Retail news

• The Overlooked Expense

  11-06-2024 07:18 via theretailbulletin.com
  
  While cutting-edge technology and AI continue to transform in-store operations in retail, several elements in shop management have remained untouched for decades. Keyholding is one of... View Article
  
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• Saks Global granted further £225m from bankruptcy financing package

  17-03-2026 10:54 via retailgazette.co.uk
  Saks Global has secured access to an additional £225.4m of its £1.3m bankruptcy funding package, as its five-year business plan was approved by a group of the business’s senior secured bondholders.
  The move completes the retailer’s pre-emergence financing packaging, granting Saks “sufficient liquidity” to sustain its operations and ongoing restructuring. 
  The business plan will be detailed in Saks’ plan of reorganisation, which is due to be filed wi
  
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• One in five shoppers witness abuse of retail staff

  17-03-2026 09:44 via retailgazette.co.uk
  More than 14 million people across the UK have witnessed violence or abuse against retail workers in the past year, according to new data from the British Retail Consortium.
  The survey, conducted with Opinium, found that 21 per cent of the public had seen incidents such as racial or sexual abuse, physical assault or threats with weapons while shopping. While slightly down from 23 per cent last year, the figures highlight the continued prevalence of abuse in retail environments.
  Shoplifting also
  
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• Data and AI: small words, big consequences

  17-03-2026 09:42 via theretailbulletin.com
  Retail leaders are absolutely sure they need to invest in AI because the opportunities appear to be unlimited but the quandary for many is that they... View Article
  
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• Wickes profits beat expectations as retailer eyes 300-store expansion

  17-03-2026 09:36 via retailgazette.co.uk
  Wickes has reported full-year profit ahead of expectations and set out plans to accelerate store investment, as the home improvement retailer said it now has ambitions to grow to 300 stores nationwide.
  For the year to December 2025, the group posted revenue of £1.64bn, up 5.9 per cent year on year, while adjusted profit before tax rose 14.4 per cent to £49.9m. Statutory profit before tax more than doubled to £48.7m, compared with £23.2m the previous year, which had been h
  
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• Highstreet administrations jump 41% in January as retail failures mount

  17-03-2026 09:16 via retailgazette.co.uk
  Highstreet failures accelerated sharply at the start of the year, with new figures revealing a significant rise in companies falling into administration across the UK.
  Data from The Insolvency Service showed that the number of company administrations increased by 41 per cent to 151 between December and January. The figure was also 14 per cent higher than the same period last year.
  The rise comes amid a wave of recent collapses across retail and hospitality, with a number of well-known brands ent
  
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• Visa launches ‘agentic ready’ programme to support AI-driven payments

  17-03-2026 09:05 via retailgazette.co.uk
  Visa has launched a new programme aimed at preparing banks and merchants for the rise of AI-driven transactions, as agentic commerce moves closer to real-world deployment.
  The initiative, Visa Agentic Ready, is rolling out first across Europe, including the UK, and will focus initially on helping issuing banks test how AI agents can initiate and complete payments on behalf of consumers.
  The programme builds on Visa’s wider Intelligent Commerce strategy and reflects growing momentum behind
  
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• Wickes targets 300 UK stores after strong profit performance

  17-03-2026 09:00 via theretailbulletin.com
  Wickes has reported a rise in full year revenue and doubling of profit as it announced an acceleration in investment in future growth. In the 52... View Article
  
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• Shop theft shows signs of decline as retailers ramp up £313m crime spend

  17-03-2026 08:55 via retailgazette.co.uk
  Convenience retailers may be reaching a long-awaited inflection point in the fight against retail crime, as new figures suggest incidents of shop theft and abuse are beginning to fall, albeit gradually.
  The Association of Convenience Stores (ACS) has reported 5.8 million incidents of shop theft over the past year in its latest Crime Report, down from 6.2 million the previous year. Incidents of verbal abuse have also fallen, from 1.2 million to just over 950,000.
  While the numbers remain stark, t
  
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• New report reveals fall in theft from convenience stores

  17-03-2026 07:55 via theretailbulletin.com
  The convenience sector has seen a year-on-year fall in the number of shop theft incidents following record investment by local shops in crime prevention and detection... View Article
  
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• Kering creates new jewellery division

  17-03-2026 07:16 via theretailbulletin.com
  Kering has created a new jewellery division and appointed Jean-Marc Duplaix to head it up. Kering Jewelry will bring together the luxury group’s Boucheron, Pomellato, Dodo... View Article
  
