News brief

Business case studies. The concept of 24h/24 supermarkets has been spreading across Europe, from France with Carrefour and Casino (with 60 stores in late February 2019) to Germany with Edeka and...

8 October 2019

Beauty. When young shoots jostle traditional retailers

In Europe, the young brands of skincare and beauty have decided to increase their brand exposure on the retailers’ shelves. “The Ordinary” (skincare) and “Aime”...

8 October 2019

Swedish giant Ikea bets on Chinese expansion

The Ikea Group has just released figures for the fiscal year ending in August 2019. Total sales are €41.3 billion (+6.4% year-on-year) driven by store openings and online sales. If the Group...

8 October 2019

China. Which retailers bet on Pinduoduo, and why?

As e-commerce is very advanced in China with platforms such as Alibaba, JD and WeChat, other online operations are recording fair growth. This is the case of the fast-growing Pinduoduo (PDD)...

8 October 2019

Uncertain change or better results at JD.com?

The Beijing-based online retailer JD.com is struggling with a staff exodus, following fierce market competition alongside a sex scandal in 2018 with Richard Liu Qiangdong, a founder and C.E.O...

11 September 2019

Home Depot’s faces a consumer boycott

Bernie Marcus, (aged 90) is the co-founder of the world’s biggest D.I.Y. retailer The Home Depot. In a recent interview for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, the 90-year-old magnate...

11 September 2019

Study. Top five D.I.Y. retailers are well-established, but disruption is coming

According to the annual report from Dähne Verlag, the D.I.Y. retail market in Europe is challenged by an array of trends. A sample ranges from new consumers habits of...

11 September 2019

Singapore. Loyalty programs are not enough anymore

According to a Criteo S.A. survey conducted in Singapore about brand loyalty, consumer purchase decisions have changed: loyalty programs and low prices do not fit the purpose anymore. Indeed, due...

11 September 2019

India. A year later, what retail lessons for Ikea?

As the world’s biggest retailers Wal-Mart and Amazon continue their foray into India’s major cities, the Ikea Group is adjusting its strategy after 12 months of operation. As a...

11 September 2019

Esprit relies on 1st German footwear retailer to get back on its feet

The German footwear retailer Deichmann (sales of €5.8 billion in 2018) and the Hong Kong-headquartered fashion brand Esprit (sales of €1.78 billion last year) sealed a new deal to...

11 September 2019

Animal Bars. The Asian version of retail experience?

As all global retailers are in search of qualitative and “Instagrammable” shopping experiences, the expansion of retail concepts based on experience with living animals is striking in...

11 September 2019

Ranking. Alibaba and JD.com are Asia’s largest retailers

According to an Euromonitor study published in August 2019, the Chinese companies Alibaba and JD.com dominate the ranking of Asia’s 100 largest retailers by sales. This study also highlights...

11 September 2019

In India, Amazon and Wal-Mart further merge online and offline

The leading Indian retailer Future Retail (2,000 stores including the supermarket chain Big Bazaar) has signed an historical deal with Amazon. After having purchased Wholefoods in the U.S.A...

11 September 2019

Mega apps, gamification and high-end interactions are key to succeed in China

What are the pillars of a successful retail strategy in China, which is expected to become the world’s largest market for fashion in 2020 as forecasted by McKinsey? In this mobile-first...

11 September 2019

The price of Dubai commercial leases continues to fall

According to a JLL study, the rents for Dubai’s best commercial locations fell by 4% in the quarter ending in June 2019 (annual evolution), and this trend is expected to continue until 2020...

11 September 2019

Urban Outfitters makes inroads in the Gulf

Urban Outfitters partnered with the Azadea Group, with a September opening of a first store in the Middle East within the iconic Dubai Mall (350,000 sq.m GLA, 41 million visitors in the first half...

11 September 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

What readers clicked on the most last month.

In the category

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