Today's Retail Pulse
Fresho acquires Nation Wilcox to dominate UK food‑wholesale software
Australian‑origin order‑management platform Fresho has bought UK ERP specialist Nation Wilcox, creating the largest software suite for British food wholesalers. The combined platform now serves over 400 wholesalers and caterers and processes more than £2 billion (≈$2.5 billion) in annual GMV.
Also developing:
By the numbers: Spinny targets $250-300M IPO raise
Why Custom Algorithm Company 59A Cares So Much About Offline Data
Custom algorithm firm 59A, which has been serving UK advertisers for six years, announced its U.S. launch last week, appointing Jon Nash as the first U.S. CEO. The company builds bespoke media‑buying code by blending online signals with a wide range of offline and open‑data sources, from chamber‑of‑commerce records to road‑accident statistics. Its development cycle follows three phases—thinking, doing and learning—where human analysts first rate data points before the algorithm is coded and later refined with campaign results. The move underscores growing demand for granular, cross‑platform targeting beyond the limits of platform‑owned data.
From Nausea to Relief, How Beauty Founders and Execs Are Reacting to the Supreme Court’s Tariff Decision
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled to block the Trump‑era tariffs on Chinese beauty products, ending weeks of uncertainty for the industry. Beauty founders and executives, who had been bracing for higher import costs, described the decision as a “relief” after...
Rodan + Fields Moves Beyond Social Selling with Influencer-Powered ‘C-Suite’ Campaign
Rodan + Fields is transitioning from a pure social‑selling model to an omnichannel strategy, launching its Pure C Serum on a new direct‑to‑consumer website and through Ulta Beauty. To amplify the rollout, the brand unveiled a “C‑Suite” influencer campaign featuring seven...
Quebec Retail Hours Pilot Expands Weekend Shopping
Starting March 11, 2026 Quebec will launch a province‑wide, one‑year pilot that lets most retailers stay open until 9:00 PM on Saturdays and Sundays, ending the long‑standing 5:00 PM weekend curfew. Participation is voluntary, allowing merchants to choose hours based on staffing...
Off Season Taps Into the NBA’s Growing Merchandise Sales with New Licensed Fashion Collection
Off Season, the fashion label known for NFL‑centric apparel, launched its first NBA‑focused ready‑to‑wear collection, featuring items from halter tops to track jackets. The line spotlights a select group of teams—including the Knicks, Warriors, Lakers and Clippers—and is sold through...
How Sundae Body Turned ‘Beige’ Body Wash Into a 3 Million–Unit Powerhouse
Australian beauty brand Sundae Body has sold over 3 million units and expanded to 9,000 stores worldwide by treating brand as the operating system rather than a marketing afterthought. The company differentiates its body‑care line with sensory‑first formulas, candy‑colored packaging and...
City Chic Pares Back Losses, but US Downscaling Weighs Down Sales
City Chic Collective posted a modest improvement in profitability for the fiscal first half, with underlying EBITDA jumping 86% to $6.5 million and losses from continuing operations halving to $3.5 million. Global sales slipped 0.4% to $69.2 million, driven by a 31.4% plunge...
Amazon Opens 2nd Largest Asia Office in Bengaluru for 7,000 Employees
Amazon has opened its second‑largest office in Asia, a 12‑storey, 1.1 million‑square‑foot campus in Bengaluru that will house more than 7,000 employees across e‑commerce, payments, technology and seller services. The facility features flexible workspaces, extensive recreation amenities and sustainable building practices...
Behind the Resurgence: Zomato, Swiggy Regain Food Delivery Momentum in the Dec Quarter
India’s food‑delivery duopoly posted a strong rebound in the October‑December quarter, with Zomato’s gross order value climbing 21.3% and Swiggy’s rising 20.5%, both surpassing the 20% growth threshold. Monthly transacting users grew 21.5% to 24.9 million for Zomato and 18.1 million for...
Amazon Borrows Forum ‘Mentor’ Program From eBay
Amazon has introduced a Seller Expert Pilot Program, inviting top contributors on its Seller Forums in the US, UK, Japan, and India to earn gift cards for posting quality content and providing feedback. Participants can receive a $100 gift card...
