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Eager to gain a share in African e-commerce, the German logistician DHL signed a partnership with MallforAfrica, a Nigerian start-up founded in 2011. In addition to its logistics business, the...

9 October 2019

“The current offer in the Gulf is not sufficiently tailored to Chinese customers”

12 months ahead of the World Expo in Dubai, retailers of the Middle East are adapting stores and services to meet expectations of a large clientele from China. Patrick Chalhoub, C.E.O. of the...

9 October 2019

Decathlon enters Algeria

Decathlon, Europe’s largest sporting goods retailer, made inroads in Algeria with a first store. It is in the Bab Ezzouar mall, in the East side of Algiers. It is spread over 1,850 sq.m of...

9 October 2019

The Home Depot grew sales by 40% in 8 years with a steady store network

Based in the U.S., the world’s largest home equipment retailer revealed an amazing U-turn in terms of retail strategy, opening an e-commerce website dedicated to professional customers...

9 October 2019

Kroger recovers growth by omni-channel investment

According to Kantar the online F.M.C.G. sales in the U.S. jumped by 36% in 2018 and accounted for 4.4% of the total grocery market. However, Kroger (US$121 billion revenue in 2018, a fall of 1.2%)...

9 October 2019

Muji “no-brand” retailer wins in the U.S. marketing fief

Since August 2018, Toru Akita has run the North American business as C.E.O. of Muji after having orchestrated expansion in Canada, China, Indonesia and the Philippines. This new responsibility is...

9 October 2019

How U.S. retailers try to influence visitor numbers

The latest statistics available from the New York comptroller’s company highlight a profound trend in the U.S.A, with data from 2007 to 2017. Competitive pressure from online shopping and...

9 October 2019

Which valuation will C&A reach ahead of Brazilian I.P.O.?

The Dutch fashion retailer plans an I.P.O. on the Brazilian stock market and to raise US$220 million in the primary offer, with the secondary offer still to be defined. According to financial...

9 October 2019

Unibail and ECE in fierce competition in Germany

From January 1st 2020, URW will take over the management of 2 of the most successful malls in Germany, previously ran by ECE: Breuningerland in Sindelfingen and Breuningerland in Ludwigsburg...

9 October 2019

In London, The Body Shop operates refill and returns

In a store near Bond Street station (London), The Body Shop launched a refill station, initially for shower gel then adding a free water unit. If this pilot is successful, it should be rolled out...

9 October 2019

Apsys dedicates 50% of its retail park to leisure

Apsys, family-owned real estate company with 31 assets in France and Poland (€2.5 billion in assets and €4.3 billion under management in 2018) has inaugurated in September 2019 Eden (in...

9 October 2019

Marks & Spencer must reinvent itself from the U.K. to the Gulf

The iconic Marks & Spencer retailer (turnover of €12.2 billion in the year to late March 2019 via 1,035 stores in the U.K. and 428 internationally) has been knocked off a pedestal. On...

9 October 2019

Primark doesn’t want to be a symbol of “disposable” fashion

In the fiscal year ending in September 4, 2019, Primark posted mixed results. Margins were less generous than in the past but sales were up by 4% to €8.4 billion. This was driven by 14 store...

9 October 2019

How can hypermarkets save a full time per year?

According to Fabrice Haïat, Co-founder of the Yoobic software editor, “our solution enables grocery retailers to check only the required “end-of-life” products instead of...

9 October 2019

Picard makes inroads in Norway

Already successfully selling in Japan, Switzerland, Sweden, Italy, Belgium and the Netherlands, Picard (950 stores) just opened its 1st unit in Norway. This store of 100 sq.m is in the Niels Juels...

9 October 2019

Debenhams bets on a Middle East franchise

With a new C.E.O. as turnaround specialist, Stefaan Vansteenkiste, the British department store firm of Debenhams (revenue of US$ 2.3 billion in 2018, a fall of 2.4% from the previous year)...

9 October 2019

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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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What readers clicked on the most last month.

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