, sometimes referred to as conscious consumption, is part of the experience economy, which is defined by consumers’ interest in having experiences over buying things.

    “We know there’s a trend of access over ownership, there’s a trend of sustainability. There’s a slight melding, an overlap, between this and the experience economy, but they’re not yet one and the same thing,” Simson said.

    IfOnly taps into several of these trends by combining unique experiences with charitable causes. The site offers a range of experiences with local and world-class experts, celebrities and other noteworthy personalities, from ultra-luxury, bucket list-type offerings to more accessible special outings, with a portion of the proceeds from every experience going to a charity of the luminary’s choosing.

    Some of the listings include a 5-day stay and rhino conservation experience with Kevin Pietersen at the Umganu Lodge in South Africa, which costs $190,000 for eight people and benefits Care for Wild Africa, a meet-and-greet with popstar Ariana Grande and VIP tickets to her Sweetener tour, which costs $5,223 and benefits the GoodCoin Foundation, a $150 donut decorating class with Morgan Hipworth, which benefits the Australian Red Cross, and a $250 private archery lesson from Australian Olympian Alec Potts, which benefits the Movember Foundation.

    “Yes, there are celebrities and thought leaders, but really it’s a groundswell of incredible artisans that are using their skills for good,” Simson said.

    “The experiences don’t all have to be expensive…it’s not about being elitist, or unattainable,” she said.

    More than 20 local charities are set to benefit from the purchase of experiences on IfOnly, including Cancer Council, R U OK?, Starlight Children’s Foundation, OzHarvest and The Sony Foundation.

    Simson herself is offering a $1975 private whisky lesson on a vintage cruiser in Sydney Harbour to support the Cerebral Palsy Alliance, which she is a governor of.

    “My role is to be an ambassador and to raise funds, but there are limited ways to do that. [IfOnly] provides a way for luminaries to support chosen charities,” she said.

    According to IfOnly CEO John Boris, the website has raised millions of dollars for charities in the US and is looking forward to doing the same in Australia through its partnership with the Big Red Group.

    “By combining the Australian experiences market leader with the leader of premium experiences in the US, we are able to bring our unique offering to new audiences and support more causes,” Boris said in a statement about the launch.

    Big Red Group plans to build awareness about the new brand by unlocking access for Australian residents to enter a global sweepstakes to win an experience with The Who and Pearl Jam’s Eddie Vedder at Wembley Stadium in London this July.

    Simson said the company does not plan to promote IfOnly to RedBalloon’s customer database.

    “Just because one person buys something on RedBalloon doesn’t mean they will be an IfOnly customer. We can’t presume they want to hear about it,” she said.

    “Nobody wants to be bombarded with something they didn’t ask for. It’s about respect.”

    The launch of IfOnly follows Big Red Group’s acquisition of the adventure-focused experience marketplace, Adrenaline, in November 2018.

    The company’s brand portfolio now includes RedBalloon, Adrenaline, IfOnly, Marketics, the exclusive distributor of ‘Albert’ AI in Australia, and Redii, a platform to reward employees.

    As a $100 million company, Big Red Group is the largest online aggregator of experiences in Australia and the third largest globally, according to HitWise’s 2018 research.

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  • Lulu Group’s Tablez plans 150 More Stores

    Lulu Group’s Tablez plans 150 More Stores

    Abu Dhabi-headquartered Lulu Group’s retail arm Tablez is moving to invest US$75 million into the Indian market with the aim of opening more than 150 stores in the territory by the end of next year.

    The move, if successful, is expected by management to nearly quadruple its market share in India.

    “We plan to exit this year with nearly 100 stores, and we would be scaling up with fresh investments in 2020 to arrive at a portfolio of 150+ stores in India,” said Tablez MD Adeeb Ahamed.

    “We will be adding five more brands – Corir, Desigual, GoSport, YOYOSO and OshKosh, taking the total number of our retail brands across various categories to 13 brands in India by the end of 2019,” he said.

