Retail news

• Next beats expectations as it posts record profits

  21-03-2024 08:30 via theretailbulletin.com
  
  Next has posted a strong uplift in full year sales and profit after the fashion and homeware retailer outperformed its initial expectations. In the year to... View Article
  
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• Boots to open first beauty-only store outside London

  04-03-2026 15:27 via retailgazette.co.uk
  Boots is set to open its second beauty-only concept store in Bristol this spring, bringing its “most innovative beauty retail experience” outside of London for the first time. 
  The store will offer an “elevated and experiential way” to discover the latest in beauty, according to the retailer.  
  The 11,000 sq ft shop will open in the centre of the Bristol Shopping Quarter at the Cabot Circus Shopping Centre.
  It comes after Boots opened its first standalone b
  
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• ‘Heartbroken’ BrewDog founder James Watt speaks out after £33m sale

  04-03-2026 13:54 via retailgazette.co.uk
  BrewDog co-founder James Watt has said he is “heartbroken” following the sale of the craft beer brand he launched in 2007, after Tilray Brands acquired the business in a £33m deal earlier this week.
  Writing on LinkedIn, Watt reflected on the end of his 17-year tenure building BrewDog from a startup into one of the world’s most recognisable craft beer brands, while acknowledging the business’s recent struggles and the disappointment felt by staff and investors.
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• Greenwashing has just become a much more serious issue – are you ready?

  04-03-2026 11:38 via retailgazette.co.uk
  For retail brands, 2026 looks to be a continuation of the regulatory scrutiny of greenwashing that we have seen in recent years, writes Katrina Anderson, principal associate, and Rachel McDonnell, partner at national law firm Mills & Reeve.Rachel McDonnell
  Regulators now have unprecedented and enhanced powers to investigate and penalise misleading environmental claims – and beyond that, greenwashing could also be prosecuted under a new a criminal offence of failure to prevent fraud.
  Th
  
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• Iceland ditches decade-long trademark battle with Iceland and promises “rapprochement discount”

  04-03-2026 11:21 via retailgazette.co.uk
  UK frozen food retailer Iceland has ended its decade-long trademark dispute with the country of Iceland, with executive chair Richard Walker pledging a “rapprochement discount” for Icelandic shoppers instead of pursuing further legal action.
  The move comes after the retailer suffered its third legal defeat in the courts last year in its long-running effort to maintain exclusive EU trademark rights to the name “Iceland”.
  Speaking to the Financial Times, Walker said the com
  
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• Tesco reappoints media agency and revamps slogan in shake-up to marketing strategy

  04-03-2026 11:08 via retailgazette.co.uk
  Tesco has re-appointed EssenceMediacom as its media agency partner across the UK and Central Eastern European markets, following a closed review process run by Tuffon Hall Consultancy.
  The agency, which is part of WPP Media, will be responsible for media planning and buying services, as well as tech and data integration, using WPP’s Open platform and Open Intelligence capabilities.
  This news follows the supermarket’s launch of its new brand platform, “Need Anything From Tesco?&
  
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• Asda chairman plans to promote next CEO from within

  04-03-2026 11:06 via retailgazette.co.uk
  Asda chairman Allan Leighton has claimed that the government has become “more and more difficult” to deal with and less supportive of business, as he plans to promote the retailer’s next CEO from within.
  Leighton said that decisions made in Westminster were resulting in a bigger impact on businesses than when he first ran Asda during the 1990s, the Telegraph reported.
  The chair said: “Politics and government have a much more bigger impact on what happens today than they d
  
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• NEW PODCAST: Euroshop 2025, the best bits with Toshiba

  04-03-2026 11:03 via retailgazette.co.uk
  Euroshop 2026 is once again behind us, and this year over 81,000 visitors descended on the show from 141 countries.
  The show, which takes place in Düsseldorf, Germany, featured over 1,840 exhibitors from 61 nations. It’s a dizzying affair with so much to do and see, and it’s easy even for those in attendance to see just a tinyportion of the innovation on offer.
  That’s why, in this episode of the Retail Gazette Unpacked podcast, we sit down with Martin Ward, senior retail
  
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• Scribbler: How to use the right balance of humour to cut through the noise

  04-03-2026 10:37 via retailgazette.co.uk
  For smaller retailers, cutting through the noise is not about outspending bigger rivals or chasing every new channel. It is about being memorable.For greeting card and gift retailer Scribbler, that memorability has long come from humour – funny, on-trend and unapologetically rude (but never accidentally so). 
  Humour is a powerful differentiator, but it is also one of the easiest things for a brand to get wrong. Push too far and you alienate customers.Play it too safe and you fade into
  
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• How can retailers use micro-influencers?

