Do you like numbers? Do you like retail technology? Then this is the article for you.

100…German discounter Aldi will open around 100 new locations in the US during 2021, with a focus on Arizona, California, Florida and the Northeast.

£22 billion…The three UK coronavirus lockdowns have cost non-food store-based retailers over £22 billion in lost sales, according to the BRC.

41% of UK retailers are expecting a Valentine’s Day sales boost, with an average 26% growth predicted, according to research from Barclaycard Payments.

€4.99…Aldi Ireland has begun the roll-out of a new Click and Collect service.

The discount retailer’s first foray into e-commerce in the country, this will allow customers to order their shopping online at least one day, and up to one week, prior to picking it up for a fee of €4.99. 

255…In 2020, the number of vacant units in the City of London increased from 174 at the end of 2019 to 255 at the end of 2020, according to research from the Local Data Company.

This was down to workers staying home during the Covid-19 pandemic and footfall falling across the district.

1…Frictionless shopping startup Zippin’s Japan partner, Fujitsu, has worked with Koyo Group to implement what is pitched as the world’s first checkout-free store within a hotel.

Situated in the Yokohama Techno Tower Hotel, it is also the first store in Japan open to the general public that uses biometric authentication technology to verify customers’ identities. 

92.4% of Brits have visited an online store in the past month, with 85.5% making a transaction, according to research from Hootsuite and We Are Social.

This also finds that those of us aged between 45-54 and 55-64 are making the most online purchases during the latest coronavirus lockdown (87.5% and 86.1% respectively). 

One in two Americans are choosing not to celebrate Valentine’s Day this year, according research from Contentsquare.

The company surveyed over 1,000 US consumers and found that, of those opting out, 15% said their decision was directly related to Covid-19. 

£2.4 billion…UK online shoppers are sitting on a potential £2.4 billion of unreturned goods, as coronavirus lockdown restrictions make it significant harder to return unwanted items, according to research from InPost. 

$1.2 billion …Home Depot has opened a 1.5 million square foot automated fulfilment centre in Dallas, as part of the retailer's $1.2 billion supply chain investment announced in 2017.

1 million…Online marketplace notonthehighstreet has been bought by private equity firm, Great Hill Partners, for an undisclosed sum.

The deal comes after the venture – which was founded in 2006 – added nearly a million new customers and saw its community of hand-picked small business sellers rise four-fold in 2020 as the coronavirus pandemic drove an e-commerce boom. 

74%…Last month saw the highest UK online sales since the coronavirus pandemic began (+74% YoY), and the highest January sales on record since 2008, according to research from IMRG and Capgemini.

£700 million…Ocado this week said it would stump up £700 million for new projects for its technology clients in 2021 as group sales in the year to 29th November reached £2.3 billion.

7.1%…January saw UK retail sales growth decline to its lowest level since May of last year, according to research from the BRC and KPMG.

They increased 7.1% on a like-for-like basis from January 2020, when they had decreased 0.8% from the preceding year.

$43 million…Headless e-commerce platform startup, Fabric, has announced a $43 million Series A funding round led by Norwest Venture Partners, with participation from Redpoint Ventures and Sierra Ventures. 

24% of retailers plan to close physical stores in 2021 and two thirds of shoppers don’t expect to visit the high street this year, according to research by Brightpearl.

76.9%…With the UK in its third coronavirus lockdown, year-on-year UK retail footfall decreased by 76.9% in January, a 30.8 percentage point worsening from December. 

This is the largest drop in UK footfall since May 2020 (-81.6%). according to the BRC and ShopperTrak. 

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