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India: Walmart reinvests US$1.4 billion in Flipkart
After scaling back operations in the U.K., Brazil and Japan, Walmart is strengthening control over Indian online retailer Flipkart. On July 30, 2023, the firm invested US$1.4 billion, buying the...
Automatic checkouts: Specialist retailers follow in supermarket footsteps
In the early 2000s, self-checkout (SCO) systems were introduced in France at Auchan and Casino, and in the U.S.A. at Kroger and Costco, operated by IBM Retail. Today, Intermarché has 1,600...
[confidential] Decathlon Belgium wants to recruit 100 subscribers per month for a rental offer
At Decathlon Belgium, the “We Play Circular” rental system is gaining ground. Launched initially with 70 families and two stores (Brussels and Antwerp), the second stage began in May...
USA : TikTok adds an e-commerce site to compete with Shein and Temu
TikTok (1.17 billion users by June 2023) is opening an e-commerce business in the U.S.A. Ranging from clothing to electronic equipment, the “Made in China” offer is available directly...
Decathlon slashes private labels to boost performance
Faced with a slowdown in sales and concentration in the sector, Decathlon (turnover of €15.4 billion in 2022, up 12% including 16.8% online) is pulling out the heavy artillery. In mid-July...
Lidl launches a retail media business in Germany
On 18 July 2023, the German Schwarz Group (owner of Lidl and Kaufland) announced the immediate launch of an online retail media offering, in partnership with online advertising technology company...
2 August 2023
DSA: After Zalando, Amazon tries to escape Brussels’ constraints
After Zalando, it is now the turn of Amazon (2022 sales: US$514 billion) to claim the firm has been “unfairly targeted” by the E.U. and the rules laid down to prevent systemic risks...
U.K. Will duty-free shopping for foreign tourists return soon?
The scheduling of a parliamentary debate on 7 September 2023 on the reintroduction of duty-free shopping in the U.K. is a first victory for British retailers. During this debate for around fifty...
24 July 2023
Following Central Retail, Aeon invests massively in Vietnam
On 19 July, the leading Japanese retailer Aeon (turnover of US$16.6 billion in Q1 2023, up by 5% in one year) received a US$41 million loan from JBIC and Mizuho Bank to expand in southern Vietnam...
24 July 2023
Amazon up in arms over €3 delivery charges for books
On 27 June in France, Amazon announced instructions to sue the French Council of State to court over a ministerial order of April 4, 2023. This will introduce a minimum carriage charge of €3...
China: Harrods targets the ultra-rich with a private club in Shanghai
On 17 July, Harrods announced the evolution of “The Residence” concept (launched in 2020) with the creation of a private club for ultra-rich customers. The company’s first...
20 July 2023
Retail media: despite Kingfisher and Leroy Merlin’s initiatives, the DIY market will need 18 to 24 months to become mature
In mid-June 2023, Kingfisher announced the launch of Kingfisher Retail Media France, an omnichannel retail media agency run by Gwenola Coicaud (formerly of Criteo) for the Castorama and Brico...
U.S. retailers raise minimum threshold for free delivery by 23%
In the U.S.A., where e-commerce accounted for 15.1% of retail in Q1 2023 via US$272.6 billion in sales, the party is over when it comes to free deliveries and returns, which have damaged the...
Jeremie Profeta, CTO Sonepar “The digital marketplace will launch in France by the end of 2023 and the USA could follow very quickly”
Sonepar, the world's largest electrical equipment retailer, has announced investments of €2 billion in supply chain and €1 billion in an international digital platform. Jeremie Profeta, C.T.O. and...
British online shoppers reduced their average shopping basket by 14% in 6 months
In the U.K., rising prices are reducing consumer purchasing power. According to Foxinteligence, the average number of items per e-commerce basket fell  from 3.1 a year ago to 2.8 in June...
External growth: Carrefour acquires Cora-Match
On 12th July 2023, Carrefour announced the acquisition of the Cora and Match banners, subsidiaries of the Louis Delhaize group. Carrefour could now reach a market share of 22.3% and compete with...
17 July 2023
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Most viewed articles of the month on mind Retail
What readers clicked on the most last month.
What readers clicked on the most last month.
1
Hugues Chanoine (Hygie31 Digital): “The next step is to eliminate filters to move to 100% conversational search”
The Hygie31 retail group, known for the Lafayette Pharmacies, is continuing to transform its websites, driven by Cocooncenter. Thanks to an AI strategy and a fully redesigned IT architecture, it...
2
ChatGPT: Bureau Vallée’s recipe to capture back-to-school spending
By launching a conversational chatbot with Algolia and a new module converting school lists into e-commerce carts this summer, Bureau Vallée aims to ease the chore of back-to-school supply list...
3
Walmart finally accepts in-store payments with Apple Pay and Google Pay
Sanctioned by financial markets after a sharp US slowdown in Q2, Walmart is reviewing a checkout strategy. Abandoning a rejection of technological giants, the group is rolling out Apple Pay and...
24 August 2026
4
Why Shein emits twice as much CO2 as Inditex for equivalent revenue
On the occasion of an IPO, Shein revealed a carbon footprint of 25.5 million tonnes of carbon dioxide in 2025, up by 20% compared to a reference year. For an equivalent sales level, the fast...
5
Lidl’s owner continues cloud services offensive
With €2.2 billion in cloud revenue and growth 3 times faster than the rest of the business, Schwarz Group continues a technological shift. Between investments in its own data centres, buyouts in...
1 September 2026