[confidential] With Courrèges, Gérard Darel and Roberto Cavalli, Autone grows to 40 customers Europe mind Retail learned that Y Combinator-incubated stock optimisation start-up Autone is preparing a Series A. After launching in fashion, the firm is moving into home furnishings and beauty.
B&Q: 10% of e-commerce sales come from product recommendations At the World Retail Congress in Paris, Thierry Garnier, C.E.O. of Kingfisher (sales of US$14.98 billion in 2023,…
Bijou Kurien, Retailers Association of India: “Investors’ focus has shifted from sales growth to profitability” Asia After 6 years as head of L-Catterton Asia, an investment fund supported by LVMH in Asia, Bijou Kurien is the Chairman of the Retailers Association of India, and a member of the Board of several Indian companies such as Brigade Enterprises (property), Timex Group (watches) and Suguna Foods (food). At the World Retail Congress in Paris, he shared with mind Retail his vision of the VC landscape in India.
Retail crisis in Morocco: international franchises in jeopardy Africa, Middle East In 2024, the Moroccan retail sector is going through a tumultuous period, marked by the successive closures of international franchises.…
L’Occitane, Sephora, Ulta Beauty make major moves in a slowing market As the beauty market slows down, particularly in China, three cosmetics retailers are making major moves. L'Occitane could move under an American flag. Sephora is changing rules of governance in China. Ulta is witnessing slower growth.
Crate & Barrel: design workshops generate 40% of store sales Americas Operating in the U.S.A. and Canada, furniture retailer Crate & Barrel (Otto Group) developed an appointment-only service offering advice on interior design and decoration. Results were presented on April 16, by CEO Janet Heyes at the World Retail Congress in Paris.
Jean-Louis Borde, Gemo: “We are going to launch a rental service for our baby range” Fashion retailer Gemo, part of the Eram group, adapted logistic tools to embrace a circularity journey for rental services. Jean-Louis Borde, Supply-Chain Director, explained adoption of the new version of Manhattan Active's Warehouse Management System (WMS), which is currently deployed.
China: Roche Bobois takes back control of Chinese franchisee Asia On April 10, 2024, the family-owned Roche Bobois Group (annual sales of €429.6 million to 31 December 2023, up 6.1% at constant exchange rates) announced a strategic shift in China.…
McDonald’s buys back Israeli franchise to curb boycott calls Africa, Middle East While McDonald’s has been the subject of numerous calls for boycotts over the last 6 months, on April 4,…
Autonomous stores: with a smart shopping cart, Amazon is aiming for a more omnichannel retail media Americas By deploying a smart shopping cart in large-format stores, to the detriment of "Just Walk Out" technology, Amazon is seeking to capitalise on a new medium for retail media. Has the limits of autonomous checkout been reached ?
[Amazon results] Strong growth and profitability in 2023, thanks to a rebalanced business model After a sharp post-Covid-19 slowdown, Amazon is recovering. In 2023, sales rose by 11.8% in one year, representing US$60.8 billion in additional revenue. After reorganising logistics business and laying off large numbers of staff, the operating profit more than tripled. Net margin now stands at 5.3% of sales.
[Online data] Second-hand goods reaches unprecedented levels in fashion and electronics According to data from both Fox Intelligence and Fevad, the two most buoyant categories online, in 2023, are where second-hand does not exist. In fashion, second-hand accounted for more than 40% of online sales in 2023. In electronics, more than a third of the market has shifted, in value.
[Analyze] The six major challenges facing retail in 2024 A few of the barriers for retail in 2024 include generative AI, retail media, decarbonisation and CSRD, omnichannel efficiency or social commerce. Retail, commercial property and retail tech sectors are all facing new pressures. What they all have in common is the need for efficiency and hyper-agility, against a backdrop of fluctuating demand and financing pressures. The challenge is to generate Ebitda to finance recovery plans (digital transformation and price cuts) and settle residual debt.
Free “77% of retailers want to increase the drive-to-store portion of their advertising investment” By Sandrine Prefaut, Managing Director of S4M in France. Operating in 10 countries (USA, Canada, France, Italy, UK, Switzerland, Benelux, Asia-Pacific region…), S4M is an international “drive to store” platform, expert in generating traffic in physical and digital points of sale.