  04-03-2026 10:37 via retailgazette.co.uk
  Creators no longer need to have hundreds of thousands of followers to land a brand partnership.
  Brands and retailers are selecting ‘micro-influencers’ to help support their campaigns and reach their target audiences.
  Micro-influencers often only have small followings but will be deeply embedded in the community their content focuses on, making them an attractive prospect for an ambassadorship or campaign appearance.
  Retailers such as Disney Store, ASOS, PrettyLittleThing, Superdrug a
  
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• L’era’s founder on how TikTok livestream contributed to the brand’s success

  04-03-2026 09:55 via retailgazette.co.uk
  TikTok has become a go-to for many brands as a point of sale.
  According to E-marketer, TikTok Shop accounts for nearly 20 per cent of the social commerce market in 2025.
  Another study from Sprout Social found that UK TikTok shop sales accounted for 2.14 per cent of all global TikTok shop sales.
  It also highlighted that TikTok Live was popular with consumers, with the brand Hair Syrup processing 1,900 orders in just one 10-hour TikTok Live session, which amounted to a 66 per cent spike in sales.
  
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• Are driverless warehouse vehicles the next big boost to retail? Nvidia thinks so

  04-03-2026 09:54 via retailgazette.co.uk
  Nvidia has placed a major bet on the future of autonomous logistics, backing UK self-driving technology firm Oxa in a £77m Series D funding round aimed at accelerating the deployment of driverless vehicles across industrial environments such as warehouses, ports and airports.
  The investment includes £37.5m from the National Wealth Fund and backing from NVentures, alongside existing investors including IP Group, Hostplus and bp Ventures.
  The funding
  
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• Inside Warner Bros’ new experiential Harry Potter Oxford Street flagship

  04-03-2026 09:31 via retailgazette.co.uk
  Warner Bros is set to open a 21,000 sq ft Harry Potter flagship store on London’s Oxford Street, bringing a major immersive retail experience to one of Europe’s busiest shopping destinations.
  The two-floor store, scheduled to open this autumn on the corner of Oxford Street and Tottenham Court Road, will feature recreated locations from the Harry Potter films, interactive displays, photo opportunities and exclusive merchandise.
  The entertainment giant said the site will act as an &ldq
  
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• Retail roles among UK’s most short-lived jobs as workers leave sector for new careers

  04-03-2026 08:57 via retailgazette.co.uk
  Retail roles are among the UK jobs workers are most likely to leave entirely when switching employers, new research from Indeed has revealed, further emphasising the persistent churn across the sector.
  The analysis shows that 82 per cent of retail workers who change jobs move into a different occupation altogether, highlighting the extent to which the industry continues to function as a stepping stone, rather than a long-term career destination.
  The findings, based on job histories recorded
  
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• Iceland freezes decade-long legal battle with Iceland

  04-03-2026 06:00 via ft.com
  UK supermarket abandons trademark dispute with island nation after third legal loss
  
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• Holland & Barrett hails third consecutive year of double digit revenue growth

  04-03-2026 05:21 via theretailbulletin.com
  Holland & Barrett has delivered a third consecutive year of double digit revenue growth with an uplift of 11% to £981 million in the 12 months... View Article
  
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• Shop price inflation eased in February as retailers cut prices

  04-03-2026 05:20 via theretailbulletin.com
  Shop price inflation eased in February as consumers benefited from strong competition between retailers. According to data from the British Retail Consortium and NeilsenIQ, shop prices... View Article
  
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• Wanted: private equity buyers for unloved online marketplaces

  03-03-2026 15:54 via ft.com
  Smarter operators in a depressed and AI-disrupted sector can still find an edge
  
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• M&S raises pay by 6.4% in £70m investment

  03-03-2026 15:40 via retailgazette.co.uk
  Marks & Spencer (M&S) is increasing pay for UK retail colleagues by 6.4% from 1 April, in what chief executive Stuart Machin described as an “inflation-beating pay award”.
  The high street retailer will invest more than £70m in the uplift, taking hourly pay for customer assistants to at least £13.41. The increase applies to around 55,000 UK store colleagues and translates to an additional £132 per month or £1,587 over the year compared with last year.
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• Greggs profit slides as revenue momentum slows in early 2026

  03-03-2026 14:45 via retailgazette.co.uk
  Greggs saw annual profit drop 18%, as weakening consumer sentiment and slower revenue growth weighed on the high street bakery chain.
  Pre-tax profit fell to £167m in the year to 28 December 2025, including the impact of a restatement relating to value-added tax (VAT), the retailer said on Tuesday (3 March).
  Trading also softened at the start of the new financial year. Like-for-like revenues were up 1.6% for the first nine weeks of 2026, marking a slowdown from stronger growth seen last yea
  
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• Spring Statement leaves retailers facing sluggish growth and stubborn costs