Cotton On Accelerates India Growth with Apparel Group Partnership
Cotton On Group has signed a licensing partnership with Apparel Group to accelerate its expansion in India. The agreement outlines a phased omnichannel rollout that will launch brick‑and‑mortar stores, a dedicated e‑commerce site, and presence on key digital marketplaces. Apparel...
Inside Koala Eco’s Disciplined Push Into the US Natural Channel
Koala Eco, an Australian natural‑care brand, has moved beyond its US entry phase to a disciplined scaling strategy focused on profitable growth. Co‑founders Paul Davidson and Jessica Bragdon prioritize performance per door, deepening presence in premium natural retailers like Sprouts...
Pull&Bear Closes Last Store in Singapore
Pull&Bear has closed its last Singapore store at VivoCity, ending a 20‑year physical retail presence in the city‑state. The brand confirmed the shutdown on its website and directed returns to Zara’s VivoCity location. Inditex, Pull&Bear’s parent, has been trimming its...
Marks & Spencer Looks Set to Exit the Philippines
Marks & Spencer’s Philippine franchise, operated by the former Rustan’s Group now owned by SSI Group, has shuttered several key locations, cutting its footprint from over 20 stores to 13. Recent closures at TriNoma, Robinsons Manila, Marquee Mall and possibly...
Westfield Operator Scentre Group Grows Income for Fifth Consecutive Year
Scentre Group, operator of 42 Westfield malls in Australia and New Zealand, reported its fifth year of consecutive growth in 2025. Customer visits rose 2.7% to 540 million, occupancy reached 99.8%, and business partner sales hit $30 billion. Funds from operations increased 4.9%...
Why Tumi Is Doubling Down on Function as Asia Travels Again
Tumi has relaunched its Alpha collection, positioning it as a performance‑driven luxury line built for modern movement. The brand’s global campaign, fronted by Lando Norris and Chinese actor Wei Daxun, stresses purpose‑filled travel. In Asia‑Pacific, Tumi tailors its approach: Hong...
How Freedom Furniture Is Turning Casual Browsers Into Loyal Customers
Freedom Furniture is leveraging AI to unify its omnichannel retail experience, from discovery to post‑sale service. By expanding its catalog from 12,000 to over 70,000 SKUs through a dropship model, the retailer relies on AI‑driven search and recommendation engines that...
Adore Beauty Sales Soar but Black Friday ‘Overperformance’ Hurts Profits
Adore Beauty posted an 8.7% year‑on‑year revenue increase to $111.9 million, delivering a record underlying EBITDA of $4.1 million, up 14.5%. The strong Black Friday‑Cyber Monday sales drove a 120‑basis‑point dip in gross profit margin, falling to 35% as discounting intensified. The...
7-Eleven Bets Australia Can Prove Global Convenience Model
7‑Eleven Australia aims to reach 1,000 stores by 2030 after Seven & I Holdings’ $1.7 billion acquisition. The Japanese parent is using the market as a testbed for its food‑led convenience format, emphasizing fresh meals and private‑label items over traditional fuel...
Yes, Dunkin’s Massive 48-Ounce Coffee Bucket Is Real: List of Sightings Grows at Locations in Multiple States
Dunkin' is piloting a 48‑ounce coffee bucket, a giant iced latte served in a plastic container resembling a garden tool, at select stores in New Hampshire and Massachusetts. The concept emerged after smaller coffee shops sparked a social‑media craze for oversized...
T-Beauty: The Rise of Taiwan's Unsung Beauty Movement
Taiwan’s beauty sector, long known for OEM and ODM production, is emerging as a distinct consumer‑facing movement dubbed T‑beauty. The island is gaining global recognition for dermatological and scalp‑care brands, as well as technically precise makeup innovations. Industry leaders such...
Seafood Surveillance Goes High-Tech
Seafood operators are adopting high‑tech traceability systems that assign digital identities and monitor temperature throughout the supply chain. By using QR codes, cloud platforms and sensor‑based cold‑chain monitoring, retailers can verify species, harvest location, and freshness in real time. These...
How Interior Designers Build a Shopify Store That Captures Product Revenue From Day One
Interior designers with sizable followings can turn their influence into direct e‑commerce revenue by launching a Shopify store that combines service bookings, curated dropship products, and content publishing. The model promises 20‑35% of annual income from product sales and bookings,...
