Sophie Baqué

Latest articles by Sophie Baqué

Marrit Laning, Head of Research at Redevco, explains the latest survey of 14,000 consumers in the U.K., Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, France and Spain.

9 February 2017

“We want to roll out franchised store networks in emerging countries”

Within developing countries and an unsophisticated retail market, LafargeHolcim has expanded beyond cement manufacturing into a full retailer of building materials. Sophie Baqué met Iqbal Omar...

9 February 2017

“Retailers should accelerate their innovation pace”

Sophie Baqué met Nick Lansley, an expert in retail innovation. After 27 years at Tesco, he explains why retailers must boost their pace of innovation to meet the expectations of today’s customers...

19 November 2016

“Fossil needs one outlet store for every 10 full price stores”

16 October 2016

INSTACART. “WE ARE INVENTING A NEW MODEL FOR GROCERY SHOPPING IN THE NEXT CENTURY”

Valued US$2 billion, Instacart is developing a financially viable scheme for the delivery of fresh grocery products. It delivers customers in 60 minutes with an Uber-style model of personal...

20 April 2016

EATALY. “WORKING IN FOOD, IT’S LIKE WORKING IN THE HEART OF PEOPLE”

Less than 10 years after a debut, Eataly won the NRF’s award as International Retailer in 2016. Sophie Baqué met Nicola Farinetti, the son of Founder Oscar Farinetti, to understand why Eataly...

20 February 2016

“AT JOHN LEWIS, EVERY PARTNER RECEIVES THE SAME PERCENTAGE OF BONUS, FROM THE CEO TO THE STORE HANDLER.”

Whilst profit slides at Tesco and Debenhams, John Lewis Partnership’s sales have been growing for 6 years through a strategy focusing on the U.K. home market. Sophie Baqué met Andy Street...

22 November 2014

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E-retail media solidifies brand–retailer relationships

According to Publicis Commerce‘s e-retail media barometer for 2025 (surveying around 200 marketing, commerce, and e-commerce decision-makers in France) published on January 7, 2026, nearly...

2 February 2026

Marketplaces: Stockly enters Switzerland with MediaMarkt, Decathlon, Galaxus and Manor

After a loss-making but high-growth year in 2025, the stock-pooling start-up for marketplaces signed agreements with 4 Swiss retailers, mind Retail learned. By taking on one of Europe’s most...

30 January 2026

Retail tech: major trends for 2026

In 2026, retail can no longer afford to promise. It must deliver. Retail tech has entered the execution stage. The race for showcase innovation is over, giving way to clear priorities: operational...

30 January 2026

Bonus textile repair: a virtuous scheme held back by a shortage of skills

Two years after a launch in the fashion sector, the French repair "bonus" is struggling to scale up. The main reason is a limited pool of repairers constrained by poor recruitment. We share an...

29 January 2026

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Shoptimus AI scales up in grocery smart shopping lists and prepares for a new funding round

After securing a strategic partnership with Spanish grocer Bon Preu, retail tech firm Shoptimus AI—first spotted by Carrefour—is accelerating a rollout. By leveraging AI agents to automate grocery...

11 January 2026

With Walmart, Ulta Beauty, Zalando and Carrefour, Google launches an agentic commerce protocol

Following the launch of payments in Copilot, Google is preparing to join OpenAI and Microsoft, but with a more integrated version focused on its own payment method, Google Pay. These moves...

13 January 2026

Circana: French e-commerce ended 2025 with strong growth, hypermarkets continue to decline

After four years of decline, volumes of fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) rose again in 2025 in France and Europe, although they did not compensate for four years of losses. The rebound was...

15 January 2026

2026 Trends – Chatbots, WhatsApp, social networks: don’t miss out on conversation

(Trends 2/6) After a cautious observation phase by retailers and some high-profile hallucination issues, 2025 was a turning point operationally for chatbots and conversational tools. Positioned...

13 January 2026

Black Friday: Amazon’s AI assistant Rufus featured in 38% of sessions in the US

While peak season sales, revealed at the NRF Big Show, rose by 4.1% in the US from November 1 to December 31, 2025, Rufus, Amazon’s conversational chatbot, confirmed its traction. During the...

15 January 2026

2026 Trends – How far should retailers open the door to AI Search engines ?

(Trends 1/6) With data visibility, recommendations, transactions on ChatGPT, Gemini and Perplexity, LLMs are establishing themselves as new entry points for e-commerce. As search, comparison and...

8 January 2026