Sophie Baqué

Latest articles by Sophie Baqué

Supported by L-Catterton, the Ghost marketplace for overstock raises US$40 million

Californian start-up Ghost raised US$40 million on October 15, 2024, in a Series C round led by L Catterton (LVMH). Investors include Cathay Innovation (which led a US$30 million Series B round in...

28 October 2024

[Regulatory] Indonesia, South Africa and Chile join the U.S. in an attempt to curb Shein and Temu

As the European Commission opened formal proceedings against Temu on October 31, global governments are mobilising to defend local economies against Shein, AliExpress and others. While the U.S. is...

25 October 2024

South Asia: Mothercare and Reliance Brands create a joint venture

On October 17, the struggling British retailer Mothercare (sales of US$355 million in the fiscal year to March 2024, down by 9% at constant exchange rates after a fall of 13% in 2022) and the...

25 October 2024

Web-to-store, drive-to-store: how to generate in-store traffic and build customer loyalty

Fighting for market share with pure-players, shrinking consumer demand, making retail rents profitable... As footfall keeps decreasing in stores, drive-to-store has become an essential lever for...

24 October 2024

Watsons, L’Oréal and Alibaba take the brunt of China’s flagging demand

Against a backdrop of slowing consumer demand in China, international beauty and luxury retailers are adopting a cautious expansion approach.

23 October 2024

Sensei completes a US$16.2-million Series A

As announced by mind Retail, Portuguese start-up Sensei, which specialises in AI-enhanced computer vision and sensor technologies to operate autonomous supermarkets, has just raised US$16.2...

23 October 2024

Didier Veloso, GS1: “At Decathlon and L’Oréal, the usages’ growth of QR code scanning is very encouraging”

As traditional barcode is reaching its limits, QR codes are proliferating on home-electrical, fashion and food products. Didier Veloso, Executive President of GS1 France, and Diana de Bernardy...

18 October 2024

With 10% of online sales, Yves Rocher launches a marketplace to round off offering

On September 23, beauty retailer Yves Rocher (660 stores in France, turnover of €1.2 billion in 2023 including 10% of online sales) launched a marketplace in France, powered by the Mirakl...

17 October 2024

Chatbot: between Castorama and ManoMano, the transformation capacity of GenAI can be doubled

Deployed over the past year on DIY websites and marketplaces, the integration of generative AI within chatbots has improved efficiency in pre-sales. Here's a look at the results from Kingfisher...

17 October 2024

Commercial rents fell by 3.5% in Tokyo in the 1st half of the year

According to Savills’ October 2024 report, retail rents for ground floor stores in Tokyo fell by 3.5% in the 6 months to the end of June 2024. This fall in rental values is explained by the...

16 October 2024

Faced with inflation and the housing crisis, Ikea sales fall for the first time in 5 years

While the restriction of purchasing power for the working classes continues unabated, even shaking up the political landscape, Ikea's sales fell by 4% in value and remained sluggish in volume in...

15 October 2024

Saudi Cenomi and GIB Capital launch a €245 million retail property fund

On October 8, 2024, in Saudi Arabia, mall developer Cenomi Centres (66 million visitors in H1 2024, 92.5% occupancy rate) joined forces with investment fund GIB Capital (a branch of Gulf...

15 October 2024

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Personalised pricing: Europe keeps a low profile while New York forces retailers to be transparent

In the State of New York, unprecedented legislation has come into force requiring retailers using personalised pricing algorithms to inform consumers. While the NRF is seeking to counter its...

12 December 2025

Carmila join forces with Unlimitail and JCDecaux to equip 252 malls

On December 9, Carrefour and Carmila signed a partnership with Unlimitail and JCDecaux to create a retail media network combining indoor DOOH and outdoor OOH across their sites in France and...

12 December 2025

Coupang’s C.E.O. resigns after data leak of 33.7 million customers

On December 10, Park Dae-Jun, CEO of South Korean e-commerce retailer Coupang (2024 revenue: US$31.5 billion up by 29%) resigned. The cause was a security breach that exposed the personal...

12 December 2025

Kroger compensates Ocado with US$350 million and scales back robotic warehouses

After improving net margin in 2024, Kroger is closing several automated Ocado warehouses. The strategy is to strengthen in-store picking and delivery partnerships with DoorDash Instacart and Uber...

12 December 2025

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How Maison 123 generated €420,000 on WhatsApp in 5 months

Riding on a reduction in Meta’s commercial policy, Wax start‑up specialised in WhatsApp engagement, is gaining ground, capitalising on messaging as a customer acquisition and retention channel in...

3 December 2025

Laurent Hugou (Les Mousquetaires): “With Diebold’s camera system, shrinkage at self-check-out is reduced by a third”

Shift towards an omnichannel payment service provider, roll-out of mobile payment and Diebold’s computer vision solution for self-checkout, impact of one-click payment on online sales, adoption of...

11 December 2025

Retail media: Marionnaud bets on print with Figaro to boost drive-to-store

According to our sources, Marionnaud’s beauty retailer will expand an advertising unit into 3 new countries in 2026 and is launching another retail media lever in the French key market. The goal...

26 November 2025

Carmila join forces with Unlimitail and JCDecaux to equip 252 malls

On December 9, Carrefour and Carmila signed a partnership with Unlimitail and JCDecaux to create a retail media network combining indoor DOOH and outdoor OOH across their sites in France and...

12 December 2025

Deborah Van Dessel (Lagardère Travel Retail): “We are testing AI tools and prompts for store layout”

Between global governance, local ambassador clubs and deployments at scale, Lagardère Travel Retail identified major operational gains thanks to AI, while other use cases reveal the current limits...

25 November 2025

Coupang’s C.E.O. resigns after data leak of 33.7 million customers

On December 10, Park Dae-Jun, CEO of South Korean e-commerce retailer Coupang (2024 revenue: US$31.5 billion up by 29%) resigned. The cause was a security breach that exposed the personal...

12 December 2025