Today's Retail Pulse
Fresho acquires Nation Wilcox to dominate UK food‑wholesale software
Fresho, the Australian‑origin order‑management platform, has acquired 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.
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By the numbers: Spinny targets $250-300M in IPO
Enterprise Hits and Misses - Can Brands Re-Invent with Data and AI? MCP and AI Security - Offense or...
Bed, Bath & Beyond is attempting a dramatic brand overhaul, shifting from a traditional home‑goods retailer to a data‑centered technology platform that promises lower‑cost brand partnerships. Visa is simultaneously re‑inventing its narrative around agentic AI, positioning trust as the linchpin for future commerce. The week’s vendor roundup highlights Google Cloud’s quarterly revenue topping $20 billion, IBM’s open‑source Docling tool for AI document processing, and Atlassian reaching $1 billion ARR, underscoring how data and AI are reshaping enterprise strategies.
How Whatnot Goes Beyond Dogfooding to Instill a Consumer Focus
Whatnot, the live‑shopping platform launched in 2019, mandates that all 1,000+ employees buy, sell, and handle support tickets on the app each quarter, receiving $150 in credits for purchases. This rigorous dogfooding policy is tied to performance reviews, ensuring staff...
GIVA Plays on ‘Almost Brands’ Spotlighting Meaningful Mother’s Day Gifting
GIVA launched a Mother’s Day campaign that lampoons “almost‑brands” like Abibas and Gukki to underscore the unique value of its silver jewellery. The film shows mothers receiving generic knock‑off gifts versus a single GIVA piece, highlighting the emotional impact of...
Swiss Watchmakers Eye India, Targeting Double Sales as Duties Drop
Swiss luxury watchmakers are accelerating expansion in India, with TAG Heuer opening its first franchise boutique near New Delhi and pledging to double its Indian business within five years. The push follows a trade deal that cut import duties on...
Sometimes, the Human Is the Brand
Starbucks CEO Brian Niccol announced this week that the company is reversing its Siren System automation and will rehire thousands of baristas, adding staff to roughly 3,000 U.S. stores by year‑end. The move follows a 1% decline in same‑store sales...
Stella McCartney Teams with H&M for Second Collaboration Launch in Chelsea
Stella McCartney and H&M have unveiled their second joint collection at a high‑energy launch in Chelsea, marking a rare repeat partnership. The event blended fashion, music and sustainability, underscoring the duo’s commitment to eco‑friendly design.
Stitch Adds BNPL to Payments Platform
South African payments infrastructure firm Stitch has added a buy‑now‑pay‑later (BNPL) option to its enterprise payments platform. The service, now live with merchants such as Lego, The North Face and Duck Apparel, lets shoppers split purchases into two to six...
Subway Launches $5‑Under Value Menu to Stem Sales Decline
Subway unveiled its first Fresh Value Menu on April 28, adding 15 sandwich and protein‑pocket options priced below $5 each. The rollout targets a sales dip that saw U.S. revenue slip below $9 billion in 2025, down from $9.5 billion the year before,...
Costco Hikes Dividend 13% as Earnings Surge, Underscoring Club‑store Strength
Costco Wholesale increased its quarterly dividend by 13%, the latest move in a decade‑long pattern of double‑digit hikes. The raise follows a first‑half fiscal 2026 revenue of $136.9 billion and a membership renewal rate that remains near 90%, signaling confidence in...
Carter's Shutters 150 Stores, Raising Questions for Mall Valuations
Children's apparel chain Carter's announced the closure of 150 stores across North America, a move aimed at right‑sizing its footprint. The shutdown comes as data from Placer.ai shows a modest rebound in mall visits, while Class A malls continue to...
GameStop Bids $55.5 B for eBay in $125‑per‑share Cash‑stock Offer
GameStop Corp. has lodged a non‑binding proposal to buy eBay Inc. for an aggregate equity value of about $55.5 billion, offering $125 per share split evenly between cash and GameStop stock. The bid lifts eBay shares 12.3% and GameStop shares 8.2%...
Albert Heijn Reduces Bakery Waste Using AI
Albert Heijn is launching AI‑driven dynamic pricing in its bakery aisles across the Netherlands. The internally built “Bake” system forecasts store‑level bread demand and adjusts prices in real time, with discounts up to 70% as the day progresses. The initiative...
