News brief

In China, consumers continue to buy more and more imported F.M.C.G. products (Fast Moving Consumer Goods) despite the slowdown in G.D.P. (only up by 6% in Q3 2019). According to a study by Kantar...

14 January 2020

China. Muji loses Chinese trademark dispute

The Japanese home equipment retailer Muji (revenue of US$3.81 billion in the year to February 2019) has lost a Chinese trademark infringement case. It operates with an ‘anti-brand’...

14 January 2020

Walmart announces joint strategic investment in India

Walmart (sales of US$514.4 billion in the year to January 2019) announced in December a joint strategic investment in Ninjacart, a B2B fresh produce supply chain company, along with its Indian...

14 January 2020

Like Sephora, Kiko Milano bets on India’s beauty

Already running 11 Indian units, the Italian beauty retailer Kiko Milano (900 stores in 18 countries, part of Percassi Group) confirmed an Indian expansion in 2020. It plans to open 6 standalone...

14 January 2020

The rise of discount in Asia

In November 2019, the South Korean discount retailer No Brand (a subsidiary of the retail conglomerate E-Mart) opened a first international store outside its home market. Already operating 200...

14 January 2020

Beauty. Antipodes to conquer Asia

Antipodes, the organic skincare brand using ingredients from New Zealand’s nature and raw super-fruit extracts, revealed that the November 11th 2019, i.e. China’s Singles Day, earned...

14 January 2020

Abu Dhabi leads a funding round in Spain’s delivery app Glovo

Venture capitalist’s appetite for fast-growing but lossmaking tech companies has not diminished. Headed by Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth fund Mubadala, Spain’s biggest delivery app Glovo...

14 January 2020

Will tech and Big Data be Saudi Arabia’s new oil replacement?

As part of the ‘Vision 2030’ strategy, the Kingdom is diversifying from a reliance on oil towards revenue from a technologically advanced economy. As a result, the Saudi telecoms...

14 January 2020

Ikea expands with a new Dubai flagship

In Dubai, a new Ikea store located near the Energy Metro Station over 35,000 sq.m G.L.A. opened in late 2019, in partnership with Al Futtaim. This is in the Festival Plaza shopping centre (Jebel...

14 January 2020

Algeria. Cevital C.E.O. released from prison

Since the resignation in April 2019 of President Abdelaziz Bouteflika due to popular pressure, Algeria’s justice system opened investigations against several businessmen who are linked to...

14 January 2020

Alshaya enters the booming wellness industry

The U.S.A. high-end gym concept Equinox Group is due to open in Dubai in 2020. With premium subscriptions ranging from US$150 to US$500 per month, Equinox is known for unlimited workout classes...

14 January 2020

Carrefour opens in Uganda

Majid Al Futtaim, owner of exclusive franchise rights to manage Carrefour in the Middle East and Africa, is pushing aggressive expansion. After announcing a future move into Uzbekistan in December...

14 January 2020

How URW brings news brands in its malls

Offering a DNVB (Digital Native Vertical Brand) store within a shopping mall is considered a must both for landlords and the new brand. Indeed, an offline presence may often mean offering lower...

14 January 2020

Brazil. H&M and VF Corp change suppliers to combat shrinking rainforest

The rate of deforestation in Brazil is at the highest level since 2008. As a result, retailers are exerting pressure on manufacturers to reduce land-clearing and provide transparent and...

14 January 2020

Cash & Carry. Assai expands outside Brazil in Colombia

Assai, the wholesale operation of G.P.A. (itself a subsidiary of the Casino Group), has published its latest revenue targets. C.E.O. Peter Estermann plans sales of US$7.5 billion for 2020 and...

14 January 2020

Brazil & U.S. Retailers use ‘dark stores’ for online orders

Brazil’s biggest grocery retailer Grupo Pao de Açucar (G.P.A) reported sales of €3.2 billion in the third quarter 2019, a rise of 9.5% year-on-year. The firm continues store...

14 January 2020

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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

Most viewed articles of the month on mind Retail

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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

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

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