Sophie Baqué

Latest articles by Sophie Baqué

Three retailers disrupting the furniture sector

Faced with demand for customisation, e-commerce, low prices and innovative design in the highly-fragmented furniture sector, few retailers have reached economies of scale. Global Retail News...

14 March 2017

How do European shoppers think?

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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Retail media: Fnac Darty, Klépierre and Médiaperformances accelerate on XXL screens and international expansion

As advertising formats arrive at high speed on LLMs, omnichannel retail media players are strengthening their offerings. While Klépierre has just signed with a new partner for 3D screens...

11 September 2026

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...

10 September 2026

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...

10 September 2026

With Claudeforce, Salesforce opens data to Anthropic and shifts into the conversational AI era

With the announcement of deep integration of the Claude LLM within the Salesforce ecosystem via MCP servers, SaaS software interfaces are fading in favour of AI agents. According to...

9 September 2026

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Before an IPO, Shein forced to reveal margin erosion in 2025 and impact of US tariff shock

Made public ahead of a Hong Kong listing planned for September, Shein’s financial documents, seen by mind Retail, confirm the shift experienced by the fast-fashion retailer. Despite a 8% sales...

21 August 2026