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• FatFace launches net zero partnership for suppliers

  17-03-2026 07:11 via theretailbulletin.com
  FatFace has launched a new partnership agreement for suppliers as part of its wider net zero strategy.   Suppliers who sign up to the agreement will... View Article
  
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• Theo Paphitis’ Boux Avenue and Ryman boosted by profit growth

  17-03-2026 07:08 via theretailbulletin.com
  Theo Paphitis Retail Group has been boosted by profit growth at Boux Avenue and Ryman despite a “difficult” consumer environment. In the year ending March 2025,... View Article
  
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• Q&A with Johan Hellman from nShift – How AI moves from promise to practice

  16-03-2026 22:47 via theretailbulletin.com
   nShift connects retailers, brands, manufacturers, distributors, and logistics providers to more than 1,000 carriers worldwide and supports over one billion shipments annually across 190 countries. That scale... View Article
  
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• Beauty Pop-ups: How your brand can stand out from the crowd

  16-03-2026 13:32 via retailgazette.co.uk
  Whether it’s a one-off store location (that’s usually open for a limited time), an immersive experience, a brand activation or a mobile tour, pop-ups are having their moment.
  Every retailer, brand and shopping destination seems to be putting together a pop-up, leaving consumers spoilt for choice.
  Do you love music? Well, you may have visited the Harry Styles pop-up store.
  Or perhaps you prefer sports? Then the Atlassian Williams pop-up at the Outernet might have been for you.
  But if
  
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• Theo Paphitis’ Boux Avenue and Ryman profits climb

  16-03-2026 13:05 via retailgazette.co.uk
  Theo Paphitis Retail Group saw profit growth in Boux Avenue and Ryman, despite Robert Dyas experiencing a “more testing time”.
  Lingerie specialist Boux Avenue saw EBITDA improve to £6.4m to deliver a profit from March 2024 to March 2025. This followed sales growth of 6.9 per cent and improved margins. 
  The business said that Boux Avenue’s ranges and marketing campaigns, “focusing on fit, aspiration and style,” resonated with shoppers across all of its cha
  
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• Lush calls out ‘racist narratives’ in new campaign with Migrants’ Rights Network

  16-03-2026 12:59 via retailgazette.co.uk
  Lush has partnered with the Migrants’ Rights Network to launch a nationwide public awareness and fundraising campaign aimed at highlighting the “growing use of racist narratives”.
  The campaign, which will run from 16 to 30 March, will feature in the windows of all Lush stores in the UK.
  According to the retailer, some politicians and media outlets have been “stoking fear and resentment” by blaming migrants for issues within the UK.
  Migrants’ Rights Network CE
  
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• JD.com launches Joybuy in the UK

  16-03-2026 12:55 via theretailbulletin.com
  China’s JD.com has launched its new Joybuy online shopping destination in the UK, Germany, the Netherlands, France, Belgium and Luxembourg. Products will range from consumer tech... View Article
  
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• Trump urges UK to secure Strait of Hormuz shipping lane

  16-03-2026 12:26 via retailgazette.co.uk
  Donald Trump has urged allies including the UK to deploy ships to the Strait of Hormuz as attacks on vessels raise concerns over global energy supplies.
  Over the weekend, the US president called for a multinational naval presence in the region to keep the key shipping route open after several ships were struck by projectiles or explosive boats in the Strait of Hormuz and the wider Persian Gulf over the past two days.
  Posting on Truth Social on Saturday (14 March), Trump said Iran could still dis
  
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• Co-op upgrades in-store comms tech across UK estate

  16-03-2026 11:32 via retailgazette.co.uk
  Co-op has unveiled a new five-year partnership with a retail communications specialist which will see advanced headsets deployed to more than 2,300 stores nationwide.
  Following a pilot across 114 stores, full rollout of the headsets began in February and is expected to be concluded next year.
  Co-op has worked with the solutions provider VoCoVo since 2017 and is upgrading its existing headset devices as part of a long-term investment in its in-store technology. 
  The S5 pro headsets offer &ld
  
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• Tiffany & Co explore “facets of love” in new campaign starring Natalie Portman

  16-03-2026 11:24 via retailgazette.co.uk
  Luxury jewellery retailer Tiffany & Co. unveiled its new campaign film, featuring Academy Award winner Natalie Portman at the Academy Awards yesterday (15 March).
  Portman, who is the brand’s newest global House ambassador, plays herself in the hero spot, which spotlights the HardWear collection. It shows the different roles she holds, such as film director, producer and mother.
  The film shows Portman writing a letter to her daughter, reflecting on lessons she has learned about self-wor
  