    Tablez has more than 40 stores within India operating in several industry sectors from F&B to fashion.

    “To fuel further growth, we would be deploying about $75 million in capital over the next two years to scale our retail stores, enhance our people building capacity and create backend infrastructure and marketing,” he said.

    Tabelz currently markets a range of international and homegrown brands in the territory.

  • Online fashion retailer Mogu reports Steep Growth Numbers

    Online fashion retailer Mogu reports Steep Growth Numbers

    Chinese online fashion and lifestyle retailer Mogu has reported an 18.7 per cent increase in gross merchandise value (GMV) for the year to March 31, to RMB17.408 billion (US$2.594 billion).

    The company’s revenue for the year reached RMB1.074 billion (US$160.1 million), an increase of 10.4 per cent year on year.

    However the number of active buyers in the year to March remained the same as the previous year, at 32.8 million.

    The company said it live-video broadcast business continued to grow strongly with associated GMV increasing 138.1 per cent year on year.

    “We delivered another quarter of solid growth,” said Qi Chen, Mogu’s chairman and CEO. “During the past quarter, we continued to expand, optimise and elevate the supply chain for our fashion ecosystem by enriching content, increasing user engagement on our live-video broadcasts, and facilitating more repeat repurchases,” he said.

    “Looking ahead, we will continue to strengthen our unique three-way fashion ecosystem by further growing our content creation community of fashion key opinion leaders and live-video broadcast hosts, elevating the fashion-product supply chain and supporting deeper collaboration between merchants and KOLs, and ultimately facilitating greater user and community engagement through rich and high-quality interactive fashion content and products.”

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  • Kidsland launches FAO Schwarz store in Beijing

    Kidsland launches FAO Schwarz store in Beijing

    China’s largest toy retailer and distributor Kidsland has introduced FAO Schwarz, an international toy brand store with 157 years of history, in its first Asian flagship store.

    The FAO Shwarz Beijing flagship is located inside the Kidsland flagship store at China World Mall in a prime shopping and lifestyle district.

    Staff wearing soldiers’ uniforms from Grimm’s Fairy Tales are positioned at the entrance to greet and escort customers into the 30,000sqft store, interacting with customers throughout the shopping experience. The store also features “toy demonstrators” who invite customers to play with the toys. The “Toy Soldiers” and demonstrators are overseas-trained and make up 20 per cent of the staff.

    Founded in 1862, FAO Schwarz is one of the oldest toy stores in the world. The brand returned to New York last November with a new 20,000sqft flagship at Rockefeller Center in Manhattan.

    Kidsland has a comprehensive online and offline integrated sales network within China. In December it counted 257 independent stores in 44 cities within the region, along with 519 self-operated consignment counters and 931 distributors covering more than 3000 additional points of sale. Kidsland also represents multiple brands in operating 18 online stores in China.

    “The introduction of FAO into China reflects our confidence in the potential of the Chinese economy and market development,” said chairman and CEO of Kidsland Lee Ching Yiu. “We believe there is strong demand for quality toys among families and young people, so this is an important advantage for Kidsland to provide quality experiential retailing there. In this way, we hope to serve as a bridge, enabling Chinese consumers to experience the latest and best toys in the world.

    “FAO Schwarz plans to open a large flagship and several medium-sized stores in China in the next two years. We will also establish a kidsland experiential retail flagship store, and in the coming one to two years, we will open a mid-sized kidsland retail store to bring an enriched retail experience to wider spectrum of the public.”

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  • Vietnamese retailers Growing at a Lightning Fast Pace

    Vietnamese retailers Growing at a Lightning Fast Pace

    Local retail firms are expanding quickly while foreign counterparts stagnate or quit due to fierce competition. The number of convenience stores in the country from April last year to April this year had risen by 72 percent year-on-year to over 3,100, according to Ho Chi Minh City market research firm Q&Me. That means 1,300 convenience stores came to the market in just one year.