Walmart Data Ventures Launches Scintilla In-Store Platform
Walmart Data Ventures unveiled Scintilla In-Store, a mobile platform that fuses live inventory data, actionable metrics, and supplier‑assigned tasks for field representatives. The app replaces the former Volt system and aims to cut out‑of‑stock situations while improving planogram compliance at...
Why Amazon Sellers Need a Specialized Agency After $500K in Revenue
Amazon sellers reaching $300K‑$500K in monthly revenue encounter a structural shift in operational complexity that outpaces a lean, generalist model. Managing dozens of ASINs, multi‑marketplace listings, and five‑figure ad budgets requires specialized expertise across PPC, SEO, content, and inventory. The...
EXCLUSIVE: Milk Makeup Appoints Frank B as Global Artistic Director
Milk Makeup announced that Frank Buscarello, known as Frank B, has been appointed global artistic director, reporting to CMO Diana Briceno. The founder‑family insider brings decades of luxury fashion campaign experience and a non‑traditional graffiti background to the role. His mandate...
QXO Names New Chief Sales Officer
QXO has appointed Taylor Sommer as its new chief sales officer, bringing nearly three decades of experience in building high‑performance sales organizations. Sommer most recently served as executive vice president and chief sales officer at Republic National Distributing Company, where he...
Buzz Around Opening of New Honey Outlet at Denver International Airport
Denver International Airport has opened its first long‑term retail outlet for Björn Colorado Honey, a Colorado specialty brand. The store, designed by local firm Neoera, features a Scandinavian‑inspired café with honey‑infused beverages and premium honey tastings. Situated in Concourse C...
Master These 5 Essentials to Boost Clothing Sales
If you’re going to sell clothing, you need to understand these 5 things. This is why your content flops and your sales stay stuck.
Frozen Food Is Becoming the Main Dish at Home
The fourth edition of the “Power of Frozen in Retail” report shows frozen foods have moved from a side option to a core component of American meal planning. Usage rose to 40% of shoppers buying frozen every few days or...
Meta Prioritizes Broad Targeting Over Tight Layering
Meta just made detailed targeting "mostly a suggestion." Graph API v25 dropped this month bringing an inevitable conclusion to a direction they have been signaling for a long time. Your audience selections? They're now inputs, not constraints. If you're still building campaigns around tight...
Data to Decisions in an Instant
Retail executives at the FMI Midwinter Conference warned that the rise of agentic commerce will collapse the traditional lag between data collection and purchasing decisions. Generative AI agents embedded in phones and devices will make instant, autonomous buying choices, shifting...
The Anatomy of Perfect Content: How Marketers Can Reach Consumers in the AI Era
The Expedia Group Advertising "Science of Wanderlust" study surveyed over 7,000 consumers and used eye‑tracking to pinpoint the creative elements that cut through today’s AI‑saturated content stream. It found video drives purchase intent three times more than static images, while...
IKKS Belgium Bankrupt, Dozens of Jobs at Risk
The Belgian arm of French fashion retailer IKKS has been declared bankrupt, prompting the closure of about a dozen company‑owned stores and putting dozens of jobs at risk. While franchise locations may continue operating, the subsidiary’s failure follows a broader...
KFC Is Piloting Two Value Platforms
KFC is testing two distinct value platforms in Ohio and Florida from late February through March, offering flat‑rate bundles at $8 and $10 respectively. The Ohio market provides an everyday all‑day menu with choices of tenders, wings or nuggets, while...
What Retailers Need to Know About AI-Powered Pricing
Retailers are embracing electronic shelf labels that enable AI‑driven dynamic pricing, allowing prices to adjust in real time based on material costs, competitor rates, inventory and demand signals. Machine‑learning models replace static price cycles, delivering 2‑4 % margin gains and reducing...
Confessions Of Supply Chain Executives | 2026 Is the Year Supply Chain Technology Stops Being a Prediction and Starts Being...
In this episode, host Chris Walton and Amir Khoshniyadi, VP at Williott, dissect five supply‑chain trends that will define 2026, emphasizing that technology adoption is moving from pilot‑phase hype to mandatory, budget‑driven implementation. They explain "physical AI" as the fusion...
