Customer experience

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.

23 January 2026

Spangle AI raises US$15 million to ensure continuity in e-commerce navigation

The US start-up Spangle AI raised US$15 million in a Series A round on January 8, 2026, led by NewRoad Capital Partners. This brings total funding to US$21 million for a valuation of US$100...

16 January 2026

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...

13 January 2026

David Schwarz (Mobivia, ex Carrefour): ”Given the rising traction of low-cost, retailers will have to launch adapted offers”

With 15 years of experience as an executive in major retail groups (including Mobivia and Carrefour) and as an investor and a tech player, David Schwarz has a dual perspective on the ecosystem. In...

13 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...

13 January 2026

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

Agentic AI: Hymalaia attracts retailers and announces imminent fundraising

According to our sources, the young start-up Hymalaia is continuing development in retail with 4 new retailers currently in POC and an imminent fundraising. We examine the details.

16 December 2025

Walmart and Instacart bet on AI agents to simplify basket creation

In the U.S.A., Walmart has partnered with Pinterest and Instacart with ChatGPT to simplify and speed up the creation of online grocery baskets. Details below.

12 December 2025

Shareholder change: Brevo becomes a unicorn through €500 million buy-out

After raising €140 million in 2020, CRM start-up Brevo, dedicated to SMEs, completed a buy-out on December 4, 2025. U.S. private equity fund General Atlantic and British Oakley Capital, each...

11 December 2025

Retail tech mapping 2025: 42% of start-ups already profitable, 53% aiming for breakeven within 3 years

In their final update for 2025 covering retail tech mapping, FDJ Ventures and France Digitale present new challenges for French retail start-ups. These include financing, slowing company creation...

10 December 2025

With 7% of e‑commerce sales, Albertsons deploys an AI agent and prepares integration with ChatGPT

While Walmart and Target connected product catalogue to ChatGPT, Albertsons launches an AI agent on e‑commerce sites and hints at a future interface with OpenAI’s conversational platform.

5 December 2025

Already in POC, Dialog’s conversational agent shows up in the search bar

Buoyed by a €3.8 million seed round closed in mid‑November 2025, French start‑up Dialog, specialised in AI‑based conversational e‑commerce, is accelerating. Initially placed on product pages, this...

4 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

Criteo wants to integrate sponsored products into AI chatbots

With 720 million daily active users and 4.5 billion products in the catalogue, Criteo wants to integrate with agentic commerce. Betting on proprietary data, the adtech company is testing...

2 December 2025

E‑commerce: How Hive customises free‑delivery thresholds using customer data

With 500 e‑merchant clients, including Embryolisse, Hindbag, Airup, Hygée or Jacks Beauty Line, German logistics provider Hive is capitalising on data to raise e‑commerce conversion via a finely...

2 December 2025

Deborah Van Dessel (Lagardère Travel Retail): “We are testing AI tools and prompts for store layout”

Between global governance, local ambassador clubs and deployments at scale, Lagardère Travel Retail identified major operational gains thanks to AI, while other use cases reveal the current limits...

25 November 2025

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Hugues Chanoine (Hygie31 Digital): “The next step is to eliminate filters to move to 100% conversational search”

The Hygie31 retail group, known for the Lafayette Pharmacies, is continuing to transform its websites, driven by Cocooncenter. Thanks to an AI strategy and a fully redesigned IT architecture, it...

10 September 2026

ChatGPT: Bureau Vallée’s recipe to capture back-to-school spending

By launching a conversational chatbot with Algolia and a new module converting school lists into e-commerce carts this summer, Bureau Vallée aims to ease the chore of back-to-school supply list...

10 September 2026

Fnac Darty to launch Wero on its e-commerce sites

According to our information, Fnac Darty is about to deploy European payment solution Wero, based on account-to-account instant transfers, on its e-commerce sites. Already active in Germany at...

4 September 2026

Why Shein emits twice as much CO2 as Inditex for equivalent revenue

On the occasion of an IPO, Shein revealed a carbon footprint of 25.5 million tonnes of carbon dioxide in 2025, up by 20% compared to a reference year. For an equivalent sales level, the fast...

3 September 2026

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Electronic shelf labels: why the US regulator threatens rollout

In the USA, the Federal Trade Commission has just required full transparency on the use of pricing algorithms based on personal data, under threat of penalties. In this regulatory framework...

21 August 2026

From ChatGPT Ads to Amazon Alexa for Shopping: advertising in LLMs scales up in Europe

This summer, OpenAI successively rolled out its ChatGPT Ads platform in the UK and in 30 European countries. From formats used, CPM levels notably for FMCG products and the new role of GEO...

27 August 2026

With Claudeforce, Salesforce opens data to Anthropic and shifts into the conversational AI era

With the announcement of deep integration of the Claude LLM within the Salesforce ecosystem via MCP servers, SaaS software interfaces are fading in favour of AI agents. According to...

9 September 2026

Retail media & LLMs: navigating intent-driven and custom experiences

From store aisles to ChatGPT Ads placements, retail media is shifting away from traditional slots, formats and keywords toward intent-based targeting. Driven by lower access costs to LLMs, full...

31 August 2026

Facing SharkNinja’s hegemony, Carrefour and Darty gain ground on TikTok Shop

While Sephora follows in Ulta's footsteps on TikTok Shop in the US, mind Retail analyzed sellers performance in Q2 2026. Based on exclusive data from Lengow and Kalodata, this European market...

7 September 2026

Fnac Darty to launch Wero on its e-commerce sites

According to our information, Fnac Darty is about to deploy European payment solution Wero, based on account-to-account instant transfers, on its e-commerce sites. Already active in Germany at...

4 September 2026