    Half of them, 660, came from Vinmart+, a convenience store chain of Vietnam’s largest conglomerate Vingroup. This is a growth of 82 percent. In the same period, supermarket chain Vinmart saw its number of store risen by 82 percent to 120 outlets.

    Bach Hoa Xanh, a retail unit of the country’s major phone seller Mobile World (MWG), now has over 500 department stores after incorporated in 2015. It is seeing strong growth with VND4.3 trillion ($184 million) in revenue last year, three times that of 2017.

    The market has recently seen strong merger and acquisition activities, with Vingroup’s retail arm VinCommerce buying out convenience store chain Shop&Go last month and supermarket chain Fivimart last October.

    Vietnam’s retail market has become increasingly crowded with both local and international players over the last five years. Although experts have said that the market has a lot of growth potential, many foreign businesses have quit or scaling back expansion plans.

    French supermarket group Auchan Retail might be the newest player to withdraw from the market.

    Auchan’s 15 out of 18 supermarkets will stop operating on June 3. Its CEO Edgar Bonte said that their business in Vietnam generated revenues of 45 million euros ($50.4 million) last year, but was making losses. He did not provide figures of the losses.

    A source from the company, who wished not to be named, said the firm is negotiating with a few retailers to sell the outlets and the negotiations “are expected to end before Auchan withdraws from Vietnam early next month.”

    Germany-headquartered Metro was sold to a Thai investor in 2014 and disappeared from the market ever since, while Malaysia’s Parkson has been closing down its malls since 2015.

    Other convenience store chain has failed or will unlikely meet its initial expansion target. Japanese Ministop had only 115 stores as of April, even though it had planned to have 800 by last year.

    Japanese convenience store chain FamilyMart saw its store number dropped by nine to 151 from last April to this April, while its initial plan was to have 1,000 stores by next year.

    Vietnam’s revenue from selling goods last year rose by 11.7 percent from 2017 to $142 billion, up 12.4 percent from 2017.

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  • HKairportshop.com offers ‘world’s fastest airport pickup’ for Ecommerce Shoppers

    HKairportshop.com offers ‘world’s fastest airport pickup’ for Ecommerce Shoppers

    Hong Kong International Airport’s one-stop online-shopping platform HKairportshop.com is making orders purchased via the platform ready for pickup at the airport 90 minutes after the purchase is made – including duty-free hard liquor.

    The e-commerce platform brings together more than 3000 products including popular makeup and fragrances, travel exclusive collections, wines, electronic goods, souvenirs and HKIA’s exclusive smart luggage tag MyTag – which alerts passengers of their arriving bags when paired with the HKG My Flight app.

    The site is now offering travellers who spend more than HKD1000 (US$127.40) on the platform a saving of HKD200 ($25.48) when they use the promo code “UP200” from now till June 30.

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  • Global food e-commerce sales forecasted to Triple

    Global food e-commerce sales forecasted to Triple

    A new report has forecasted global food e-commerce sales to nearly triple through 2023, rising to US$321 billion and accounting for nearly 5 percent of total e-commerce revenues.

    The Global Food E-Commerce report, released by market research firm Packaged Facts, projects the Asia Pacific region will account for the majority of absolute growth, primarily due to the rapidly expanding Chinese market.

    China dominates regional e-grocery activity in part because of the country’s large urban population and rapidly expanding the middle class. In addition, much of China’s large population has access to high-tech devices and the ability to shop online, due to the country’s position at the forefront of technological development and electronics.

    Last year, more than 75 percent of global food e-commerce sales were concentrated in the top five markets: China, the US, Japan, the UK, and South Korea. In each of these countries, e-grocery spending is highest in large urban centers, where many retailers have focused their marketing efforts for home delivery or click-and-collect services.

