Sophie Baqué

Latest articles by Sophie Baqué

[Mind Retail info] Ouidrop rolls out drive-through robotics at E.Leclerc and prepares for Series A

Mind Retail learned the French start-up, which specialises in robotics technology for grocery drive-throughs, has signed new deals with E.Leclerc supermarkets. The rapidly growing start-up, whose...

26 August 2025

EU-US customs duties: as luxury goods and beauty products, wines and spirits will be taxed at 15%

Exports of products manufactured in Europe to the U.S.A. are now subject to 15% customs duties. While the aeronautics sector is exempt, this is not the case for wines, spirits, cosmetics and...

26 August 2025

Biometric payment: Handwave raises US$4.2 million and signs with Visa

In the wake of Amazon One, Latvian start-up Handwave aims to democratise biometric payment and authentication using the palm of the hand. The past weeks have seen major announcements by the...

21 August 2025

Danish grocer Salling accelerates VC investments, following in the footsteps of Vinted

Eager to better source retail innovation and accelerate time to market, Danish grocer Salling (2024 turnover: €9.7 billion, up by 2.7%) launched a new fund. Named Salling Seeds and headed by...

21 August 2025

Online returns: Blue Yonder completes logistics suite with the acquisition of Optoro

Following in the footsteps of Best Buy, DHL and Picnic, Blue Yonder is responding to the rising challenge of online returns. As their operational, environmental and commercial impact increases...

20 August 2025

SMCP returns to growth, ending legal battle

On August 11, 2025, SMCP (including Sandro and Maje) announced the end of a legal battle from 2021. Following a ruling by the High Court of Singapore, the 15.5% stake that had been wrongfully...

20 August 2025

Malls : Simon Property accelerates data monetisation with Humana, URW continues arbitrage

As more Americans visited shopping centres in H1 2025, the sector’s leader Simon Property Group is expanding both data and community engagement with a new partnership with Humana. This gives a new...

20 August 2025

[Amazon results] Between accelerated growth and massive investment in Q2, Amazon seeks balance

On July 31, Amazon published quarterly results in line with Wall Street expectations, with revenue up 13.3% and net profitability up 35%. Looking for early signs of a return on spending, and...

5 August 2025

Jean-Yves Gras, Colissimo: “By October 2025, we will offer photos of packages in mailboxes or at home upon delivery”

In an e-commerce market that is growing in volume but disrupted by the pull of out-of-home consumption, Colissimo is adopting innovative AI digital twin and package tracking technologies. The goal...

4 August 2025

[E-commerce Barometer 2025] France, United Kingdom, Germany… traditional markets return to 2021 peak

In 2024, online product sales doubled (up by 5.4%) in the 6 main Western European markets of the U.K., Germany, France, Italy, the Netherlands, and Switzerland, driven by lower inflation and...

4 August 2025

Delipop bankruptcy: a warning for urban logistics start-ups?

Dissolved on July 30 by the Paris Commercial Court, the start-up Delipop, which pooled pedestrian drive-through pickups for several food retailers such as Carrefour and Intermarché via automated...

1 August 2025

EU-US tariffs: a 15% compromise, but luxury goods, cosmetics, and wine remains unclear

The framework agreement reached on July 27 between Trump and von der Leyen imposes tariffs of 15% on European exports. While aerospace and spirits are expected to be exempt, the extra costs for...

29 July 2025

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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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Online Advertising: Leroy Merlin and Auchan at the heart of a political controversy

Since November 17, Leroy Merlin has faced controversy after a report from Sleeping Giants, an activist group against online hate speech. The organisation alerted the Adeo group retailer (GMV 2024...

21 November 2025

Payment: a lever for retail innovation

This month, our editorial team highlights how innovation is taking shape around payment. This key stage, enabling turnover to be collected by retailers, is at the heart of numerous pilots and...

28 November 2025

Leroy Merlin and Aroma‑Zone launch in‑store analytics pilots with XXII

French retail tech XXII, which aims to become the Google Analytics and Contentsquare of physical stores, has already signed with 15 retailers and shopping centres, mind Retail learned. A year...

5 December 2025

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

Adobe bets on GEO with the US$1.9 billion acquisition of Semrush

On November 19 the technology leader Adobe (2024 revenue: US$21.5 billion, up by 11% at constant rates) announced the acquisition of SaaS platform Semrush (2024 revenue: US$376.8 million, up by...

21 November 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