Do you like numbers? Do you like retail systems news? Then this is the article for you. Including Costa Coffee, Alibaba Group, Tesco, Asos and Aldi UK.

500…InPost has announced a new partnership with Tesco, which will see its automated parcel machines (APMs) deployed across the grocery giant’s entire large format store estate in the UK, potentially up to 500 sites, by the end of November.  

Shoppers will be able to collect their online orders or send parcels, and also drop off returns in seconds thanks to InPost’s paperless Instant Returns service.

10…Deliveroo Hop has launched in central London in partnership with Morrisons.

The service, available through the Deliveroo app, will offer grocery delivery in as little as 10 minutes.

53%…A fear of failure is crippling UK retailers, with 53% avoiding making decisions due to the possible consequences, according to research conducted by Opinium and LiveArea.

$4 million…Joyned, a SaaS platform enabling retailers to provide social shopping experiences directly to their consumers rather than through third-party platforms, has secured $4 million in seed funding.

14 and 6…Costa Coffee has launched a trial of a new blockchain technology powered reusable cup scheme called BURT. 

BURT – which stands for ‘Borrow, Use, Reuse, Take Back’ – started this week across 14 stores in Glasgow and will last for six months.

1 million…Alibaba Group’s Xiaomanlv robots have delivered more than a million parcels in China within one year of their launch.

40 and £1 billion…UK charity Pennies has attracted 40 new advisory board members from across retail, hospitality, payment, technology.

The FinTech venture’s tech gives customers paying by card, digital wallet and emerging payment channels, a way to add a small donation to their purchase when shopping with participating retailers.

New members include execs from Joules, Wilko, The Very Group, Dixons Carphone, British Retail Consortium, Hello Fresh, Nandos, Papa Johns, and KFC.

Their aim is to support Pennies in raising £1 billion in micro-donations for UK charities. 

£54 million…Cover Genius, an Australian embedded insurance startup that works with the likes of Booking,com and eBay, has secured £54 million in a Series C funding round led by Sompo Holdings Asia.

The cash will be used to expand its global insurance distribution platform and support new e-commerce, property, travel, mobility, auto, B2B and financial services partners.

£14 million and 184…Online fashion retailer Asos is to invest £14 million in a new tech hub in Belfast, Northern Ireland and create 184 new jobs over the next three years.

5…Supply chain consultant and former Amazon executive, Brittain Ladd, lists the five grocery delivery ventures that are most likely to succeed, including Buyk, Getir and Instacart.

£1.3 billion…Aldi has pledged to invest £1.3 billion over the next two years (2022-2023) in a bid to further accelerate its share of the UK grocery market.

£2.1 million…Moon, a US-based startup that enables crypto payments for e-commerce sites, has raised $2.1 million.