Namitha Pramod Reveals Reasons Behind Shutting Down Her T-Shirt Brand Peprikka India
Namitha Pramod, a Malayalam actress, has shut down her T‑shirt brand Peprikka India after incurring losses. She cited overproduction and a lack of planning as the main reasons for the failure. The brand struggled in the men’s casual‑wear segment, while...
British Supermarket Pilots Vending Machines to Curb Shoplifting
British supermarket Asda is testing ticket‑based vending machines for high‑theft items such as razor blades. The system lets shoppers select a product, receive a ticket, pay at checkout, then use a second ticket to dispense the item. The pilot follows...
OnePlus Summer Sale Announced: Top Discounts on OnePlus 15, OnePlus 13, Nord Series, Tablets and TWS
OnePlus launched its Summer Sale on May 8, offering instant bank discounts and no‑cost EMI across smartphones, tablets and audio gear on OnePlus.in, its Experience Stores and major e‑commerce sites. Flagship OnePlus 15 now costs ₹73,999 (≈$892) after a ₹4,000 discount, while...
Corona and TripAdvisor Partner to Offer an Invitation Inside Every Bottle
Corona has launched the "Living is Calling" campaign, pairing its iconic beer with TripAdvisor to embed QR codes in every bottle that unlock travel experiences. The partnership offers more than 300,000 curated outings across 30+ countries, from coastal hikes to...
Gen X Is the Most Sustainable Generation, Not Gen Z, Study Finds
A new Arka study reveals Gen X, not Gen Z, is the most sustainable cohort, with 39% of its shoppers recycling or up‑cycling. Gen Z’s annual spend sits at $40‑50 K, favoring luxury items for quality while also thrifting. Gen Alpha already commands a $28 B...
Leica Opened Its First-Ever Chicago Flagship
Leica opened its first Chicago flagship on April 30, a 5,000‑square‑foot, two‑level store and gallery in the Gold Coast district. The venue combines retail of cameras, watches, sport optics and accessories with Leica Akademie workshops and the “Life Unposed” exhibition by Craig Semetko. The...
Agentic AI, Fraud and the Fight for Customer Loyalty
Agentic AI is reshaping e‑commerce by automating the entire buyer journey, from product discovery to checkout. At the same time, fraud‑as‑a‑service is proliferating synthetic identities, deepfakes, and document forgeries, overwhelming traditional safeguards. Merchants must shift to proactive, data‑driven fraud prevention...
The AI Gap in Retail Operations Is Real. Here’s How to Start Closing It.
Retail executives overwhelmingly acknowledge that manual back‑office tasks are eroding sales and customer experience, with 72% citing operational drag. A ServiceNow‑Informa TechTarget survey reveals integration hurdles (54%) and unclear KPIs (67%) as the chief obstacles to AI adoption. Yet modest,...
KFC Has A Different Name In Quebec. Here's Why
KFC operates in Quebec under the French name PFK (Poulet Frit Kentucky) due to the 1977 Charter of the French Language, which requires commercial names to be in French. The chain adopted the French branding early, avoiding later legal disputes...
The Smarter Alternative to Discounting: What Your Customer Data Can Tell You
Small and mid‑size retailers risk margin erosion by relying on blanket discounting. Modern point‑of‑sale (POS) systems capture detailed transaction data—visit frequency, basket composition, spend patterns—that can identify loyal shoppers and optimal inventory timing. Elavon executives cite examples where data‑driven scheduling...
What Keeps SMBs From Using Embedded Payments
Vertical SaaS platforms can leverage deep customer insight, but up to 40 % of SMBs that sign up for embedded payments never activate the feature. The gap stems from generic messaging, cumbersome onboarding and unclear pricing, not from resistance to change....
Brands Profit Selling $30 Glasses Abroad, Not US
Flying from Korea to LA. Interestingly, a lot of brands have their own lines of eyeglasses and sunglasses, selling for about $30 each. It seems like this must be very profitable for them. Something to think about the next time you...
