Retail tech

In Western Europe, 73 retail tech start-up and scale-up raised funds in the first 9 months of 2024. Discover them in mind Retail's barometer, with data from our partner INVYO.

12 December 2024

[mind Retail Exclusive] With full funnel approach on Amazon Ads, L’Oréal’s Cerave brand boosts reach and conversion

For the launch of the Cerave brand on Amazon, L'Oréal opted for an advertising strategy ranging from videos on Prime Video and Twitch to search and display. Stéphane Grenier, Managing Director...

11 December 2024

Vorwerk deploys Younited Pay to ease Thermomix purchases

Acceptance rates, customer relations, impact on sales teams... At Tech for Retail in Paris, Mind Retail delved into the details of the test carried out in four French branches of Vorwerk, the...

3 December 2024

[mind Retail Exclusive] Kiabi deploys CrushOn Connect second-hand solution in 70 stores

When availability of second-hand products is a growing challenge for retailers, Kiabi signed up with technology publisher CrushOn, mind Retail has learned. The aim is to streamline the sourcing of...

30 October 2024

At Marks & Spencer, self-checkout is taking root next to fitting rooms

In the U.K., Marks & Spencer (2023 sales: €15.3 billion, up 9.4% in a year) is installing automatic checkouts, next to the fitting rooms. 28 stores are already equipped, including the...

29 October 2024

Chatbot: between Castorama and ManoMano, the transformation capacity of GenAI can be doubled

Deployed over the past year on DIY websites and marketplaces, the integration of generative AI within chatbots has improved efficiency in pre-sales. Here's a look at the results from Kingfisher...

17 October 2024

[mind Retail Exclusive] How Custplace’s AI automates the collection of customer reviews for Darty, Optical Centre and KparK

On October 1, 2024, Custplace, the SaaS platform managing customer and employee reviews, announced the beta test launch of “Inbox IA”. This solution enables customer reviews to be...

1 October 2024

Pierre Chassigneux, b.connect: ‘Around 20% of e-commerce baskets are abandoned due to authentication issues’

Recruiting major e-retailers in France, defining the right business model, opening up to other banking partners... The b.connect authentication solution, supported by 5 French banks, is due to be...

18 September 2024

Toy specialist Hamleys opens more concept stores in Dubai and London

In Dubai, on August 23, Hamleys (2023 sales: US$59 million, down by 8.8%, after a rise of 68% in 2022), the oldest British toy chain, now a subsidiary of Reliance Retail (acquired in 2019 for...

26 August 2024

Old Navy and Rent the Runway adapt collections in response to a rush on anti-diabetic drugs

In the U.S.A., Rent the Runway, Amarra and Old Navy are all seeing an unprecedented shift towards smaller sizes. The cause is often new anti-obesity treatments, popularised on TikTok, which are...

24 June 2024

2 months after launch, La Maison Convertible’s chatbot converts 15% of users

At the mind Retail Day conference, La Maison Convertible presented an initial assessment of a new AI-based chatbot launched in April 2024. The furniture retailer has succeeded in boosting the...

21 June 2024

E-commerce: LVMH and Alibaba combine cloud and AI technologies

On May 22, at Viva Technology, in Paris, LVMH and Alibaba announced a five-year technology partnership to optimise customer experiences and logistics (inventory management, distribution) of the...

24 May 2024

[mind Retail Exclusive] After 3 months of a pilot, what are the results of Castorama’s chatbot powered with GenAI?

As part of the 1to1Monaco event, Romain Roulleau, Marketing, Digital and Customer Director at Castorama, spoke to mind Retail about the results of the Hello Casto chatbot. He also detailed...

14 March 2024

Castorama launches a chatbot boosted by generative AI

In France, Castorama launched a chatbot that integrates three LLM models, based on Athena, the technological foundation developed by the Kingfisher Group. While customer data remains outside the...

17 November 2023

Urban stores: Why Ikea is reintroducing mazes

Since 2018, Ikea’s urban expansion has been accompanied by a redesign of the customer journey. These stores, 4 times smaller than those in the suburbs, were initially designed without a...

4 October 2023

China: Harrods targets the ultra-rich with a private club in Shanghai

On 17 July, Harrods announced the evolution of “The Residence” concept (launched in 2020) with the creation of a private club for ultra-rich customers. The company’s first...

20 July 2023

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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...

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

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...

15 October 2026

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

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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...

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...

15 October 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...

29 October 2026

Danone turns to AI to personalise marketing campaigns and test advertising in ChatGPT

AI is being rolled out across some marketing activities, while others remain in a testing phase. If campaign automation and personalisation are among the most advanced applications, visibility in...

16 October 2026