The Thai example of Central Food Retail. Understanding the elements of online profitability Asia With a turnover of €2.1 billion in 2020, Central Food Retail under Central Retail is the largest supermarket chain in Thailand (more than 1,000 stores). From delivery in less than 25 minutes (known as Quick Commerce), to picking arbitrages and the imminent launch of a subscription offer, E-commerce and Digital Director Julien Tessonneau details his roadmap. Exclusively for Mind Retail.
Free Home electrical products. Why rental sites flourish For electronic devices, circular Economy models that maximizes convenience and minimizes expense for consumers gain traction in Europe.
[confidential] After 3 months of a pilot, what are the results of Castorama’s chatbot powered with GenAI? As part of the 1to1Monaco event, Romain Roulleau, Marketing, Digital and Customer Director at Castorama, spoke to mind Retail about the results of the Hello Casto chatbot. He also detailed obstacles to adoption by Internet users.
Troubled Maisons du Monde relies on Google’s AI to keep e-commerce afloat Europe Maisons du Monde is unveiling a recovery plan, that focused on a new franchising model. Meanwhile, it is taking stock of how to use AI to improve performance, including digital acquisition campaigns and product specification sheets. Constance Fouquet, Executive Director of Digital, IT & B2B, spoke to mind Retail ahead of the 1-to-1 show in Monaco.
[Case study] At Rue du commerce, vendors’ sales up 120% with Qashflo Exclusively for mind Retail, Benjamin Guigue, Offer Director at Rue du Commerce, takes a step back on the implementation and integration of fintech services from Qashflo. In 2 years, these allowed sellers to stabilise an offering and boost sales thanks to renewed cash flow.
[NRF 2024] The new levers of retail media seen at NRF The theme of retail media came to the fore at NRF 2024, with a day of dedicated workshops on 13 January and feedback from a number of players like Kroger, Ulta, and 7/11. Between onsite, offsite and in-store, mind Retail presents the key findings of the event, based on interviews with Christian Raveaux (Rewe), Marissa Jarrat (7/Eleven), Arnaud Lauga (Publicis Commerce), Jérôme Hamrit (Vusion Group), Sucharita Kodali (Forrester) and Tanguy Pincemin (Dunnhumby).
Supply-chain : container prices jump 250% between Asia and Europe Africa, Middle East As a result of the attacks in the Red Sea, the price of containers on Asia-Europe routes is rocketing.
Black Friday 2023: French average online spending up by 15% Although Black Friday for 2023 failed to attract new online shoppers, average online rose by 15% from 2022 in France. Data from Foxintelligence, which tracks the profiles and purchasing behaviour of e-shoppers, highlights the major trends of this event plus the best-performing categories in Europe and France. Beauty and small electrical appliances were the big winners in 2023.
Bijou Kurien, Retailers Association of India: “Investors’ focus has shifted from sales growth to profitability” Asia After 6 years as head of L-Catterton Asia, an investment fund supported by LVMH in Asia, Bijou Kurien is the Chairman of the Retailers Association of India, and a member of the Board of several Indian companies such as Brigade Enterprises (property), Timex Group (watches) and Suguna Foods (food). At the World Retail Congress in Paris, he shared with mind Retail his vision of the VC landscape in India.
Philippe Muhr, Intersport: “GenAI at the start of the chatbot funnel, helps us better assess consumer’s needs and boosts conversion” At the 1-to-1 show in Monaco, Philippe Muhr, E-Commerce Director at Intersport, spoke exclusively to mind Retail about his transformation roadmap, and the results of the integration of GenAI into customer relations in partnership with Iadvize. The next step is to integrate AI into vendor’s tools.
Jérémie Levy, Converteo: “Generative AI prices are not easy to read or to budget for: we’re dealing with probabilism” Converteo, whose almost 50% of revenue comes from the retail, beauty and luxury sectors, supports retailers in collecting, modelling, measuring and activating data. Jérémie Levy, Managing Director, and Charles Letaillieur, AI Lead and Senior Manager, explain the cost model and budget issues associated with generative AI, and the current trend.
IDKids streamlines the store network and will be laying off 14% of staff After closing 44 Catimini stores in 2023, the IDKids group is to cut two banners and lay off 14% of its workforce. According to our sources, one Board member already left the company.
Free Amandine de Souza, Leboncoin: “We add B2B and aim to become Europe’s leading second-hand retailer” Amandine de Souza, Managing Director of Leboncoin (Adevinta Group), was a guest at the latest FrenchFounders meeting in Paris, attended by mind Retail. She explained a transformation of the second-hand sales site, which aims to integrate a new professional trade offer and become Europe's leading second-hand retailer.
