Know What's Happening in Retail
Know What's Happening in Retail
AI start‑ups deploy virtual‑try‑on tech to slash $850 billion retail return losses
AI start‑ups such as Catches are launching virtual‑try‑on platforms that create realistic digital twins of shoppers, aiming to reduce the retail sector’s $850 billion return problem. The National Retail Federation reports that 15.8% of U.S. sales – 19.3% online – were returned in 2025, eroding margins. Generative AI and cheap cloud compute now make these tools cost‑effective.
Also developing:
Target posted adjusted earnings of $2.44 per share for Q4, outpacing the $2.16 consensus, while net sales slipped 1.5% to $30.5 billion. Gross margin improved to 26.6% on lower shrinkage and supply‑chain costs, offset by higher product expenses. Non‑merchandise segments such as membership, advertising (Roundel) and marketplace sales surged, providing a bright spot amid declining comparable sales. The retailer forecast roughly 2% top‑line growth and a 20‑basis‑point margin lift for 2026, signaling a return to profitable expansion.
Guiding Stars and Partnership for a Healthier America (PHA) have broadened their collaboration, designating Guiding Stars as PHA’s core nutrition standard. The expanded partnership will see the three‑star rating system used to identify and communicate healthier foods across retailers, CPG...
YouTube Shopping has expanded in 2026 to let brands turn any video—Shorts, long‑form, or Live—into a direct storefront. By linking a product catalog through Google Merchant Center, brands can tag SKUs within videos, letting viewers purchase without leaving the platform....
Retailers eye Mother’s Day as a catalyst for AI adoption, focusing on demand forecasting, pricing optimization, and autonomous AI agents. AI models can ingest real‑time sales, inventory and regional data to accurately predict stock needs across stores and online channels....
Dstillery unveiled DS-1, an agentic AI interface that lets advertisers create and refine custom audience segments in minutes instead of days. Built on the Model Context Protocol, DS-1 integrates with Slack, Microsoft Teams, browsers and pushes audiences directly to The...
Dstillery unveiled DS‑1, an agentic AI interface that lets advertisers build and refine custom audience segments in minutes instead of days, integrating directly with Slack, Teams, browsers and pushing audiences to The Trade Desk. The tool, built on the Model...
Event Network, a leading operator of experiential retail for museums, participated in the American Alliance of Museums' Advocacy Day on Capitol Hill on February 24. The company’s executives joined museum leaders to lobby for continued IMLS funding, the bipartisan Museum...
Award‑winning Pride Radio, operated by LGBTQ+ charity OUT North East, is donating £100,000 in airtime to mark Metrocentre’s 40‑year anniversary. The Top 40 Community Voices scheme will allocate a free 12‑week radio campaign to 40 local charities and community groups, with...
Garnier has appointed supermodel Gisele Bündchen as its first‑ever Global Brand Ambassador, anchoring the L’Oréal‑owned brand’s new “High‑Tech Nature” strategy that blends scientific performance with natural ingredients. Bündchen will front worldwide hair‑care campaigns, beginning with the launch of Fructis Diamond Sleek,...
Yse Beauty, the Gen X‑focused skincare brand founded by Molly Sims, announced Doreen Arbel as its first chief executive, effective March 30. Arbel joins from Charlotte Tilbury after leading its North American operations and brings two decades of L’Oréal experience. Her immediate mandate...
ReposiTrak announced that a leading grocery retailer has become the first to achieve true end‑to‑end traceability under FDA FSMA Section 204, using its Touchless Traceability solution. The system has already generated hundreds of thousands of FDA‑required Key Data Element records...
Trü Frü, the TikTok‑driven frozen snack brand, is adding Strawberries in White & Dark Chocolate to its lineup, hitting UK shelves on 9 March 2026 exclusively through Tesco’s 342 stores and online. The 200 g pack retails at £6 and delivers 83...
Cutter & Squidge has launched a Mother’s Day collection featuring curated hampers and baked‑good bundles. The line includes three flower‑and‑food bundles co‑created with B‑Corp florist Freddie’s Flowers, priced between £46.99 and £67.99. Additional hampers range from £35.99 to £59.99 and are...
Kroger has begun using Corvus Robotics’ Corvus One drones to automate inventory scanning in its ambient and sub‑freezing distribution centers. The drones autonomously locate and scan pallets, delivering weekly, facility‑wide visibility without requiring Wi‑Fi, markers, or warehouse modifications. Capable of...
On Holding, the Swiss sportswear brand, expects a boost from lower U.S. tariffs after the Supreme Court struck down emergency levies. The company forecast at least 23% sales growth in 2026 and a profit margin of 63%, up from 62.8%...
