News brief

As revealed by mind Retail in January 2024 and made official on December 12, Kiabi (2023 sales: €2.21 billion, up by 1.1% in a year after rising by 22% in 2022) is launching a retail media...

20 December 2024

Following an aborted merger, Albertsons claims US$6 billion from Kroger

The mega-merger between Kroger, the 3rd largest food retailer in the U.S.A. and Albertsons, the 6th largest, , will not go ahead. On December 10, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ruled that a...

20 December 2024

Alibaba sells Intime department stores and loses US$1.3 billion

On December 16, Alibaba Group (Q3 2024 sales: US$33.7 billion, up 5%) announced the sale of the department store subsidiary Intime, acquired in 2017 for US$2.6 billion. Once approval has been...

20 December 2024

Senate report condemns working conditions in Amazon warehouses

On June 15, the US Senate Select Committee led by Bernie Sanders issued a report on working conditions in Amazon‘s warehouses, in which safety procedures are not respected. The senators...

18 December 2024

Fast Retailing torn on the Chinese issue of Xinjiang

After a record year in a fiscal year to the end of August 2024 (turnover of US$20.7 billion up by 12.2%, net margin at 12% of sales), the C.E.O. of Fast Retailing, Tadashi Yanai, explained on the...

12 December 2024

Philippines’ SM Prime announces the opening of 5 new malls

SM Prime Holdings, the Philippine commercial property giant, is continuing to expand. With 5 openings planned for 2025 – 3 in the Philippines in Laoag, La Union and Zamboanga, and 2 in China...

11 December 2024

After Indonesia, Vietnam decides to ban Temu and Shein

In Vietnam, after Temu and Shein missed deadlines (end of November) imposed by the government to register with the Ministry of Commerce, the platforms have been blocked from selling in the country...

11 December 2024

Asda obtains a US$196-million loan to postpone debt maturities

Following a US$4 billion refinancing in May 2024, the UK’s third-largest grocery retailer Asda (2023 sales of US$ 27.2 billion+ 7,1 % in a year) obtained a US$196 million loan on December 4...

11 December 2024

Belgium: bill transposing CSRD adopted

On November 28, the Belgian Chamber of Representatives approved a bill transposing the E.U. Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD). Belgium was one of the countries lagging behind on...

11 December 2024

Customer service: Orange and VIPP Interstis rely on AI to boost performance

On November 26, 2024, Orange (sales 2023: €39.7 billion, selling in 26 countries) signed a multi-year agreement with OpenAI to access AI training models. From H1 2025, this will train LLMs...

5 December 2024

In the U.S.A., Mango invests €65 million to open 60 stores in 2 years

At the end of November 2024, a month ahead of schedule, Mango (sales 2023: €3.1 billion, up by 20% at constant exchange rates, net profit of €172.1 million, up by 112%) achieved store...

5 December 2024

USA: Mirakl Ads signs up furniture specialist Mathis Home

After launching into retail media in mid-2023, Mirakl Ads is adding a new client to the portfolio, mind Retail has learned in a preview. On December 4, 2024, the retailer signed up home...

4 December 2024

Obi joins forces with Too Good To Go in the plants department

On November 26, 2024, Germany’s second largest D.I.Y. retailer OBI (sales 2023 of €8.2 billion via 645 stores in Europe, including 349 German units) announced that it had joined forces...

3 December 2024

Decathlon tests Klaro to boost staff buying power

Since late October 2024, Decathlon has been testing the Klaro solution with 1,000 staff in Northern France. The aim is to improve their purchasing power by simplifying access to social benefits...

3 December 2024

JD Sports buys Courir for €520 million, 10 times EBIT

After buying rival U.S. retailer Hibbett for US$1.1 billion in April, JD Sports Fashion (sales 2023 of €11.93 billion, up by 2.9%) made a 2nd acquisition. On November 27, 2024, it took over...

29 November 2024

[mind Retail Exclusive] Chronodrive and Norauto join Tipik’s HR multi-brand pool to absorb peaks in activity

Chronodrive and Norauto join Tipik, an H.R. pooling solution managed with Laponi and Cegedim. Already adopted by Decathlon, Kiabi, Brice, Jules, Rouge Gorge, La Vie Claire, Leroy Merlin, Boulanger...

29 November 2024

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Refurbished smartphones: why Largo relies on Speeral automation

The start-up founded by the duo behind Teester and Skeepers is accelerating automation of second-hand product flows. The strategy is to use AI to direct products to high-traffic marketplaces such...

9 December 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

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

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

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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

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

Retail media: Marionnaud bets on print with Figaro to boost drive-to-store

According to our sources, Marionnaud’s beauty retailer will expand an advertising unit into 3 new countries in 2026 and is launching another retail media lever in the French key market. The goal...

26 November 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

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

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