News brief

Supply-chain : container prices jump 250% between Asia and Europe
Will 2024 be the year of a new logistics crisis for retail, as suffered in 2021? According to the Drewry World Container Index, the Asia-Europe rate for a 40-foot sea container has jumped from...
10 January 2024
Sports : Valuations of Li Ning and Anta plummet by US$25 billion
As consumer spending slows in China, retailers are reviewing strategies. During the Q3 2023 financial results, Adidas noted a plan to offer cheaper shoes to Chinese consumers. “If we want to...
9 January 2024
China’s beauty market plummets in November, joining the D.I.Y. market
After a 1st half-year up by 4.8%, the Chinese cosmetics market continued to show signs of weakness in H2 : -4.1% in July, +9.7% in August, +1.6% in September, +1.1% in October and -3.5% in...
9 January 2024
Daniel Kretinsky has Brussels’ green light for the takeover of Casino
From the beginning of March, the consortium led by the Czech businessman will take over what remains of the Casino Group. A business that has been halved since the sale of Latin America. The...
9 January 2024
Supply chain: Blue Yonder launches generative AI functionality
As generative AI use cases have been mushrooming in the retail sector, US supply-chain management software publisher Blue Yonder (formerly JDA, with customers including Asda, Walmart and PVH)...
9 January 2024
Amazon and Macy’s tighten returns policies
In the U.S.A. initiatives aimed at preserving e-commerce margins were stepped up over the holiday season. At Amazon, which already charges US$1 per return via UPS, the free delivery window has...
9 January 2024
Online retailer Zulily enters liquidation agreement
The liquidation of the pure-player Zulily (children’s fashion, home decoration, 2022 sales of US$ 906 million) in favour of creditors directly implicates Amazon, via a legal action. This...
9 January 2024
Descrozailles Law: EuroCommerce asks Brussels to take action against France
In mid-December, EuroCommerce, the supermarket and wholesaler lobby, lodged a formal appeal with the European Commission against the Descrozaille (or Egalim 3) law, passed by the French Parliament...
3 January 2024
B&Q (Kingfisher Group) launches a retail media business in the U.K.
The rise of retail media continues in the D.I.Y. sector. Kingfisher (turnover of £3.2 billion in the Q3 to the end of October 2023, down by 2.7% at constant exchange rates) is now rolling...
20 December 2023
Payment: Paypal’s subsidiary Venmo loses Amazon contract
Venmo, the Paypal-owned online and offline application for mobile payments between individuals, will no longer be one of the payment methods available on the Amazon‘s U.S. website from...
12 December 2023
Casino takes 100% of Cdiscount and turns a page in Brazil
Casino grocery retailer is preparing to sell the Brazilian supermarkets GPA (a 41% stake holding) and sell more domestic grocery stores. With a focus on French operations pending a sale to Daniel...
7 December 2023
In China, beauty retail sales stagnate for a second month
In China, after a first half-year of growth of 4.8%, cosmetics sales fell by 4.1% in July, rose by 9.7% in August, by 1.6% in September and by 1.1% in October (National Bureau of Statistics)...
7 December 2023
BNPL: Before an IPO, Tabby is valued at US$1.5 billion
Less than a year after a US$58 million funding round, the U.A.E.-based Tabby, now headquartered in Riyadh, raised US$200 million in early November 2023. Wellington Management and Bluepool Capital...
7 December 2023
SMCP fashion group to open in India with Reliance Retail
While the recovery is “slow and fragile” in China, the SMCP Group (Sandro, Maje, Claudie Pierlot, Fursac) announced on November 30th an agreement with Reliance Brands Ltd. This moves...
5 December 2023
In South Korea, Chanel condemned again for excessive data collection
On November 23,2023, Chanel (2022 sales up by 17% at €16 billion, with 50% coming from Asia-Pacific) was fined US$2,761 by the South Korean data protection watchdog called PIPC (Personal...
5 December 2023
The British Supreme Court refuses to grant Deliveroo’s drivers as employees
On 21st November, the U.K. Supreme Court ruled that Deliveroo delivery staff should be regarded as self-employed and not entitled to the benefits associated with a contracted employee. This status...
30 November 2023
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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
Electronic labels: Hanshow accelerates breakthrough and signs with a leading British retailer
While the leader in electronic labels, Vusion exceeded €1.47 billion in revenue in 2025, rival Hanshow is stepping up a global offensive, winning a strategic account in the U.K. and a new POC for...
27 February 2026
2
Conflicts in the Middle East: what impact on the supply chain and European retail?
With US and Israeli strikes on Iran triggering a major crisis on February 28, 2026, retailers already have to face the closure of strategic trade routes, rising freight costs and import...
3
Regulatory: With 200,000 Digital Product Passports issued, Darty scales up
While the European Commission is set to vote on delegated acts to specify requirements for home appliances, Darty is accelerating a Digital Product Passport (DPP) push by integrating new products...
11 March 2026
4
Following a complaint from the FTC, Walmart agrees to pay US$100 million to Spark delivery drivers
On February 26, 2026, Walmart (2025 revenue: US$713.2 billion, up by 5.1% at constant rates) agreed to pay US$100 million in response to allegations of misleading compensation to delivery drivers...
5
Agentic commerce : After Stripe, Mirakl partners with JPMorgan Payments
On March 10, 2026, Mirakl and JPMorgan Payments (JPMP) unveiled a partnership to deploy agentic commerce by combining the Mirakl Nexus agentic orchestration platform with the U.S. bank’s...
16 March 2026
6
Online authentification : Prelude expands a “message free” solution globally 
A competitor to Twilio, Vonage and Plivo, the French startup Prelude, which has 75 retail clients, is actively deploying Prelude Zero, an authentication method that requires no message delivery...
13 March 2026