Sophie Baqué
Most read articles by Sophie Baqué
Shoptimus AI scales up in grocery smart shopping lists and prepares for a new funding round
After securing a strategic partnership with Spanish grocer Bon Preu, retail tech firm Shoptimus AI—first spotted by Carrefour—is accelerating a rollout. By leveraging AI agents to automate grocery...
- Retail
- mind Exclusive
- Retail tech
11 January 2026
2026 Trends – Retail media, between omnichannel reach, creativity and measurement
(Trends, 6/6) After an exceptional 2024 driven by the Olympic Games, retail media entered a phase of maturity and slowing business last year. It nonetheless remains extremely dynamic, fuelled by...
- Retail
- Retail tech
- Analysis
28 January 2026
Circana: French e-commerce ended 2025 with strong growth, hypermarkets continue to decline
After four years of decline, volumes of fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) rose again in 2025 in France and Europe, although they did not compensate for four years of losses. The rebound was...
- Retail
- Economy and regulators
- Analysis
15 January 2026
2026 Trends – Chatbots, WhatsApp, social networks: don’t miss out on conversation
(Trends 2/6) After a cautious observation phase by retailers and some high-profile hallucination issues, 2025 was a turning point operationally for chatbots and conversational tools. Positioned...
- Retail
- Retail tech
- Analysis
13 January 2026
Latest articles by Sophie Baqué
Beauty : L’Oréal adds Aesop to its portfolio of luxury brands
In search of cash, Brazilian beauty retailer Natura & Co had been looking to sell a gold nugget called Aesop since February. L’Oréal (2022 sales of €38.3...
- Retail
- News brief
6 April 2023
Etam Group: at Maison 123, the stores are in charge to double ownership of e-wallet loyalty cards
One year after the start of the dematerialisation of the loyalty card with Captain Wallet, the first results are encouraging for the fashion retailer. In 8 months, the value of customers who have...
- Retail
- News
5 April 2023
Cashback: a successful sales option to relieve pressure on spending
Well-established in English-speaking countries, cashback attracted French consumers in 2022. Driven by inflation and households budget constraints, this option is a marketing lever, allowing...
- Retail
- Essentials
31 March 2023
Carrefour Brazil. How e-commerce doubled in Q4 2022 with VTEX
Last June, Carrefour’s Brazilian subsidiary launched an omnichannel integration project with VTEX. “The challenge was to serve web orders faster, offering more convenience and agility...
29 March 2023
Leroy Merlin wants to give up control in Russia
On 24 March, Adeo announced an intention to “cede control” of 113 Russian Leroy Merlin stores. However, the holding company wants to “keep its hand” in the poker game. The...
- Retail
- News brief
28 March 2023
In Dubai, the marketplace Noon is banking on external growth to counter Amazon
In the U.A.E., the marketplace Noon (also selling in Saudi Arabia and Egypt) has finalised the acquisition of the fashion pure-player Namshi (2021 turnover of US$491.6 million) with immediate...
- Retail
- News brief
28 March 2023
Couche-Tard consolidates in Europe via a US$3.3 billion buyout
Taking advantage of TotalEnergies' withdrawal from petrol stations, the Canadian company Couche-Tard is filling the space and expanding operations in Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium and...
- Retail
- Retailer and e-commerce
- News
27 March 2023
Why South Korea has become a springboard for LVMH and Gucci
With luxury purchases of US$325 per capita in 2022, South Koreans are the now the world's largest customers for high-end goods. Whilst luxury sales could fall in the U.S.A. in 2023 due to tensions...
- Retail
- News
24 March 2023
Fabien Versavau, Rakuten: “With Carrefour, the synergies in terms of retail media are obvious”
Following the announcement of the imminent opening of a Carrefour digital shop on the Rakuten marketplace, Mind Retail met Fabien Versavau, MD of Rakuten France and Executive Officer Rakuten...
- Retail
- News
22 March 2023
Why Carrefour is outsourcing non-food e-commerce to Rakuten
On 14 March, during the 1-to-1 conference in Monaco, Carrefour (2022 sales of €90.8 billion, up by 8.4% organic excluding petrol) announced the opening of a digital store on the Rakuten...
