The Ecommerce Weekly -18 January 2022

Filed in:
News

It seems that the powers that be may be catastrophising again. 

The World Economic Forum have recently published many reasons why we could choose to hide under our duvets, but we believe there is room for an inordinate amount of optimism as we look to the future.

• ONS reports weekly deaths more than 5% lower than average in the UK
• Ethical purchasing and sustainability are now at the forefront of business with the next cohort of unicorns focussing on creating affordable green energy
• VC funding is breaking records and it looks to be here to stay - London (and therefore the UK) disproportionately benefits from this
• Ecommerce, digital & tech employment is set for another exceptional year

So, let’s leave those sat in their ivory towers to do the ‘embroidering’ whilst us mere mortals remain grounded and much more positive about the future.

And whilst you're thinking about how great 2022 is going to be, why not take a look at our latest newsletter full of everything ecommerce & digital.

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UK ECOMMERCE & BUSINESS NEWS

ASOS reveals impact on UK economy with expected £3.8bn boost.
(Charged Retail)

Card Factory sales returns to pre-Covid levels at Christmas, trades ahead of expectations for year.
(Retail Gazette)

Fortnum & Mason have announced its plans to enter the booming rapid food delivery sector amid an online expansion.
(Charged Retail)

Tesco online sales well ahead of pre-Covid-19 levels over Christmas.
(Internet Retailing)

M&S hails ‘strong Christmas’ performance across all divisions.
(Retail Gazette)

Urban Outfitters holiday sales up 14.6 percent.
(Fashion United)

UK-based FinTech startup Pay iO goes live.
(Enterprise Times)

Shoe Zone kicks back delivering 58 per cent boost from digital growth.
(City AM)

 

INTERNATIONAL ECOMMERCE & BUSINESS NEWS

Infarm partners with Dutch online supermarket Crisp.
(ESM Magazine)

Walmart files patents for its own cryptocurrency and NFT collection.
(Charged Retail)

Growth potential for ecommerce in Nordics.
(Ecommerce News)

Alibaba grows in China and abroad, reaching 99% of domestic urban population.
(Ecommerce DB)

Shake Shack Sees Digital Experience Driven by Dynamic Kitchens.
(PYMNTS)

Billie to enter physical stores for the first time via Walmart.
(Retail Dive)

 

DIGITAL NEWS

Instagram's testing a new option which would enable users to re-arrange the post display on their profile.
(Social Media Today)

Twitter's coming NFT profile display option moves to next stage of testing.
(Social Media Today)

Meta shuts down its experimental video speed-dating service.
(Tech Crunch)

Virtual land is going for millions of dollars in the metaverse.
(Charged Retail)

Twitter looks to extend its keyword unlocking and mute options to more elements.
(Social Media Today)

Ross Golan collaborates with Terra Virtua to launch first-ever NFT musical.
(Charged Retail)

 

IN THE MARKETS

Buyout fund Ardian makes $1.2 bln swoop on Italy's Biofarma Group.
(Reuters)

Flipdish becomes newest Irish tech unicorn with $1.25bn valuation.
(The Irish Times)

Bolt raises $709m to push ahead with ‘super app’ aspirations.
(Charged Retail)

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“The next 1,000 unicorns won’t be search engines or social media companies, they’ll be sustainable, scalable innovators – startups that help the world decarbonize and make the energy transition affordable for all consumers,” 

(Larry Fink, BlackRock CEO)

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The Global Risks Report 2022 - World Economic Forum

The next 1,000 unicorns will be green energy companies - CNBC

State Of Venture 2021 Report - CB Insights