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
Social commerce: engaging, converting and retaining Gen Z
With 5.17 billion users by 2024, and the rise of TikTok Shop in the U.K. and the U.S.A., social networks are a key acquisition and engagement channel for brands. With the arrival of TikTok Shop in...
- Retail
- Essentials
29 August 2024
The Olympics boosted sales of Decathlon, Nike and supermarkets
Buoyed by licensed products, the enthusiasm for sport and the influx of foreign visitors to Paris, the French retail sector enjoyed a boom during the two weeks of competition. Here is a detailed...
- Retail
- Retailer and e-commerce
- News
28 August 2024
How Enhancy, with a model of automation and AI, wants to industrialise the second-hand sector
Optical Character Recognition, automated photo retouching and pricing... Enhancy, a SaaS company specialising in optimising the online resale of 2nd hand products (household appliances and...
- Retail
- Retailer and e-commerce
- Analysis
27 August 2024
Despite better Q2 results than Alibaba, Temu reviews strategy
The quarterly results to the end of June for Alibaba (sales up 4%, including down by 1% for retail) and Temu (sales up 86%) worried financial markets. Rising competition from TikTok and other...
- Retail
- Retailer and e-commerce
- News
27 August 2024
China: After an upbeat Q2, Walmart sells JD.com
On August 21, Walmart confirmed the sale of their stake in JD.com (2023 sales:US$153 billion, up 3.7% in a year). In China, faced with competitors Pinduoduo, Xiaohongshu and Alibaba, the...
- Retail
- Retailer and e-commerce
- News
23 August 2024
Social commerce: why Amazon needs TikTok’s audience
At a time when growth is slowing, Amazon (2023 sales: US$574.8 billion, up 12%) signed an agreement on August, 8 with Tik Tok (1.58 billion users in April) to enable highly engaged American users...
21 August 2024
Lidl launches a D.I.Y. and garden services
After launching a non-food e-commerce business in May 2023, Lidl is further investing in physical stores. In mid-July 2024, the Schwarz Group subsidiary (2023 sales: €167.2 billion, up 8.5%...
20 August 2024
Merger with Albertsons: Kroger raises a bid by US$1 billion
Announced in October 2022, the US$25 billion (including debt) mega-merger between Kroger and Albertsons was temporarily suspended on July, 25 2024. This decision comes after the publication of the...
- Retail
- Economy and regulators
- News brief
19 August 2024
[Amazon Results] Despite solid profitability in Q2, Amazon’s higher investments and U.S.A. pre-election worries unsettle financial markets
Despite fierce competition from Temu and Shein, Amazon reported a solid margin in Q2, driven by the acceleration of AWS and the digital marketplace. Whereas staff lay-off plans have been put on...
- Retail
- Economy and regulators
- Analysis
2 August 2024
Inflation, retail sales, unemployment: 7 charts to understand the health of retail in Europe and the U.S.A. in H1 2024
mind Retail presents a review of macro-economic indicators for the 1st half of 2024. At the end of June 2024, what was the level of inflation in Europe, the U.S.A. and China? How is it impacting...
- Retail
- Retailer and e-commerce
- Analysis
27 July 2024
[mind Retail Exclusive] E.Leclerc invests about €200,000 in a first automated pick-up point
We announced it in December 2023. It is now a reality. On 8 July 2024, E.Leclerc (23.5% market share in 2023 and 24.3% at the end of June 2024) inaugurated its first automated pedestrian...
19 July 2024
Fursac sells vintage products from other brands…but not their own
According to our sources, men’s fashion retailer Fursac (a subsidiary of the SMCP group, with sales of €1.2bn in 2023 at 3% LFL at constant exchange rates, then down by 5% in Q1 2024)...
18 July 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
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
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...
- Retail
- Retailer and e-commerce
- News
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...
7 October 2026
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...
- Retail
- Retailer and e-commerce
- News
16 October 2026