retail technology week in numbers – Retail Technology Innovation Hub

£138.8 million…Taylor Swift’s ‘Eras’ Tour. it is forecast to give the UK retail sector a £138.8 million boost as fans spend their money on merchandise, outfits, accessories and the all-important craft supplies.

Research carried out by British discount website VoucherCodes shows that fans will spend a total of £82.3 million in retail stores in the run-up to concerts. An additional £56.5 million will be spent in retail stores on the day of the concerts.

As Swifties desperately search for the perfect outfits for the Eras Tour, they are expected to spend £31.5 million on tour clothes alone, a further £15 million on accessories, £12.3 million on footwear and £5.4 million on make-up.

Handicraft vendors are expected to do particularly well on the tour, with dedicated fans looking to add some sparkle to their concert outfits spending £3.5 million.

In addition, £2.2 million will be donated to friendship bracelets, and Eras Tour participants will take part in Taylor’s latest craze by creating and exchanging bracelets during performances.

This means that each person taking part in The Eras Tour is expected to earn £145.07 in retail stores, of which £82.30 will be spent daily on much-needed goods.

85 pounds…Algolia has published research showing how social media trends in fashion, beauty and home decor are influencing British consumers searching for products online, particularly among Generation Z and Millennials.

A survey of 2,001 Britons shows that online retailers lose an average of £85 per customer due to poor online search functionality, leaving consumers frustrated and almost a third abandoning their purchases before the checkout.

This figure rises to £113 among Gen Z shoppers and £87 among Millennials.

“Y2K”, “streetwear” and “clean girl aesthetic” are currently the most searched trends on social media platforms. This popularity is reflected in search volume – Algolia’s research found that in February, March and April 2024, all three companies conducted a combined 19.5 million searches on their platform.

However, there is a disconnect between online discovery and in-store shopping. 58% of consumers cannot find Y2K products, 56% cannot find streetwear, and 65% cannot find “clean girl aesthetic” items directly on retailer websites.

Compared to other generations, Gen Z (58%) and millennials (58%) are most likely to use social media platforms like TikTok and Instagram to discover and follow trends. However, a significant proportion have difficulty converting this interest into purchases.

1…Super drug claims to have become the first health and beauty retailer to launch a service on Roblox, and the new Superdrug Obby obstacle game will be released this week to celebrate its 60th birthday.

It is available to play for a limited time and will consist of three themed games relating to some of Superdrug’s own brand range, ProCare, Fruity and Solait.

Exclusive casts will allow players to battle spinning electric toothbrushes, bounce off ProCare toothpaste tubes, and fly across dental floss before moving on to Fruity.

The latter will challenge players with fruit-shaped obstacles before they vote for their favorite fruit flavor. The final game is Solait’s summer and travel-themed obstacle game, which tests players on their sun protection knowledge.

After completing all three games, users will enter the Superdrug virtual store, where the 60th birthday celebrations will begin.

Players can explore the concept store, listen to the DJ and stand a chance to win Superdrug UGC to dress up their avatar.

Those who complete all the games will receive a code to redeem their free Fruity shower gel of their choice at any Superdrug store nationwide.

400, 6 and 15…EE introduces Aptos’ new cloud-based PoS solution to its retail stores. The goal is to increase customer engagement opportunities and reduce IT infrastructure footprint in each store.

Following a six-week pilot in 15 locations, the software is being rolled out to over 400 EE stores across the UK.

As part of its retail IT infrastructure refresh, EE has upgraded to a newer version of Aptos’ PoS solution, delivered via SaaS, that will run on mobile devices that employees can use throughout the store.

They will be able to carry out all sales, service and operational processes from one device, instead of using multiple devices for different tasks.

EE has also removed permanent checkouts from all of its stores, enabling employees to have more personal conversations with shoppers while helping to reduce potential congestion and queues.

15…Startups tackling sustainability challenges have the chance to pilot their technology with Amazon as part of the third edition of the e-commerce giant’s Sustainability Accelerator.

This is a partnership with EIT Climate-KIC, the European climate innovation agency, and innovation strategy consultants Founders Intelligence, part of Accenture.

15 startups from across Europe will benefit from a four-week program featuring expert-led workshops, specialized mentoring, a tailored curriculum and access to a network of entrepreneurs in the sustainability sector.

This year they also have the opportunity to test their technology at Amazon’s European sites for the first time, opening the door to future partnerships and rollouts across Europe, with the potential to earn up to £2 million each.

The companies operate in various geographic and demographic locations, have headquarters in 10 countries and employ a total of over 600 people.

From solving the challenges of fast fashion to reusable packaging and artificial intelligence, they are focused on scaling their business in one of three categories: circular economy, energy in buildings and packaging.