Sophie Baqué

Chief Editor of mind Retail
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Most read articles by Sophie Baqué
Eric Meulien, Al Futtaim: “The next step in our roadmap is to replace the in-store POS system”
Operating in 18 countries and managing brands such as Ikea, Zara and Marks & Spencer, Emirati group Al-Futtaim (2025 revenue: US$9.7 billion, up by 6%) has a unique vantage point from which to...
Marketplaces: How Orange and Virgin Australia reinvent their value creation models
Looking to turn their audience into a commercial platform without having to carry the risk of holding stock, new verticals are entering the marketplace space, with new models designed to enhance...
8 October 2026
AI agents: the KPIs that led L’Oréal to scale up across its warehouses
After testing 7 AI agents in its warehouses, L’Oréal is scaling up. Deployed to coordinate picking waves, manage replenishment and handle stocktaking, Manhattan’s agents have helped cut several...
20 October 2026
Danone turns to AI to personalise marketing campaigns and test advertising in ChatGPT
AI is being rolled out across some marketing activities, while others remain in a testing phase. If campaign automation and personalisation are among the most advanced applications, visibility in...
16 October 2026
Latest articles by Sophie Baqué
Shabir Vasram, Daphni: “We are seeing valuation anomalies in certain AI cases due to investors’ pressure”
Shabir Vasram is a Partner at venture capital firm Daphni. Focusing on seed to Series A funding, Daphni backed companies such as Back Market, Stockly, Albatross and Prediko, and is rapidly...
Faced with customs duties, free delivery is on the decline in the U.S.A
In order to offset additional costs associated with customs duties (10% for most countries and 30% for China), U.S. retailers are beginning to tighten delivery policies. Recently, subscription toy...
Pressured Debenhams signs with Romanian unicorn UiPath to optimise prices
Debt renegotiation, declining sales, margins under pressure: to regain control of a pricing policy, Debenhams is turning to the Romanian automation unicorn and embarking on a shift towards smarter...
[mind Retail Exclusive] Coop Switzerland boosts sales with an AI chatbot dedicated to DIY
Daniel Hofmann, Brand Manager at Jumbo, shared with mind Retail the results of a conversational AI chatbot, which has been launched for two years. He explains usage figures, the impact on average...
USA : Dollar General capitalises on tariffs trade tensions
In the U.S.A., the second-largest discount grocer after Aldi reported excellent business results. It seems that the 55% tariff increase on Chinese products has been a godsend for low-cost...
China’s Wanda sells 48 malls in mega deal
In China, real estate developer Dalian Wanda Group (513 Wanda Plaza malls covering 70.9 million sq.m) is selling 48 shopping centres in a US$6.94 billion deal. The buyer is a joint venture led by...
[mind Retail Day] Data strategy and advertising revenue: Fitness Park’s new trajectory
During the mind Retail Day, the Fitness Park gym chain (350 gyms in Europe) took stock of their advertising monetization strategy. Here are the key figures.
Pyrenex boosts e-commerce conversion rate by 67% thanks to Mollie and Shopify
Exclusively for mind Retail, Benjamin Wutiuyen, Head of Digital Marketing at Pyrenex, reviews the replatforming carried out in July 2024, with the integration of Mollie as payment provider...
[mind Retail Day] Marketplace scaling: growth drivers according to Castorama, Fnac-Darty and La Redoute
For Séverine Geoffroy (Castorama), Emilie Arnaud (Fnac-Darty), Pauline Tolila (Younited) and Edouard Roussel (La Redoute), the marketplace offers a structuring growth lever with an array of...
Veesion secures a €53-million funding and opens a U.S. subsidiary
As shoplifting becomes more prevalent in the retail sector, particularly in the U.S. amid inflation and price increases, Veesion (specialising in AI-powered detection of in-store behaviours) has...
27 May 2025
EU adopts environmental labelling for B2B, France pushes for a consumer-facing version
While Brussels has just approved the methodological framework for eco-score in the fashion industry, France is taking the lead with a more ambitious version directly aimed at consumers. Already in...
[mind Retail exclusive] How second-hand goods are set to grow at Tara Jarmon and Zapa
Behind the scenes at the mind Retail Day conference in Paris on May 21, Laura Marquant, Managing Director of Tara Jarmon and Zapa, exclusively unveiled her circular roadmap. Accelerating...
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What you absolutely must read this week
The essential content of the week selected by the editorial team.
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How retailers are reinventing the checkout
As pressure on household budgets continues, new payment methods including account-to-account (A2A) instant payments, Wero, Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL), loyalty points and cashback, are gaining...
2 November 2026
Julien Cailleau, Oney: “With 3 retailers, we are testing the use of Valiuz data to streamline financing approvals”
Against a backdrop of growing pressure on household budgets, the European CCD2 Directive coming into force and a new legal framework for assisted purchasing journeys, Oney is stepping up an...
29 October 2026
Advantail signs with Formality to streamline commercial lease management
Amid an ownership shake-up following its acquisition by Evoriel, shopping centre operator Advantail has signed with Formality to digitise the management of commercial leases and contracts across...
US retailers divided over the rise of autonomous shopping agents
In the US, Gap, Walmart, Best Buy, Amazon and eBay are taking very different approaches to agentic commerce. While TV shopping giants QVC and HSN see these new intermediaries as an opportunity to...
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
Eric Meulien, Al Futtaim: “The next step in our roadmap is to replace the in-store POS system”
Operating in 18 countries and managing brands such as Ikea, Zara and Marks & Spencer, Emirati group Al-Futtaim (2025 revenue: US$9.7 billion, up by 6%) has a unique vantage point from which to...
2
Marketplaces: How Orange and Virgin Australia reinvent their value creation models
Looking to turn their audience into a commercial platform without having to carry the risk of holding stock, new verticals are entering the marketplace space, with new models designed to enhance...
8 October 2026
3
How Maison A.Constant built a unified customer database with n8n
Eager to bring together customer data and improve data accuracy, jewellery and watch retailer Maison A.Constant built its own Single Customer Repository (SCR) using n8n, an orchestration platform...
4
Cashback: Younited secures an exclusive contract with Bouygues Telecom
Following Orange and the launch of a marketplace, Bouygues Telecom is strengthening a customer loyalty strategy by focusing on purchasing power with a new cashback offer. For French fintech...
16 October 2026