R|T: The Retail Times – Shopify's big Black Friday – BetaKit

The Retail Times is a weekly newsletter covering retail tech news from Canada and around the globe.

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Digital Main Street


betakit

Endy to be acquired by Sleep Country Canada for $89 million

The deal is comprised of $63.7 million in cash to be paid at closing, and up to $25 million in cash to be paid in early 2021 based on the achievement of certain growth and profitability targets in 2020.


Digital Main Street

DMS Recommends: How mobile search is driving today’s in-store shopping experience

As we were reminded during the 2017 holiday shopping season, a great deal of shopping research is coming from mobile: 65% of Canadian holiday shoppers who visited a store turned to online search before going in-store.


techcrunch

Alexa can now help you donate to Toys for Tots and other charities

After speaking the voice command, Alexa will present you with a reasonably priced item appropriate for kids across a range of ages.


bk

Shopify’s Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales hit $1.5 billion USD

CEO Tobi Lütke said that approximately 10 percent of online Black Friday sales went through Shopify stores.


techcrunch

UrbanClap, India’s largest home services startup, raises $50M

UrbanClap, a four-year-old startup that offers home services across India, has closed a $50 million Series D round for expansion.


bk

Vendasta receives $3.3 million from Western Innovation Initiative

Through the Western Innovation (WINN) Initiative, the Canadian government has invested over $3.3 million in Vendasta Technologies to support international market expansion.


fortune

Dental care startup Quip raises $40 million following launch at Target

A combination of equity and debt financing while led by existing investor Sherpa Capital, the latest funding round brings Quip’s total funding to over $60 million.


la

Shipsi raises seed round to take on Amazon Prime same-day shipping

Los Angeles startup Shipsi has raised $1.9 million to level the “instant shipping” playing field.


bk

ModiFace launches first app after L’Oreal acquisitionx

Beauty AR company ModiFace has launched a Virtual Nail Salon app for iPhone, enabling photo-realistic augmented reality simulation of nail polish shades and textures on live videos of hands.


techcrunch

Easyship, a Stripe for global e-commerce shipping, raises $4M

Easyship, a Hong Kong-based startup that aims to make international shipping for e-commerce as easy as payments, has closed a $4 million Series A round.


tech

What online retailers can learn from the high street

High street retail, in its simplest form, is a physical and tactile experience; this isn’t just true for customers, it is also true for employees, as well as the business itself.


bk

Storyflow rebrands to Voiceflow, pivots to Alexa Skills builder for business

Toronto-based Storyflow, which launched as a platform to build interactive voice entertainment on smart speakers, has changed its name to Voiceflow as it pivots its platform.


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