Pet Valu Holdings reported a robust fourth‑quarter and full‑year 2025 performance, with system‑wide sales climbing 9.2% to $423.7 million and annual sales up 5.6% to $1.53 billion. The retailer opened 14 new stores, bringing its network to 863 locations, and posted adjusted...
The anti‑ageing skin‑care conference introduced the concept of biodesynchronosis, framing skin ageing as a loss of regulatory coordination rather than merely chronological time. Speakers argued that traditional markers like wrinkles miss upstream failures, and that recovery speed after stress better...
Pilot Travel Centers, owned by Berkshire Hathaway, is rolling out a comprehensive foodservice overhaul, extending its full hot‑deli menu to roughly 400 locations and keeping 350 franchised fast‑food outlets open around the clock. The company introduced two proprietary concepts—Pilot eats...
Thom Browne, the New York‑based tailoring label, has launched its first partnership with sportswear giant Asics, creating a limited‑edition sneaker that blends the designer’s sleek aesthetic with Asics’ performance technology. The collaboration marks a strategic move for both brands: Browne...
Inditex has signed Bershka for a 16,000 sq ft store in Metrocentre’s Red Mall, bringing its total footprint in the North‑East retail hub to over 65,000 sq ft alongside Zara and Stradivarius. The addition bolsters Metrocentre’s fashion offering as category sales rose 7.4% in...
Celio has officially retired the Camaïeu name, rebranding its women’s line as Celio Women after previously promising to keep the label as “be Camaïeu.” The shift marks a strategic consolidation of the French retailer’s portfolio. Celio is also expanding its...
Nykaa has launched Nykaa Perfumery, a dedicated fragrance‑only retail format, with two 800 sq ft stores in Mumbai’s Oberoi Mall and Infiniti Mall. The stores combine immersive discovery tables, AI‑driven Fragrance Finder, and trained fragrance advisors to guide shoppers through a curated...
Holland & Barrett reported an 11% rise in annual sales to £981 million, propelled by TikTok‑driven health trends and appetite‑suppressing products. Store revenue climbed to £731.3 million, and gross profit increased to £579.9 million. However, pre‑tax losses widened to £71 million, reflecting higher staff...
Estée Lauder announced a limited‑edition beauty collection with designer Diane von Furstenberg. The InCharge Collection features a new $85 fragrance, a $35 multi‑use sculpting blush stick, and a $45 glossy lip oil trio. The partnership leverages von Furstenberg’s fashion legacy and her long‑standing friendship...
The Children’s Place has broadened SVP Kristin Clifford’s responsibilities to include product operations, international and technical design, alongside her existing sourcing duties, effective February 24, 2026. The reshuffle also adds Kim Roy as executive director overseeing design, merchandising, planning and...
Milk Makeup announced celebrity makeup artist Frank B as its inaugural Global Artistic Director. The newly created role tasks him with elevating the brand’s fashion‑centric DNA and guiding product development through an artistry‑first lens. Frank B will also craft a comprehensive artistry...
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled on Feb. 20 that the Trump administration’s use of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act to impose broad tariffs was unconstitutional. Within hours, the administration invoked a different legal tool to impose a 15% tariff, later...
Google Cloud and Italy’s Nexi Group have signed a memorandum of understanding to create an agentic commerce infrastructure across Europe. The deal merges Google Cloud’s artificial‑intelligence and data platforms with Nexi’s payment‑processing network, and backs open‑source standards such as the...
Groupe GM Cosmética Portugal announced the launch of Solid Labs, a new platform dedicated to high‑performance solid cosmetics. The company argues that solid formats must evolve from sustainability‑driven storytelling to delivering parity—or superiority—with traditional products. Brands are urged to prioritize...
The online fashion resale market has moved from niche to mainstream, with Vinted now the UK’s third‑largest fashion retailer by customer numbers and eBay agreeing to buy Depop for about $1.2 bn. UK online second‑hand sales are projected to hit roughly...
Montblanc unveiled its spring/summer 2026 "Art of the Desk" campaign, pairing a new line of writing accessories with a short‑film featuring Roman Coppola, Cooper Koch, Kiernan Shipka, Dree Hemingway and Daniel Brühl. The video series, called "Art of the Desk Talks," explores each star’s personal...
Castore, a global sportswear brand operating 35 Shopify stores, replaced its manual, spreadsheet‑driven pricing workflow with Patchworks, a retail‑first iPaaS. The new integration cut pricing execution from roughly five hours to two‑three minutes and slashed error rates from 30‑35% to...
