Do you like numbers? Do you like retail systems news? Then this is the article for you. Including Walgreens Boots Alliance, BP, Uber Eats, Carrefour, Shopify, Tesco, and Ocado Group.

22…Walgreens Boots Alliance plans to open 22 robot powered micro-fulfilment centres across the US to fill customers’ prescriptions.

By 2025, as much as half of the retailer’s total prescription volume could be filled at the automated hubs, says Rex Swords, Walgreens’ Group President of Centralised Services, Operations and Planning.

$6.8 million…Workforce management software startup Sona has announced a $6.8 million seed round.

This was led by Google’s Gradient Ventures and comes just four months after the company’s pre-seed raise. 

62% of luxury brand consumers will shop elsewhere if retailers provide a poor payment experience, according to research published by Vyne.

1…Buymie has launched a one-hour grocery shopping service in Leeds and Bristol in partnership with Asda, allowing customers to access the latter’s full online range of products with the on-demand delivery platform. 

Buymie's network of personal shoppers will pick, pack and deliver each order, giving customers the ability to submit any preferences and discuss their requests, including the type of substitutes they would accept if their original choices were unavailable.

The service, which will operate under the brand Asda Express powered by Buymie, will be initially trialled for three months across selected postcodes within a three mile radius of ten Asda stores in Leeds and Bristol and will create 60 new jobs in the two cities. 

1%…Checkout-free technology firm, Grabango, says that it is committing 1% of its grocery technology and 1% of its employees’ time to eliminating food deserts and improving access to healthy food in underserved communities. 

$20 million…Sourceful, a platform for sustainable sourcing, has secured a $20 million Series A funding round led by Index Ventures, backers of Deliveroo, Dropbox and Just Eat. 

One in ten…Approximately one in ten adults in Europe now have a sustainable food app, with Too Good to Go and Olio leading the way.

An analysis of the performance of these apps over the past year by App Radar has revealed that the sector gained 14 million new Android users in the past 12 months. 

9…Worldline has deployed its Scan & Go solution in nine Carrefour Proximité convenience stores.

Scan&Go, which uses the former’s Scan & Pay solution, is an in-store self-scanning app. 

For the first time, Carrefour Proximité customers can shop via their smartphones in the following way: Scan a QR code on entering the store to access a web app; Scan their chosen items; Pay using their smartphone; Show their receipt upon leaving the store.

$1 trillion…The UK tech industry is now worth $1 trillion in value, as the country’s tech sector becomes the third in the world to ever reach this landmark valuation. 

The UK’s digital economy is worth more than double that of Germany’s and almost five times larger than France and Sweden, according to data by Dealroom analysed for the UK’s Digital Economy Council.

50%…VMware reports that Carrefour France has achieved a milestone in its goal to move 50% of its applications to the public cloud by 2022. 

Using Google Cloud VMware Engine, the retailer has completed the migration of all VMware workloads in France to the Google Cloud Platform. 

£5 million…Gresham House Ventures has invested £5 million into retail tech firm Proximity Insight.

50%…A new study from retail operating system firm, Brightpearl, investigates which types of software UK online retailers are set to invest in over the next 12 months. 

50% plan to increase their technology investments, while only 4% will decrease their spend.

1,300…Amazon is looking to recruit 1,300 customers to place orders for delivery through its Prime Air drone programme. It will bring in testers in Lockeford, CA, and College Station, TX, who will be able to choose from around 3,000 items, all weighing under five pounds, and have them delivered via drone..

15-20…UK grocery giant Morrisons has announced a multi-year partnership with US-based rapid delivery firm Gopuff.

Customers across the UK can order thousands of Morrisons food and grocery items for delivery in as little as 15-20 minutes. 

Morrisons will act as the wholesaler to Gopuff, which operates via a network of dark stores.