News brief

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
Blackstone and Permira take over parent company of Leboncoin for €12 billion
The Norwegian group Adevinta, parent company of Leboncoin C2C website, is changing shareholders. A €12.1 billion offer from a consortium of private equity funds (Blackstone, Permira, General...
30 November 2023
According to PWC, U.S. shoppers will spend US$1,530 in the holiday season
According to a survey from Pricewaterhouse Coopers (amongst 4,000 US consumers and published in October), the average budget for the holiday season will reach US$1,530 this year. This represents...
24 November 2023
BNPL: Affirm and Klarna cope with rising interest rates
With sales of US$497 million in the quarter to September 2023 (up by 37% year-on-year), US BNPL specialist Affirm reported revenue of US$50 million, exceeding analysts’ consensus, reported...
23 November 2023
After a good Q3, Walmart’s annual sales should grow by 5%
In the quarter ended October 27, Walmart‘s sales grew by 4.3% at constant exchange rates, reaching US$160.8 billion. U.S.A. sales rose by 4.9% excluding fuel, while online sales surged by...
17 November 2023
According to the World Bank, an oil barrel could exceed US$150
As a consequence of the war between Israel and Hamas, the price of a barrel of oil could exceed US$150, warned the World Bank on October 30th, 2023. The institution also unveiled an optimistic...
8 November 2023
Bangladesh: pay rise by 56 % after unprecedented strike by clothing workers
Ten years after the collapse of the Rana Plaza factory, the Bangladesh government announced on November 7th, 2023 an increase of 56% of the minimum wage in the textile sector. From US$75 per month...
8 November 2023
DSA: Brussels orders AliExpress to clarify anti-counterfeiting actions
On November 6th, the European Parliament ordered AliExpress (unique visitors per month : 12.88 million in France, according to Mediametrie) to provide information on anti-counterfeiting measures...
7 November 2023
In India, Sephora becomes part of Reliance Retail
In Q1 2023, Reliance Retail Ventures abandoned talks to obtain the exclusive rights to operate Sephora’s business in India. However, in November, the country’s retail giant finally won...
7 November 2023
B2B : Amazon launches a BNPL offer for professional customers with Affirm
Amazon is about to offer a fractional payment option on Amazon Business, the e-commerce platform for professional clients, CNBC revealed. The U.S. retail giant, which has just published good Q3...
7 November 2023
E-commerce: Omnicom acquires Flywheel Digital for US$835 million
On October 30th, the U.S. communications group Omnicom (owner of BBDO, OMD and TBWA) announced a takeover of Flywheel, the e-commerce subsidiary of the British group Ascential, for US$835 million...
3 November 2023
Travel retail: L’Oréal penalised by Beijing’s crackdown on illicit retailers
According to published Q3 results in mid-October 2023, L’Oréal reported sales of €10 billion in the quarter to September 30, up by 4.5% in total and by 11% on a comparable basis...
2 November 2023
China: home appliances record a third consecutive month of drop, furniture at a standstill
In China, the property crisis has been impacting all sectors of the economy. According to the National Bureau of Statistics, two retail verticals have been particularly hard hit since June...
2 November 2023
Zero-carbon stores: a new controversial claim for Amazon
Having abandoned goal of achieving 50% “zero-carbon” shipments by 2030, zero-carbon is making a comeback in Amazon’s media communications. In Seattle, an Amazon Fresh store (3250...
31 October 2023
The EU Parliament voted to ban imports of products made with forced labour
On Monday 16th October, the Brussels M.E.P.’ serving in the Internal Market and International Trade committees voted in favor of the draft regulation presented by the European...
20 October 2023
South Korean group Lotte conquers Vietnam
Having withdrawn from the Chinese market, South Korean conglomerate Lotte is increasing investments in Vietnam, like other rivals. On September 23rd, the mixed-use complex, Lotte Mall West Lake...
16 October 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
Before an IPO, Shein forced to reveal margin erosion in 2025 and impact of US tariff shock
Made public ahead of a Hong Kong listing planned for September, Shein’s financial documents, seen by mind Retail, confirm the shift experienced by the fast-fashion retailer. Despite a 8% sales...
2
O’Boticario rolls out AI diagnostics across 4,000 stores with Haut.ai
On August 18, Brazilian cosmetics retail chain O’Boticario (2025 GMV up by 6.7%) announced the deployment of skin analysis technology provided by Estonian start-up Haut.AI. It will be rolled...
21 August 2026
3
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...
4
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...
5
Walmart finally accepts in-store payments with Apple Pay and Google Pay
Sanctioned by financial markets after a sharp US slowdown in Q2, Walmart is reviewing a checkout strategy. Abandoning a rejection of technological giants, the group is rolling out Apple Pay and...
24 August 2026
6
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...