News brief

UK-based Ocado signed a deal with Lotte Shopping (Lotte Group’s retail subsidiary) to build robotic warehouses but no value was announced. The South Korean giant, with more than 1,000 stores...

7 November 2022

Japan. Shein opens its first permanent store to boost omnichannel

Chinese fast fashion giant Shein (valued at €91 billion in April 2022) will open a first permanent store in Tokyo on 13 November.

3 November 2022

Poland. The convenience store giant Zabka to be nationalised

The Polish government announced an intention to acquire the country’s leading convenience store chain, Zabka (8,000 franchise stores, 2021 turnover of US$2.5 billion, up by 22%...

3 November 2022

Germany: In 6 months, online optician Mister Spex opens 12 stores

The German online optician Mister Spex is continuing a very controlled foray into the physical world. In November 2022, it will open a first store in Switzerland. “This will be our 65th...

28 October 2022

South Korea’s Paris Baguette sets up in London and accelerates in the U.S.A.

At a time when the South Korean group SPC is under fire for working conditions, its Paris Baguette chain (4,000 bakeries worldwide, including 3,400 in South Korea and 600 in the U.S.A., China...

27 October 2022

India. Starbucks opens a Reserve flagship in Mumbai

On 18 October, Tata Starbucks India (300 coffee shops in India, including 32 openings in 2022) opened its first “Reserve” coffee shop in Mumbai in the Maharashtra district. Designed to...

27 October 2022

Frédéric Marty-Debat to move to retail

Frenchman Frédéric Marty-Debat will be leaving as Managing Director of Publicis Commerce France, according to information from mind Retail on Friday 21st October. He will be taking...

25 October 2022

Gucci appoints a Chief Metaverse Officer

Gucci (519 stores at the end of June 2022, half-yearly turnover of €5.17 billion, up 8% on a comparable basis) is expanding into the metaverse. The nugget of the Kering group, owned by the...

24 October 2022

New on your site!

Dear Subscriber,…We are upgrading the mind Retail services. From Monday, October 24th, you will find analysis, news and a new section called:…– Data for all our sources...

24 October 2022

USA. TikTok builds warehouses to boots its e-commerce business

…While the app abandoned the rollout of TikTok Shop in Europe, TikTok seems to be looking to expand its e-commerce operations in the U.S. Job postings in recent weeks reportedly indicate...

21 October 2022

Walgreens to take 100% ownership of CareCentrix for US$392 million

…Walgreens Boots Alliance (sales of US$133 billion in 2021, up by 7.5% at constant rates) announced on 11th October an acquisition of CareCentrix for US$392 million. This home healthcare...

20 October 2022

Ikea: store sales rebounded by 13% in 2022

…Ingka Group, the main franchisee of the Inter-Ikea Group managing the bulk of the group’s stores, shopping centres and e-commerce operations, published annual results on 13th October...

19 October 2022

John Lewis goes into clothing rental with HURR

…Since 3 October 2022, John Lewis (turnover of €2.5 billion in the first half of the year to the end of July 2022, 59% of which are online sales) have been offering rental of...

19 October 2022

Quick commerce: Lego partners with Foodpanda

…On 23 September, Foodpanda announced a partnership with Lego (2021 sales of US$8.06 billion, up by 27% vs 2020), marking the toy brand’s entry into the quick commerce market.

18 October 2022

Sephora returns to the UK, in digital first

…In 2005, Sephora closed all 9 U.K. stores, blaming soaring rents and costs. On 17 October 2022, it will launch a U.K. e-commerce site “Sephora.co.uk”. After buying...

14 October 2022

Bricoman : just launched, payment by bank transfer takes off in stores

…On 24 August 2022, the D.I.Y. chain Bricoman dedicated to trade and professional customers (38 stores in France, €730 million turnover in 2021) decided to add payment by bank transfer...

14 October 2022

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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

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

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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

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

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

Facing Temu and Shein’s offensive, Amazon cuts merchant fees

Asian marketplaces Shein, Temu and AliExpress, weakened in the U.S.A., are accelerating in Europe with very low, even zero, initial commissions. Amazon, as the global largest e-commerce player...

9 December 2025

With Grand Frais, Apollo makes a first move into European grocery retail

Through an agreement to acquire 70% of the operator of Grand Frais, the US investment fund Apollo aims to double stores and evolve a model that has so far been entirely focused on physical retail...

19 December 2025