All Feature articles
Most recent first.
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FeatureInnovation round-up: Strategic partnerships, AI agents and gamified experiences
The Innovation round-up is our series highlighting retail initiatives that have caught the eye of our team, bringing you new ideas and case studies across technology, sustainability, stores, ecommerce and customer experience. Here we bring you the eight best innovations that caught our attention in the final quarter of 2025.
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FeatureRetail technology: Experts predict tech trends for 2026
What might the new year hold for retail technology? We asked tech experts to share their insights and predictions on whatâs to come in 2026
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FeatureShake-ups, showdowns and sabotage: the stories that defined retail in 2025
Retail Week looks back at 2025. From the cyber attacks that crippled high-street giants, to several high-profile administrations and the splitting up of one of Britainâs oldest and best-known brands, the year was another tumultuous one for the sector
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FeatureA tale of two Budgets: Mapping retailâs rising cost crisis
Business rates relief for smaller properties offers some respite, but larger operators â including supermarkets â face higher bills that threaten to push food inflation even more. As retailers brace for cumulative cost pressures, how will these economic policies shape the industry?
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FeatureMerry Crime-mas: What are retailers doing to keep their staff safe over the festive season?
Shoplifting and retail crime continue to plague the industry as cases reach record levels. This is only expected to intensify as the sector enters its busiest â and most dangerous â trading period of the year; the all-important golden quarter
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FeatureFuture Leaders 2025 - Who will be the CEOs of the future?
Meet 20 of UK retailâs most promising leaders-in-waiting. Every individual on our list has the talent, drive and passion to make it to the top, and theyâre going to need it if they want to succeed in an industry dominated by crushing government regulation, devastating cyberattacks, harrowing tales of abuse from the shop floor and more. Here are British retailâs future chief executives, but who would want to be one?
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FeatureReviewed: The best retailer Christmas adverts of the year
Weâve gathered a panel of experts from Adland to deliver their verdict on some of the biggest retailer adverts of 2025.
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FeatureTikTok Shop: why are some retailers yet to take the plunge?
Four years on from TikTok Shopâs launch in the UK, Retail Week explores how it has gone from an entertainment app to a revenue driver, which brands have dived in, and which are worried about the murky waters.
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FeatureIdeal world: What would retail look like in the worldâs best EV service stations?
If you started from scratch and redesigned service stations and forecourts to deliver a world-class shopping experience, what would they look like?
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FeatureTrimming fat or cutting muscle? How retailers can preserve their brand story in an era of cost-cutting
In the early 1990s, as sky-high interest rates, falling house prices, and an overvalued exchange rate sent the economy into a tailspin, McDonaldâs famously slashed its brand marketing budget in a bid to cut costs. Just as famously, it lived to regret that decision.
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FeatureThe age of agentic AI: The next big tech trend in retail
The retail industry has only just wrapped its head around chatbots and AI-powered search, but newer iterations of AI keep emerging
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FeatureFrom browsing bliss to tedious clicks: Has online shopping lost its spark?
According to research by Criteo, 76% of people think that ecommerce is functional, but not fun, almost 80% find shopping online lonely, compared to an experiential in-store experience, and nearly a third even view it as a chore.
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FeatureCustomer loyalty â what will the next three decades of evolution mean for retail?
In 1995, a little card fundamentally changed how retailers would understand their customers for decades to come.
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FeatureCotswolds Designer Outlet: The new retail destination aiming to be accessible to everyone
A brand new designer outlet has opened in the English countryside in what has been described as the âonly major retail destination opening in the UK in 2025â. Retail Week was the first to visit the Cotswolds Designer Outlet shortly after its launch to discover what it has to offer shoppers.
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FeatureCybersiege: are retailers sitting ducks?
Days without sleep as cybersecurity teams scoured systems. Store colleagues forced to work in ways they hadnât for 30 years, clocking up extra hours âto keep the show on the road.â Online orders halted for weeks. So, whatâs going on? Why is retail such a target? And what can the sector do to fend off future attacks?
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FeaturePull the lever: where are smart retailers finding fresh growth?
From opening new customer segments and sales channels, to expanding overseas and diversifying their offers, Retail Week explores the ways retailers are getting back into growth and highlights some of the biggest success stories so far.
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FeatureConnected stores: Is this the future of physical retail?
Most online shopping experiences aim to be seamless and convenient with as little faff as possible, so it makes sense that the same would be asked of brick-and-mortar stores
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FeatureThe secrets of successful staff suggestion schemes
Initiatives such as M&Sâ Straight to Stuart suggestion scheme can help unlock smart business ideas from retailâs frontline. George MacDonald looks at how they can be used most effectively.
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FeatureDrag queens and meatballs: First look inside Ikeaâs Oxford Street store
Ikea is primed to open the doors to its highly anticipated Oxford Street store this week, ahead of what is set to be a bumper bank holiday shopping weekend. Retail Week speaks to Ikea market manager, London City, Matt Gould and tours the new store before it opens to the public
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FeatureAsda: What went wrong and how can it be fixed?
How did the Issa brothersâ ownership of Asda go so wrong? And what do new chairman Allan Leighton and his team need to do to get the beloved supermarket chain back on track?