Sandrine Préfaut, Locala: “A quarter of retailers have begun to ‘discountise’ their offer” Interviews In an exclusive interview with mind Retail, Locala, a specialist in multi-local solutions ranging from "drive to store" to visibility issues, presents the three key findings of an annual survey of 3,000 consumers in 5 countries (France, UK, Italy, Netherlands and Belgium). Sandrine Préfaut, Locala's Managing Director for Europe, outlines key trends.
Kiabi to open soon 70 corners in Auchan hypermarkets Kiabi unveiled their strategic roadmap for 2023. This includes expanding products for children and babies, launching the new marketplace in Spain and Italy and massively rolling out “corners” at Auchan hypermarkets.
Free Apparel Group opens first “phygital” fashion store in Dubai Sit comfortably on a couch in front of a giant screen showing brand images like Calvin Klein or Tommy Hilfiger. Select the items you like on the shelves provided.…
Ingka Centres starts construction of a first Indian mall … Ingka Centres, a subsidiary of the Ingka Group (turnover of €37.4 billion in the fiscal year to August 2021 up by 6% year-on-year) started construction of the Gurugram mixed-use complex on 16 August 2022.…
Retail media: One year after launch, Mirakl Ads faces challenges ahead The recent partnership between Mirakl and Havas has put the spotlight once again on the digital marketplaces provider's retail media offering, which combines technology and advertising network. A year after the roll-out, Mirakl Ads now needs to sign up with leading retailers, in a highly competitive market.
[Amazon results] In Q3 2023, Amazon more than tripled net margin on the back of a savings plan and a return to fundamentals After a post-Covid-19 pandemic slowdown, Amazon's net margin more than tripled in Q3 2023. Over the 9 months of the year, growth was driven by the digital marketplace, AWS and advertising - three divisions accounting for 73% of revenue gains. With US$6 billion in additional sales in 9 months, advertising has overtaken e-commerce and is now hot on the heels of AWS in terms of growth contribution.
‘Yes Ad’ zones: in-store traffic takes a hit in Q1 2023 Given exclusive access to the Adot study, mind Retail revealed that in France, only 13% of households in ‘Yes Ad’ zones affixed an “opt-in” sticker to letterboxes at the end of March 2023. As a result, in-store traffic is clearly affected, with a 19% gap at specialist retailers and a 5% gap among food retailers compared with the national averages. All the figures, channel by channel.
Jean-Louis Borde, Gemo: “We are going to launch a rental service for our baby range” Fashion retailer Gemo, part of the Eram group, adapted logistic tools to embrace a circularity journey for rental services. Jean-Louis Borde, Supply-Chain Director, explained adoption of the new version of Manhattan Active's Warehouse Management System (WMS), which is currently deployed.
EU: members adopt a watered-down due diligence directive at the last minute After documents for CSRD, the EU will complete a regulatory framework on CSR with a directive covering due diligence. Validated by members, the agreement on the text,…
[Case study] With Getinside, Total Energies tests a new acquisition lever for e-commerce parcels The Wash carwash network (Total Energies) is one of the first companies to have tested an acquisition campaign with Getinside. This digital marketplace treats e-tailers' parcels as monetisable space to meet recruitment strategies. However, the retailer also encountered a drift that left post-campaign tracking with mixed results.
[confidential] With Courrèges, Gérard Darel and Roberto Cavalli, Autone grows to 40 customers Europe mind Retail learned that Y Combinator-incubated stock optimisation start-up Autone is preparing a Series A. After launching in fashion, the firm is moving into home furnishings and beauty.
B&Q: 10% of e-commerce sales come from product recommendations At the World Retail Congress in Paris, Thierry Garnier, C.E.O. of Kingfisher (sales of US$14.98 billion in 2023,…
Bijou Kurien, Retailers Association of India: “Investors’ focus has shifted from sales growth to profitability” Asia After 6 years as head of L-Catterton Asia, an investment fund supported by LVMH in Asia, Bijou Kurien is the Chairman of the Retailers Association of India, and a member of the Board of several Indian companies such as Brigade Enterprises (property), Timex Group (watches) and Suguna Foods (food). At the World Retail Congress in Paris, he shared with mind Retail his vision of the VC landscape in India.