Retail sales in the U.S. fell by 0.7% in December, marking the third straight month of decline. Online sales fell by 5.8% from November but were up more than 19% YoY.

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• Holiday retail sales rose by 8.3% YoY, according to the National Retail Federation. The NRF had previously projected holiday sales would rise by 3.6%-5.2%
• The WSJ attributed December's decline to the continuous rise in COVID-19 cases, leading states like California to impose new restrictions.
• 140,000 Americans lost their job last month, ending a seven-month job growth streak. 965,000 Americans filed for initial unemployment benefits.

Future Outlook:

• The U.S. has ramped up vaccination efforts in January, with more than 12.2 million Americans receiving the first dose, according to the CDC.
• Last month, the U.S. passed a $900B stimulus package with $600 direct payments and $300/week unemployment benefits. President-elect Joe Biden unveiled a $1.9T proposal that will provide additional stimulus checks of $1,400.

U.K. based food delivery firm Deliveroo raised $180M in a Series H funding round, giving it a valuation of more than $7B. The company is planning to hold an IPO in April at a $13.6B valuation. It has raised $1.7B since its inception in 2013

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• In 2019, Deliveroo earned $1B in revenue with a $393M loss. It became "operationally profitable" last year.
• Deliveroo mainly operates in European countries such as France, Spain, and Belgium. It also has a presence in Australia, Hong Kong, and the United Arab Emirates.
• Amazon owns a 16% stake in Deliveroo after it led a $575M funding round in May 2019. Last August, U.K. regulators approved the investment.
• Deliveroo will use the money to expand its cloud kitchen sites and grocery delivery service. It will enable more restaurants to take orders from their own websites.
• The company partners with at least 140,000 restaurants and has 110,000 drivers.

YouTube has launched a pilot program enabling content creators to directly sell products featured in their videos. By clicking on a shopping bag icon in the bottom left corner of the video, users will be presented with a list of featured items, enabling them to purchase the products directly.

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• Currently, the feature is only available to U.S.-based users via Android, iOS, and the web.
• In October, Bloomberg reported that YouTube asked its creators to use software to tag and track items shown in their videos. The aggregated data was connected to Google's analytics and shopping tools.
• Online sales have surged during the COVID-19 pandemic, resulting in internet companies introducing new e-commerce focused features.
• Facebook introduced WhatsApp Carts and Shopping in Reels on Instagram. Snapchat has partnered with major retailers to create Bitmoji versions of their products.
• In October, TikTok partnered with Shopify to make it easier for merchants to advertise and sell their products on the social media app.

PayPal has taken 100% control of Chinese firm GoPay, becoming the first foreign company to have full ownership of a payment platform in the Asian nation. On Dec. 31, 2020, PayPal acquired a 30% stake in GoPay, one year after it took 70% ownership of the company.

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• Financial details of either transaction weren't disclosed, but PayPal has previously outlined its ambition to connect China's e-commerce infrastructure to its global network.
• China is the world's largest payment market and PayPal will be competing against domestic giants such as Alibaba owned Alipay and Tencent owned WeChat Pay.
• The acquisition comes as the Chinese government opens up its financial industry and begins to launch anti-monopoly probes against domestic tech giants.

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• UBS Group is contemplating a $400M investment in Ant Group-owned Paytm. The Indian based company is Asia's most valuable startup.
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