22 March 2023
Eduardo Velasco, L Catterton: “Consumers do not believe in ESG transformations”
Eduardo Velasco, Partner at the investment fund L Catterton co-founded by LVMH and Bernard Arnault (US$ 33 billion in assets under management in F&B, fashion, etc.) was a guest at the latest...
- Retail
- News
22 March 2023
Tech in-store: guided tour of the Decathlon Lab for South East Asia
mind Retail invites you, in video and photos, behind the scenes of the Decathlon Lab located in Kallang (Singapore). In this 5,000 sq.m store, the company has opted for a rational technological...
- Retail
- Retailer and e-commerce
- News
17 March 2023
Our other services
Research
Conducting customized studies: benchmarks, overviews, personalized newsletters, white label content.
See more
Training courses
Our training courses & masterclasses: short formats for management, executive coaching, and skills development for junior profiles.
See more
Events
Our networking activities: half-day conferences dedicated to industry issues and open to the entire ecosystem.
See more
What you absolutely must read this week
The essential content of the week selected by the editorial team.
E-retail media solidifies brand–retailer relationships
According to Publicis Commerce‘s e-retail media barometer for 2025 (surveying around 200 marketing, commerce, and e-commerce decision-makers in France) published on January 7, 2026, nearly...
- Retail
- Retail tech
- News
2 February 2026
Marketplaces: Stockly enters Switzerland with MediaMarkt, Decathlon, Galaxus and Manor
After a loss-making but high-growth year in 2025, the stock-pooling start-up for marketplaces signed agreements with 4 Swiss retailers, mind Retail learned. By taking on one of Europe’s most...
- Retail
- mind Exclusive
- Retail tech
30 January 2026
Retail tech: major trends for 2026
In 2026, retail can no longer afford to promise. It must deliver. Retail tech has entered the execution stage. The race for showcase innovation is over, giving way to clear priorities: operational...
30 January 2026
Bonus textile repair: a virtuous scheme held back by a shortage of skills
Two years after a launch in the fashion sector, the French repair "bonus" is struggling to scale up. The main reason is a limited pool of repairers constrained by poor recruitment. We share an...
- Retail
- Economy and regulators
- News
29 January 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
Shoptimus AI scales up in grocery smart shopping lists and prepares for a new funding round
After securing a strategic partnership with Spanish grocer Bon Preu, retail tech firm Shoptimus AI—first spotted by Carrefour—is accelerating a rollout. By leveraging AI agents to automate grocery...
- Retail
- mind Exclusive
- Retail tech
11 January 2026
2
Global retail tech investment rose by 7.4% in 2025
In 2025, venture capital continued to flow into commerce technologies. With 27.5 billion dollars invested in retail tech, the average deal size increased while the number of transactions declined.
- Retail
- Economy and regulators
- Analysis
23 January 2026
3
With Walmart, Ulta Beauty, Zalando and Carrefour, Google launches an agentic commerce protocol
Following the launch of payments in Copilot, Google is preparing to join OpenAI and Microsoft, but with a more integrated version focused on its own payment method, Google Pay. These moves...
- Retail
- Retail tech
- News
13 January 2026
4
2026 Trends – Retail media, between omnichannel reach, creativity and measurement
(Trends, 6/6) After an exceptional 2024 driven by the Olympic Games, retail media entered a phase of maturity and slowing business last year. It nonetheless remains extremely dynamic, fuelled by...
- Retail
- Retail tech
- Analysis
28 January 2026
5
2026 Trends – How far should retailers open the door to AI Search engines ?
(Trends 1/6) With data visibility, recommendations, transactions on ChatGPT, Gemini and Perplexity, LLMs are establishing themselves as new entry points for e-commerce. As search, comparison and...
- Retail
- Retailer and e-commerce
- Analysis
8 January 2026
6
2026 Trends – Chatbots, WhatsApp, social networks: don’t miss out on conversation
(Trends 2/6) After a cautious observation phase by retailers and some high-profile hallucination issues, 2025 was a turning point operationally for chatbots and conversational tools. Positioned...
- Retail
- Retail tech
- Analysis
13 January 2026