Auto Mercado Cuts Delivery Costs 5‑10% with Electric Vans
It's The Economy, Stupid 🇨🇷🇨🇷 "Auto Mercado, a grocery chain, has cut 5 to 10 percent from the cost of making online deliveries by switching to electric vans." ⚡️⚡️⚡️ #alwaysbecharging https://t.co/5N3jLl9mpO
Posh Coffee Shop Chain WatchHouse – with Brews that Cost £25 – Is Opening a New Cafe in North London
WatchHouse, the ultra‑luxury coffee chain known for £25 (≈$32) brews, has opened a new 500‑square‑foot café on St John’s Wood High St in north London. The boutique space seats 20 inside, offers al fresco seating, and showcases a warm oak espresso bar, a concave...
Fireside Ventures Leads $5 Mn Series A Round in Skincare Brand CHOSEN
CHOSEN, a Chennai‑based skincare brand focused on melanin‑rich skin, closed a $5 million Series A round led by Fireside Ventures, with participation from L’Oréal’s BOLD fund and several angel investors. The company previously raised $1.2 million in an angel round in 2024. Proceeds...
The Next Phase of AI: Digital Native Economy>
The article argues that AI is moving from answering questions to executing tasks, creating an "agent economy" where value shifts from consumer‑facing apps to the underlying execution layer. Platforms that own payments, logistics, merchant relationships and digital workflows will capture...
LG Uplus Expands MVNO Retail Presence Within E-Mart Stores
LG Uplus has opened a chain of offline retail outlets under its Altteulphone Plus brand inside E‑Mart stores across South Korea. The kiosks are designed to give smaller mobile virtual network operators, which typically rely on online sales, a physical presence for...
Kraft Heinz Insights: Is the Concept of Consumer Brand Loyalty Dead?
Kraft Heinz China’s head of data insight, Donna Li, warned that brand loyalty is no longer a given in today’s hyper‑connected market. Consumers can switch products after a single “okay” experience, forcing brands to earn repeat business through continuous, meaningful engagement....
Coles 360 Builds on Momentum with Two Strategic Appointments
Coles 360 announced two senior hires to sharpen its retail‑media offering in Australia. Dave Moline, formerly of Target’s Roundel, becomes Head of Ad Product, while Michael Savio, with experience at Coupang and Etihad Airways, takes charge of Data Intelligence and...
Your Commerce Backend Is Solid. Your Storefront Is the Bottleneck
Most online retailers have solved backend challenges with platforms like Shopify, but the storefront has become the new bottleneck. A growing majority are adopting headless commerce, separating the frontend to gain speed, design flexibility, and AI readiness. The headless market...
How to Sell Aspiration in 2026
Brands in 2026 are redefining aspiration by blending exclusivity with inclusivity, as seen in Nike’s high‑profile women’s “So Win” campaign and American Eagle’s year‑long partnership with Sydney Sweeney and Travis Kelce. The Met Gala, co‑chaired by Beyoncé and Jeff Bezos, underscores...
Aerie and Pamela Anderson
American Eagle’s Aerie sub‑brand launched a “100% Aerie Real” campaign in October 2025 that bans AI‑generated models and features Pamela Anderson as a makeup‑free spokesperson. The move follows the parent brand’s controversial “Great Jeans” ads with Sydney Sweeney, which doubled...
Vanessa Hudgens’ A Star Is Born Kids’ Brand to Make a Splash With New Licensing Deals
Vanessa Hudgens’ children’s lifestyle label A Star Is Born has secured long‑term multicategory licensing deals with Centric Brands and Jay Franco & Sons, with product roll‑out slated for 2027. Centric will handle soft‑goods—over 90 items ranging from apparel to bath accessories—while Jay Franco...
FreshAI at Checkout: Faster Exits. Happier Returns.
Mettler Toledo’s FreshAI at Checkout uses AI‑driven item recognition to speed grocery checkout lines, delivering 99% accuracy and scanning each item in roughly half a second. The solution eliminates manual entry errors, cuts labor costs, and reduces shrinkage, translating into higher...
Why Aldi, Walmart and More Are Redesigning Their Private-Label Packaging
Retail giants Target, Aldi, Walmart and regional chain Hannaford are overhauling private‑label packaging in 2024, introducing brighter colors, larger product names and unified branding. The redesigns aim to make store brands instantly recognizable on crowded shelves and to convey quality...