Sprouts Announces 2 Key C-Suite Appointments
Sprouts Farmers Market announced two senior‑level hires, appointing Amanda Rassi as its inaugural Chief Customer Officer and Don Clark as Chief Merchandising Officer, succeeding retiring executive Scott Neal. Rassi arrives with more than two decades of CPG and retail marketing...
What Amazon’s Big-Box Move Means for Retail Media and Brands
Amazon is opening its largest ever big‑box store, a move framed as a physical challenge to Walmart and Costco but primarily a data play. The new footprint expands Amazon’s ability to observe shopper behavior, serve retail media ads, and claim...
Gow’s Home Hardware Partners With The Brick for Expanded Furniture and Appliance Selection
Gow’s Home Hardware in Bridgewater, Nova Scotia, announced a partnership with The Brick that will bring the furniture and mattress retailer inside its existing store. The Brick will operate as a franchise within Gow’s hardware space, launching in spring 2026. Dealer‑owner Amanda...
White Cap Completes Acquisition of Colony Hardware
White Cap, a leading distributor of specialty construction supplies, completed its acquisition of Colony Hardware on February 6, 2026. Colony adds over 60 locations across 20 Eastern and Central states, expanding White Cap’s geographic footprint. The deal merges Colony’s same‑day delivery and...
Meet Every Shopper Where They Are: The Retail Imperative for Multimodal, Accessible Self-Service
Self-service technology now appears in checkout lanes, lockers, ordering tablets, and payment devices across retail environments. Many of these systems remain single‑mode, assuming shoppers can see, hear, and touch without assistance, which excludes a growing segment of customers. Multimodal, accessible...
Saks Saved with 1 Billion Dollar Emergency Loan
Saks Global secured a $1 billion emergency loan, part of a $1.75 billion financing package approved by a Houston court. The package also refinances existing debt and aims to stabilize the retailer's supply chain. Supplier approval was secured, allowing the deal to...
Tariff Refunds Boost Retailer Profits, Not Consumer Refunds
If retailers raised prices during tariffs, that doesn’t create a liability to each customer—it creates profit (or covers costs). So if or when tariff refunds arrive, the default outcome is: firms recoup, shoppers don’t. Bottom line: You aren't getting a penny...
ZigZag Partners with Vinted Go to Meet Rising Demand for Locker Returns
ZigZag has integrated Vinted Go into its carrier library, extending its out‑of‑home (OOH) returns network to more than 14,000 locker and shop locations across France, the Netherlands, Belgium, Spain and Portugal. The partnership gives ZigZag‑connected retailers immediate access to Vinted...
AI-Powered Video Analytics: A Force Multiplier for Retail Security and Operations
Retailers are rapidly adopting AI‑powered video analytics to strengthen loss‑prevention and streamline operations. The technology automatically flags suspicious behavior, recognizes license plates linked to organized retail crime, and provides searchable video clips via natural‑language queries, cutting investigation time dramatically. Integrated,...
Asda Opticians Announces Store Investment and Strengthens Leadership Team
Asda Opticians is committing £2.5 million to upgrade its optical estate, refit 18 stores and modernise diagnostic equipment. The investment also funds a new suite of technical, leadership and personal‑development training, plus a third Level 6 Dispensing Optician apprenticeship cohort beginning September 2026....
Experiential Marketing Trend of the Week: Tarot Card Readings
A Pew Research survey shows 30% of U.S. adults consult astrology, tarot or fortune tellers at least yearly, fueling a surge in experiential marketing that leverages cartomancy for personalization. Brands such as Netflix, Pandora and Hendrick’s Gin have turned tarot...
K-Beauty Brand Anua Partners with EL&N Cafe on Sweet Treat Deal
K‑beauty brand Anua has teamed up with luxury UK café chain EL&N to launch a limited‑edition Honey Glaze Cake that comes with a complimentary Anua skin‑care duo. The cake, priced at £8.50, includes coconut frangipane, peach jelly glaze, mousse and...
E633: I Snuck Into Alibaba’s China HQ
In this episode, host Dave recounts his misadventure of missing Amazon's China conference and unexpectedly gaining access to Alibaba’s Hangzhou headquarters, offering a behind‑the‑scenes tour of the modern campus and its co‑working culture. He contrasts Alibaba’s ecosystem—highlighting Taobao’s massive GMV...