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• Aldi ends ‘just walk out’ checkout-free store experiment

  16-03-2026 10:40 via retailgazette.co.uk
  Aldi has scrapped its checkout-free trial store in London, bringing an end to its experiment with “just walk out” shopping technology.
  The retailer confirmed that its Shop & Go trial at its Greenwich High Road location has now concluded, with the store set to continue operating as a standard Aldi Local.
  The concept store, which opened in 2022, used AI-powered cameras and sensors to track items customers removed from shelves, automatically charging them as they exited the store.
  T
  
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• Non-alcoholic beer and pet grooming added to UK inflation basket

  16-03-2026 10:30 via ft.com
  ONS updates list of items used to measure price growth on back of changing spending habits
  
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• French jewellery entrepreneur Julien Jarjoura explores last-ditch rescue for Claire’s UK

  16-03-2026 09:49 via retailgazette.co.uk
  French jewellery entrepreneur Julien Jarjoura is reportedly exploring a rescue deal for the UK arm of Claire’s after the business fell into administration for the second time in less than a year.
  Jarjoura is understood to be in discussions with the retailer’s administrators and landlords about a potential deal that could preserve “many” of its remaining UK stores and safeguard hundreds of jobs, according to reports.
  The chain currently operates 154 stores in the UK after
  
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• Currys digital & omnichannel director on why you “can’t fudge” seamless customer journeys

  16-03-2026 09:34 via retailgazette.co.uk
  There’s a tendency in retail to declare each new wave of transformation as the one that finally ‘changes everything’. Multichannel did it. Then omnichannel. Then unified commerce. Now AI. In their own way, each new development does indeed augment the sector, but not with the explosive power industry discussion seems to indicate.
  Like all things, retail adapts. Whereas some adopt early and feel out the leading path, others hang back (sometimes a little too long) and wait to see
  
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• Government launches £1bn youth jobs scheme as retailers face employment pressures

  16-03-2026 09:20 via retailgazette.co.uk
  The UK government is set to introduce a new funding scheme aimed at tackling youth unemployment.
  The scheme aims to encourage businesses to hire more young workers, a move that could offer some support to sectors such as retail that have historically relied on younger employees.
  Under the proposals, businesses will receive a £3,000 grant for every person aged between 18 and 24 they hire who has been searching for work for six months or more. Small and medium-sized businesses will also be o
  
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• Chocolate-scented Magnum activation sparks commuter backlash on London tube

  16-03-2026 09:10 via retailgazette.co.uk
  A new “multi-sensory” advertising campaign for Magnum is turning heads (and stomachs) after pumping the smell of chocolate into a busy London commuter tunnel.
  The campaign, installed last week in the walkway linking St Pancras railway station and King’s Cross St Pancras Underground station, aims to recreate the sensory experience of biting into a Magnum ice cream through a combination of sight, sound and scent.
  But while the idea might look clever in a marketing presentation, c
  
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• JD.com launches UK retail platform Joybuy to challenge Amazon

  16-03-2026 08:55 via retailgazette.co.uk
  Chinese ecommerce giant JD.com is launching a new online retail platform in the UK as it ramps up competition with major players, including Amazon.
  The company will debut its UK marketplace, Joybuy, offering a broad range of products including technology, home appliances, groceries, beauty and everyday essentials.
  JD.com said the platform will offer next-day delivery to around 17 million households across the UK, supported by new logistics operations and distribution centres in Milton Keynes and
  
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• Sephora expands UK footprint with first Scotland stores

  16-03-2026 08:49 via retailgazette.co.uk
  Global beauty giant Sephora is set to open its first stores in Scotland this summer, marking a significant step in its UK expansion.
  The retailer will launch new outlets at St James Quarter in Edinburgh and Silverburn Shopping Centre in Glasgow, around three years after opening its first UK store in London.
  The Edinburgh store will span 4,961 sq ft, while the Glasgow site, which will become Sephora’s largest store in Scotland, will cover 5,048 sq ft.
  Hoardings are expected to appear at bot
  
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• Sephora to open first stores in Scotland

  16-03-2026 07:57 via theretailbulletin.com
  Sephora UK is to open its first stores in Scotland this summer following “immense” demand online. The LVMH-owned beauty retailer will launch stores at Edinburgh’s St... View Article
  
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