  03-03-2026 14:43 via retailgazette.co.uk
  Rachel Reeves’ Spring Statement offered UK retailers a steadier set of economic forecasts, but little immediate relief on the costs squeezing margins, as the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) warned that geopolitical shocks could quickly derail the outlook.
  The chancellor pointed to ‘stability’ and slightly improved headroom in the public finances, with fiscal headroom rising to £23.6bn, while reiterating that this was not a tax-changing event.
  But the wider pic
  
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• M&S to invest £70 million in colleague pay

  03-03-2026 13:47 via theretailbulletin.com
  M&S is to invest £70 million in colleague pay in the year ahead. From 1 April, pay for UK retail staff will increase by 6.4%, more... View Article
  
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• Holland & Barrett sales boosted by TikTok trends, as losses widen

  03-03-2026 12:29 via retailgazette.co.uk
  Holland & Barrett saw sales soar in its latest annual results, driven by TikTok-led health trends and weight-loss jabs.
  The health and wellness specialist claimed that online trends boosted its total annual sales by 11 per cent year on year to £981m in the year to the end of September, according to The Times.
  Holland & Barrett CEO Anthony Houghton said that “more and more people are being triggered by social media” to buy into health and wellness-related trends, includi
  
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• Criteo joins OpenAI advertising pilot

  03-03-2026 12:21 via retailgazette.co.uk
  Criteo will be the ‘first’ advertising technology partner to integrate with OpenAI’s advertising pilot in ChatGPT Free and Go in the United States.
  According to the platform, aggregated insights from its US clients show that users referred from LLM platforms such as ChatGPT convert at around one and half times the rate of other referral channels.
  Criteo believes that this pilot is an “opportunity to evaluate” how brands can participate in advertising within ChatGPT,
  
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• McDonald’s CEO marketing misstep shows authenticity and ‘corporateness’ don’t mix

  03-03-2026 11:53 via retailgazette.co.uk
  When the CEO of McDonald’s, visibly uncomfortable with a carefully arranged selection of his own food in front of him, took a cautious bite of his company’s latest burger and called it a “delicious product”, the internet had a field day.
  Such was the inevitable trajectory of Chris Kempczinski’s promotional video introducing the new Big Arch burger. Intended as a confident, humanising moment ahead of launch, it instead became something of a social media spectacl
  
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• Reeves faces fresh retail headwinds as gas hits three-year high and markets slide

  03-03-2026 11:49 via retailgazette.co.uk
  Chancellor Rachel Reeves will deliver her spring forecast today against a dramatically worsening economic backdrop, as surging oil and gas prices triggered by escalating conflict in the Middle East threaten to reignite inflation and pile fresh pressure on UK retailers.
  While the update from the Office for Budget Responsibility was expected to show the UK broadly in line with fiscal forecasts, supported by a strong January budget surplus and easing inflation, events have rapidly overtak
  
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• DFS beats expectations in subdued market as UBS backs recovery story

  03-03-2026 11:38 via retailgazette.co.uk
  DFS has outperformed expectations in a subdued UK retail market, with UBS reiterating its ‘buy’ rating and 230p price target after the sofa specialist delivered a stronger-than-expected first-half update.
  The broker said DFS Furniture plc stood out against a backdrop of cautious trading statements and profit warnings across the sector, as gross sales rose 8.7 per cent year on year in the first half of the 2026 financial year. That was comfortably ahead of consensus forecast
  
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• Silverstone Circuit names M&S as Official Partner

  03-03-2026 11:35 via retailgazette.co.uk
  M&S has been named the Official Partner of Silverstone Circuit and will have a presence at “key” motorsport events throughout the year, including Formula 1, MotoGP and Carfest.
  As part of the collaboration, M&S will become an official event supporter of the Formula 1 British Grand Prix, sponsoring the main stage.
  M&S marketing director for fashion, home & beauty, Sharry Cramond said: “We’re absolutely thrilled to be partnering with Silverstone on its incre
  
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• Google Cloud and Nexi to build agentic commerce infrastructure

  03-03-2026 11:35 via retailgazette.co.uk
  Nexi Group has signed a memorandum of understanding with Google Cloud to develop infrastructure for agentic commerce across Europe.
  The partnership will combine Google Cloud’s AI and data capabilities with Nexi’s European payment network and acquiring expertise, with the aim to develop agentic AI that can manage shopping journeys and execute payments on behalf of consumers.
  Under the agreement, Nexi will back open-source commerce standards including the Universal Commerce Protoc
  
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• Shop price inflation eases in February as price rises kept ‘in check’

  03-03-2026 11:32 via retailgazette.co.uk
  Shop price inflation eased in February, as “fierce competition between retailers kept price rises in check”.
  Shop price inflation was up 1.1 per cent year on year (YOY) from 1 February to 7 February, against growth of 1.5 per cent the month before, according to trade association the British Retail Consortium (BRC). 
  Non-food prices dipped 0.1 per cent YOY over the period, compared to 0.3 per cent growth in January, while food inflation increased 3.5 per cent YOY in February, fro
  
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