    The report states that through 2023, demand growth in these countries will be driven by five key factors: increasing comfort among existing online shoppers in making routine grocery purchases online; growing use of subscriptions and memberships with online retailers; greater penetration of broadband internet in rural and remote areas; greater acceptance of (and investment in) home delivery, click-and-collect, and drive order fulfillment formats in an increasingly omnichannel retail environment; and improvements to data security that ease consumer fears about having their personal information stolen while shopping online.

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  • Inclusive design could help retailers o make more Profits

    Inclusive design could help retailers o make more Profits

    Businesses could generate an extra $4 billion in revenue and reach more consumers if they built products and services with an inclusive design in mind.

    That is according to new research from Adobe, Microsoft, PwC and Australia’s Centre for Inclusive Design released this week in PwC’s report, The Benefit of Designing for Everyone.

    The report reveals that five million Australians are unable to access products and services because of poor design, and yet they possess over $40 billion in annual disposable income.

    This number includes people living with a disability and seniors, however, there are millions of Australians who are also vulnerable to exclusion due to location, gender, ethnicity or financial status.

    Within the retail products sector, up to 20 percent of Australians are unable to access and use goods appropriately, the PwC report states. Retailers could promote accessibility and improve the user experience for more consumers by using inclusive design.

    This means keeping in mind the needs of people who have disabilities when designing products. Last year, for instance, Coles introduced an autism spectrum-friendly low-sensory “Quiet Hour” experience in 173 of its stores.

    “The initiative has not only impacted shoppers with autism but also shoppers who want peace and quiet while they shop,” the report states.

    The benefit of inclusive design is that the products ultimately cater to a wide audience, not simply those with special needs. As the report noted, various retail products that were originally designed with edge users in mind are now used by a wide majority of consumers.

    “Electric toothbrushes were created for patients with limited motor skills but have also become popular with consumers who don’t have this issue,” PwC said.

    “Design that considers the full range of human diversity with respect to ability, language, culture, gender, age and other forms of human difference means more people are included,” said Dr Manisha Amin, CEO of the Centre for Inclusive Design.

    “We commissioned the research to identify and determine the necessary means by which Australia can act to reduce these gaps.”

  • Amazon Helps Deliveroo with $835m in funding round

    Amazon Helps Deliveroo with $835m in funding round

    Deliveroo on Friday announced it is looking to raise US$575 million ($835 million) in a Series G funding round, bringing its total investment to date to US$1.53 billion ($2.22 billion).

    Amazon is set to be the largest investor in the round, alongside existing investors T. Rowe Price, Fidelity Management and Research Company and Greenoaks.

    The food delivery company said it will use the capital to grow the tech team at its UK headquarters, expand its delivery reach to add new customers and continue to innovate its delivery-only kitchen concept, Deliveroo Editions.

    The company also plans to develop new products to give customers a more personalized experience, increase support for its restaurant partners and provide riders with new tools for flexible and well-paid work.

    “This new investment will help Deliveroo to grow and to offer customers even more choice, tailored to their personal tastes, offer restaurants greater opportunities to grow and expand their businesses, and to create more flexible, well-paid work for riders,” Will Shu, founder, and CEO of Deliveroo, said in a statement about the funding round.

    Shu said he was looking forward to working with Amazon.

    “Amazon has been an inspiration to me personally and to the company, and we look forward to working with such a customer-obsessed organization.

    The company said the investment will benefit restaurants, by helping them grow their business, and riders, by giving them more work. Deliveroo has been a leader in offering perks and protections in the emerging gig economy.

    Deliveroo in Australia last year partnered with Whitelion to help long-term unemployed young people to work and collaborated with Open Classrooms to give riders free access to hundreds of online courses for professional development.

    “We’re impressed with Deliveroo’s approach, and their dedication to providing customers with an ever increasing selection of great restaurants along with convenient delivery options,” said Doug Gurr, Amazon UK country manager.

    “Will and his team have built an innovative technology and service, and we’re excited to see what they do next.”

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