Sophie Baqué
Chief Editor of mind Retail
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...
- Retail
- Retailer and e-commerce
- Analysis
12 October 2026
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...
- Retail
- Retailer and e-commerce
- News
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...
- Retail
- Retail tech
- News
20 October 2026
How Mobilier de France reduced the share of cheque payments from 80% to 50%
With an average basket of €3,500 and a payment journey that includes a financial deposit at the time of ordering, Mobilier de France shares with mind Retail its assessment of the rollout of...
- Retail
- mind Exclusive
- Retail tech
15 October 2026
Latest articles by Sophie Baqué
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...
- Retail
- Property and investors
- News brief
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...
- Retail
- Property and investors
- News brief
15 October 2024
In the retail sector, M&A are expected to rise in the GCC in 2024
As online retailers are putting a rising pressure on omnichannel retailers, retailers located in the Gulf Cooperation Council are expected to see a rise in M&A transactions. According to the...
- Retail
- News brief
11 October 2024
Fashion: second-hand players call for an end to resale taxation
In both the U.S.A. and Europe, federations and players in the circular fashion sector are campaigning for an end to double taxation, especially tax applied to resale margins, which applies to...
- Retail
- News
8 October 2024
Omnichannel, video, photo: online and in-store, customer reviews are re-inventing themselves
As e-commerce returns to growth, online retailers need to optimise customer reviews to stay ahead of the game. We look at the strategies of Amazon, Shein, Temu, Fnac Darty, Decathlon, Picard...
- Retail
- Retailer and e-commerce
- Analysis
8 October 2024
Richemont takes control of 33% of Mytheresa in exchange for sale of YNAP
On October 7, 2024, Richemont (sales of €20.62 billion in 2023, up 3.3%) announced the sale of Yoox-Net-A-Porter (YNAP ) to German marketplace Mytheresa (sales of €840 million in the...
7 October 2024
USA: CVS makes further redundancies and plans to split retail and health insurance businesses
According to CNBC, drugstore retailer CVS Health (sales of US$357.8 billion in 2023, up 10.9%, net margin at 2.3% of sales) has hired consultants to carry out a strategic review of the business...
4 October 2024
U.K. With late payments by Prada and Kurt Geiger, the government is tightening the screws
Last month, the British government presented an array of measures to limit late supplier payments and to support SMEs. According to the lobby group Good Business Pays, in 2023, Prada (LVMH) paid...
- Retail
- News brief
4 October 2024
Affinity insurances : 18 months’ imprisonment sought for SFAM’s CEO
Already fined €10 million in 2018 by the insurance financial watchdog (ACPR), Mr. Sadri Fegaier was the subject of a request for the maximum sentence at the trial of Indexia (formerly SFAM)...
- Retail
- News brief
4 October 2024
After Paris 2024, LVMH signs a 2nd sports contract with Formula 1
After partnering the Paris 2024 Olympic Games for a fee of €150 million, the LVMH group signed a 10-year contract on October 2, 2024 as a premium partner of Formula 1 (F1). The partnership...
- Retail
- News brief
3 October 2024
What you absolutely must read this week
The essential content of the week selected by the editorial team.
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...
- Retail
- Special Reports
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...
- Retail
- mind Exclusive
- Retail tech
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...
23 October 2026
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...
- Retail
- Economy and regulators
- Analysis
21 October 2026
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
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...
23 October 2026