Refurbed announced a 40% year‑on‑year growth, pushing its gross merchandise volume past €3 billion and expanding into twelve new European markets. The platform now claims the title of Europe’s largest refurbished marketplace and reported profitability for the first time. A fresh...
Independent music retailers are grappling with a new 15% tariff imposed for 150 days after the Supreme Court struck earlier duties, while consumer confidence stays weak and industry consolidation accelerates. Vendors have raised prices and tightened MAP policies, squeezing margins...
Greggs reported a 9.5% drop in underlying pre‑tax profit to £171.9 million for the year to 27 December, even as total sales grew 6.8% to £2.1 billion. The chain added 121 net new outlets, marking its 2,700th shop and piloting a compact “bitesize”...
The 2025 Tokyo Marathon generated an estimated ¥155 billion (about US$100 million) in incremental consumer spending over its three‑day weekend, according to Mastercard Economics Institute data. Merchant sales within a 10‑kilometre radius of the finish line were roughly seven percent higher than...
Global brands are shuttering or scaling back Middle East stores as the U.S.-Israeli air war with Iran escalates, prompting voluntary staffing and temporary closures across Dubai, UAE, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Kuwait and Qatar. Luxury conglomerates Kering and LVMH halted travel...
Musson, the family‑owned Australian jeweller, has launched a 300 sqm flagship store at Chatswood Chase, reviving its North Shore roots first established in 1983. The two‑level space follows the brand’s Grand Boutique & Workshop in the Queen Victoria Building, positioning the...
Julia Garner has been named a global brand ambassador for luxury fashion house Loewe, announced by the label’s new creative directors Jack McCollough and Lazaro Hernandez. The Emmy‑winning actress, previously linked to Gucci, will front Loewe’s upcoming campaigns, reflecting the designers’ vision...
Ingrid & Isabel, a leading U.S. maternity brand, is debuting its first line at Walmart, entering 3,800 stores and Walmart.com. The new “For Every Belly” collection offers essentials such as leggings, tees and denim priced between $10 and $30, roughly...
Whatnot, the livestream shopping platform, has expanded its food category from shelf‑stable snacks to fresh seafood and meat, achieving a 30% month‑over‑month growth and a 2.5× rise in transactions between July 2025 and January 2026. Sales of iconic brands like...
Miniso launched its first Miniso Land in Malaysia at Sunway Pyramid, creating the largest store of its kind in Southeast Asia. The 1,700 sqm outlet houses more than 8,000 products, with over 70 % featuring licensed or proprietary IP characters across 15...
Golden Goose reported FY25 revenue of €734 million, a 15% year‑on‑year rise, driven by a 21% surge in direct‑to‑consumer sales that now represent 81% of total revenue. The brand added 17 new stores, bringing its global footprint to 232 locations, with...
Chow Tai Fook Jewellery Group has created a global creative director role and appointed David Tse to fill it, signaling a strategic push to elevate the brand on the world stage. Tse, who previously led Hermès’ Shanghai creative team and...
Nigerian entrepreneur Samuel Oyedemi is launching SKAAP, a scan‑and‑go platform targeting small and medium retailers in Canada and the United States. After a modest pilot in Calgary, Edmonton and Saskatchewan that enrolled about 200 users, the startup plans a U.S....
The Australian Retail Council (ARC) has been launched as a new national peak body, merging the Australian Retailers Association and the National Retail Association. Developed with branding agency FABRIC, ARC’s new visual identity aims to give retailers a single, unified...
Dutch Bros reported a 28% revenue increase to $1.64 billion for 2025, driven by 154 new store openings that brought the system to 1,136 locations. Adjusted EBITDA rose 31% to $303 million and average unit volume hit a record $2.1 million. The company...
On @Whatnot, the live shopping platform, beauty sales grew almost 800% in 2025, now representing one of its fastest-growing verticals. Buyers are purchasing nearly 4,000 beauty items per hour. More in the Live Shopping Update, presented by Whatnot: https://t.co/s9HQHL6Je5 https://t.co/VKyyHOKjyK
Retailers now operate across physical stores, online platforms, and multiple suppliers, creating overlapping legal obligations. LegalVision highlights five top legal risks—lease restrictions, mishandled customer returns, non‑compliant e‑commerce disclosures, vague supplier agreements, and inadequate employment contracts—and offers practical mitigation steps. The...
Anheuser‑Busch completed a $490 million acquisition of 85% of Austin‑based RTD brand BeatBox, finalizing a deal announced in December. BeatBox, which posted over $340 million in retail sales and a 50% revenue jump last year, joins AB InBev’s expanding Beyond Beer portfolio...
