RetailTechNews rounds up some of the biggest stories in the European retail technology space. In this week’s edition: New Trusted Google Comparison Shopping Service Launched; New Acquisition: Farfetch Reaches for China; and Partnership between Marks & Spencer and Founders Factory.

New Trusted Google Comparison Shopping Service Launched

UK-based online retail specialist Summit is launching a new comparison shopping service. Dubbed 'Productcaster', the service has been approved as a trusted partner by Google.

Productcaster joins other price comparison networks, such as Shoptail or Connexity, as a trusted CSS partner. The partnerships are part of Google’s efforts to increase competition in its Shopping ad space across Europe after the EU’s antitrust ruling last year. Productcaster is already live and co-operates with a number of leading retailers in Europe, allowing retailers to take advantage of Google’s Cost-Per-Click offer across it’s updated CSS format.

“We recognised the desire amongst retailers for a trusted, transparent CSS partner that offers sensible fees and a reliable service”, says Hedley Aylott, CEO, Summit. “When we became aware of this opportunity for retailers, we created the Productcaster service to get our clients and agency partners live on CSS within a matter of days across Europe.” According to Aylott, early partners have already seen 15-25% benefits in CPC savings through Productcaster.

The Productcaster CSS solution is also available to service agency clients who want to take advantage of the lower CSS media rates.

New Acquisition: Farfetch Reaches for China

UK-headquartered fashion retail platform Farfetch wants to boost their presence in one of the most lucrative luxury retail markets in the world. Ahead of a rumoured IPO that could see the company go public as early as late summer 2018, the e-commerce platform has now acquired a Chinese agency that specialises in digital marketing.

With the terms of the acquisition not disclosed, CuriosityChina is to provide additional digital marketing services to luxury brands selling in China. CuriosityChina’s team will join Farfetch, with the co-founders Judy Liu, Alexis Bonhomme, and Arthur Shui taking on new positions of managing director, vice president of commercial, and head of technology innovation for the Chinese market, respectively.

Farfetch is planning to integrate CuriosityChina into its own API that enables shop owners to feed their stock into the Farfetch platform. Until now, Farfetch had only two further acquisitions under its belt.

Partnership between Marks & Spencer and Founders Factory

Marks & Spencer is investing in digital. A new joint venture between Marks & Spencer and Founders Factory is to benefit e-commerce startups and M&S alike. Launching 'Founders Factory Retail', M&S not only is Founders Factory’s exclusive UK retail partner, but will also invest in a number of startups through Founders Factory’s global network.

Stewe Rowe, CEO, Marks & Spencer

“Partnering with Founders Factory as their exclusive retail partner gives M&S access to a global network of startups and entrepreneurs, which will provide disruptive thinking and questioning to the way we work at a time of critical transformation within the business”, explains Steve Rowe, CEO, M&S. “Founders Factory has a great track record in creating successful businesses; and by investing in new innovative technologies and products, we hope to change the way we work and operate.”

M&S will become the majority shareholder of the joint venture, with plans to build a portfolio of investments in fast-growth startups, which it will seek to grow and scale. With digital in its sights, M&S recently launched a strategic partnership with Microsoft, focusing on artificial intelligence in a retail environment.