Legacy Retailers Like Party City and Staples Are Increasingly Teaming up on Shop-in-Shops in a Bid for Relevance
Party City is re‑entering the market through a shop‑in‑shop partnership with Staples, which will install Party City mini‑stores in 700 Staples locations this summer. At the same time, Bed Bath & Beyond has acquired The Container Store for $150 million, rebranding...
Winx Health Has Tripled Its Retail Revenue in the Last Three Months. Now, It’s Launching Into Walmart
Women’s health startup Winx Health is launching its products in more than 1,200 Walmart stores, Walmart.com and the Walmart app after tripling retail revenue in the past three months. The rollout features its UTI “Test + Treat” kit and a...
How Is MAC Cosmetics Doing at Sephora?
MAC Cosmetics debuted at Sephora on March 2, 2026, entering about 100 standalone stores and over 850 Sephora‑at‑Kohl’s locations. Within its first month the brand ranked fifth among makeup lines at Sephora‑at‑Kohl’s and nineteenth overall, with 73 % of shoppers new to...
Online Food Delivery Still Just 11% of Total Food Services, Shows Large Untapped Market: Report
Investec Equities reports that online food delivery now accounts for just 11% of India’s total food‑services market, up from 3% in 2018. The segment expanded from $1.4 billion in 2018 to $9.1 billion in 2024, a 37% CAGR, and is projected to...
The Complaint Walmart Customers Always Have About Checkout
Walmart’s checkout experience has deteriorated as the retailer scaled back self‑checkout lanes, leading to longer lines and slower service. The 2020 self‑checkout rollout aimed to speed up transactions, but rising theft forced Walmart to limit those stations, cutting theft‑related arrests...
Case Study: Killing a Category
The case study compares two retail categories—Apparel Tops and Fashion—highlighting divergent performance trends. Apparel Tops showed relatively stable sales, with new style introductions ranging from 799 to 637 and consistent year‑two demand. In contrast, the Fashion category experienced a sharp...
When the Buyer Is a Machine: Why Agentic Commerce Threatens the Trillion-Dollar Advertising Model
In 2025 the global ad market topped $1 trillion, but the same year saw the first AI‑agent‑mediated programmatic ad deal and ChatGPT’s Instant Checkout handling purchases on major retailers. This marks the rise of "agentic commerce," where AI agents complete discovery,...
Klaviyo Launches Custom Skills for AI Customer Agent, Giving Brands Tailored Sales Logic
Klaviyo announced the beta release of Custom Skills for its AI Customer Agent, allowing brands to program brand‑specific sales logic and integrate external systems. The feature moves the agent from a static FAQ bot to a configurable workflow layer that...
SM Home Unveils Redesigned Makati Flagship as Overhaul Expands
SM Home is reopening its Makati flagship this week with a redesigned store concept, the first rollout under a new retail framework. The layout now features dedicated zones for kitchen, dining, living, bedroom, bathroom, storage, laundry, cleaning, and a gift...
Hyundai Department Store Launches ‘The Hyundai Global’ Pop‑up in Taiwan’s Top Mall
Hyundai Department Store announced a three‑month pop‑up called “The Hyundai Global” at Shin Kong Mitsukoshi’s Zhonggang store in Taichung, Taiwan, running through July 26. The 66 sqm space will feature 13 Korean fashion, beauty and accessories brands, including six newcomers to the Taiwanese market,...
Dutch Retail Sales Jump 2.9% YoY in March, Online Growth Fuels Upswing
Dutch retail turnover was 2.9% higher in March than a year earlier, according to CBS figures. The gain was anchored by a surge in online sales, underscoring the accelerating shift toward e‑commerce in the Netherlands. Analysts see the trend as...
UK Voters Make High‑Street Decline Top Issue Ahead of May Local Elections
Ahead of England’s May local elections, voters are flagging the decay of high streets as a decisive issue, according to polling firm More in Common. The sentiment is fueling pressure on councils to accelerate regeneration plans, including a £1.5 bn (£1.9 bn)...
Button Appoints Lauren Newman as CRO to Drive $12B Sales Growth
Button announced the hiring of industry veteran Lauren Newman as chief revenue officer. Newman, who delivered a 220% year‑over‑year EBITDA increase at Red Ventures, will oversee revenue‑generating initiatives as the company leverages its AI‑driven commerce platform that has already generated...