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...
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...
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...
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...
13 January 2026
Latest articles by Sophie Baqué
Pre-orders, on-demand manufacturing, planning are all innovations in a supply chain
Eco-responsibility, control of unsold goods and cautious investment are all part of a supply chain as the linchpin of retail. However, as the core of issues includes rising costs, geopolitical...
[Amazon Results] At nearly US$10 billion, advertising outpaces subscriptions for US giant
For the first time, Amazon's advertising revenue exceeded subscriptions revenue in Q3 2022. The services to third-party merchants, the second largest business unit, and AWS remained very dynamic...
4 November 2022
Banyan wants to bridge the first-party data gap between retailers and fintechs
The American company Banyan is developing a platform that enables retailers to feed their purchase data to financial players, in order to enrich services and applications through dedicated...
4 November 2022
Simon Property partners with Alibaba to accelerate live shopping
To strengthen business with Chinese consumers, the U.S. mall owner Simon Property unveiled a groundbreaking partnership with Alibaba, via "live shopping" sessions. The launch is scheduled for...
3 November 2022
Japan. Shein opens its first permanent store to boost omnichannel
Chinese fast fashion giant Shein (valued at €91 billion in April 2022) will open a first permanent store in Tokyo on 13 November. 
Germany: In 6 months, online optician Mister Spex opens 12 stores
The German online optician Mister Spex is continuing a very controlled foray into the physical world. In November 2022, it will open a first store in Switzerland. “This will be our 65th...
South Korea’s Paris Baguette sets up in London and accelerates in the U.S.A.
At a time when the South Korean group SPC is under fire for working conditions, its Paris Baguette chain (4,000 bakeries worldwide, including 3,400 in South Korea and 600 in the U.S.A., China...
India. Starbucks opens a Reserve flagship in Mumbai
On 18 October, Tata Starbucks India (300 coffee shops in India, including 32 openings in 2022) opened its first “Reserve” coffee shop in Mumbai in the Maharashtra district. Designed to...
Frédéric Marty-Debat to move to retail
Frenchman Frédéric Marty-Debat will be leaving as Managing Director of Publicis Commerce France, according to information from mind Retail on Friday 21st October. He will be taking...
25 October 2022
Gucci appoints a Chief Metaverse Officer
Gucci (519 stores at the end of June 2022, half-yearly turnover of €5.17 billion, up 8% on a comparable basis) is expanding into the metaverse. The nugget of the Kering group, owned by the...
24 October 2022
Cathy Collart Geiger, C.E.O. of Picard
Exclusive interview with Cathy Collart Geiger, Picard's C.E.O. as a guest at the last FrenchFounders meeting in Paris, of which mind Retail is a partner. She explains her ambitions for the group's...
24 October 2022
Kroger-Albertsons: US$24.6 billion merger to create a customer data giant
In the U.S.A., the food retailer Kroger announced the purchase of competitor Albertsons on 14th October 2022. While this deal looks defensive in the short term, it is also offensive in the long...
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.
See all
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...
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...
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...
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...
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
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...
2
Black Friday: Amazon’s AI assistant Rufus featured in 38% of sessions in the US
While peak season sales, revealed at the NRF Big Show, rose by 4.1% in the US from November 1 to December 31, 2025, Rufus, Amazon’s conversational chatbot, confirmed its traction. During the...
15 January 2026
3
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...
4
2026 Trends – BNPL, mobile checkout, wallets: new challenges for payments
(Trends 3/6) Faced with soaring Visa and Mastercard fees, European retailers are looking for alternative payment methods that protect margins while boosting conversion. From wallets and...
5
2026 Trends – Retail organises itself in the face of the Trump trade war
(Trend 4/6) Invested as President for a second term in 2025, Donald Trump has shaken global trade. Between higher customs duties, a tax on small parcels, attacks on diversity and inclusion...
6
China bans JD.com, Alibaba and Meituan from forcing promotions
On January 7 2026, China published new regulations banning the country’s major e-commerce platforms such as Alibaba from forcing merchants to apply promotions. These measures, which will...
8 January 2026