All Newsletter briefing articles
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NewsletterIntelligence Briefing: 9% food price inflation?; the importance of digital wallets
All the retail data weâre seeing at the moment is landing with a chunky caveat. We had grocery price inflation of 4.3% in March, according to Worldpanel by Numerator, and consumer confidence was down two points, said GfK. Retail sales volumes (excl. fuel), according to the ONS, were down 0.5 ...
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Newsletter
Tech & Digital Briefing: Changes at the top; Asos aims to impress with new app features
I canât start this weekâs briefing without addressing the leadership changes occurring in retail of late. There have been changes at the top for N Brown and Holland & Barrett, but perhaps most shockingly, the two updates to the City were that Co-op boss Shirine Khoury-Haq is leaving the business ...
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NewsletterIntelligence Briefing: Countdown to âAwful Aprilâ, inflation and Next results
We are just a few days away from the new financial year, which means bill rises aplenty (and a wage bump if you are lucky). My commiserations, in particular, to those in Aberdeenshire who are facing a 10% rise in council tax for the second year in a row. Last ...
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Newsletter
Tech & Digital Briefing: Launch of online shopping platform Joybuy; the winners at the Retail Week Awards
We are jam-packed with content this week, so I will try to put the âbriefâ in briefing. First off, an exciting launch from JD.comâs online shopping venture Joybuy, which launched in the UK and Europe last week. The excitement from managing director Matthew Nobbs was evident when speaking to him, ...
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NewsletterIntelligence Briefing: Do people want to checkout in AI?; AF beer now a staple
Earlier this month, we had the surprising news that OpenAI was going to scale back its support for an integrated checkout within ChatGPT. First reported by The Information, the decision marks a sharp reversal on the tech firmâs initial retail plans announced in September last year. The Information report said ...
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Newsletter
Tech & Digital Briefing: Agentic commerce is all the rage; Middle East woes spells supply chain trouble
John Lewis made the rather exciting statement that it aims to become one of the first UK retailers to âfully embrace the new era of retailâ as it makes a significant investment in digital. Part of that is a pilot launch on TikTok Shop, while the other is leveraging AI-shopping ...
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NewsletterIntelligence Briefing: Consumers brace for inflation, TGJones, disruptors of the year
The war in Iran is going to affect inflation. Current estimates of potential impact seem to place us well short of the 10%+ yearly price rises we were seeing in late 2022, but some are still quite unpleasant. RSM UK put out a note on Monday saying price rises could ...
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Newsletter
Tech & Digital Briefing: Thatâs a wrap on LIVE; Our thoughts on Topshopâs AI catwalk
Last week, we had our flagship event â LIVE: Retail Week x The Grocer. For the few of you who werenât there, or for those who just want a recap, look no further, as the Retail Week team compiled an insightful article looking at some of the sessions that were ...
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NewsletterIntelligence Briefing: Argos wins DCI; spring statement and inflation
Argos is the first ever winner of the Digital Capability Index, as we revealed on Tuesday at LIVE 2026: Retail Week x The Grocer, with Tesco in second place as the strongest performing grocer. I revealed the results on stage, including our snazzy Football Manager -style radar charts showing performance ...
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Newsletter
Tech & Digital Briefing: How AI is impacting the grocery sector; the rise in paid returns
In the first of our Future of Consumption series, Ellis Hawthorne took a look at whatâs changing in the world of food and drink. Itâs been an interesting few months for this sector, with fat jabs now used by a whopping 2.4 million UK adults, spending habits have changed, and ...
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NewsletterIntelligence Briefing: Has retail crime peaked?; ONS sales figures, tariffs and potatoes
Retailersâ ÂŁ5bn investment in tackling retail crime over the past five years appears to be paying off. New figures out from the BRC and Sensormatic* crime report this week show that violence and abuse against shop workers fell by a fifth between 2023/24 and 2024/25. The figures remain very high, ...
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Newsletter
Tech & Digital Briefing: AI is not just something for the future; eBay challenges Vinted with Depop buy
âIt is easy for retailers to position AI as something for the future. The reality is more urgent,â writes OC&Câs Matt Coode. That grabbed my attention. So, did the statement that AI will have influenced nearly ÂŁ1m in sales in the time it takes to read that article. He warns ...
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Newsletter
Tech & Digital Briefing: How AI is transforming retail forecasting; Marketplaces are all the rage
How has AI transformed forecasting? Itâs a question many retailers may be asking as they turn to tech to enhance and improve processes. Weâre hearing lots about shiny new chatbots, and shopping directly through AI platforms is becoming increasingly popular â but we havenât got into the nitty-gritty of whether ...
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NewsletterIntelligence Briefing: Itâs the economy, stupidâŚand resale on the rise
Our man in Dataland, George Arnett, is away this week, so news editor Hugh Radojev has stepped up in his stead.
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Newsletter
Tech & Digital Briefing: UK consumers pessimistic about crime prevention; M&S goes big on social
Apologies for starting this briefing off on a not-so-cheery note, but my colleague Ellis Hawthorne has written an excellent piece of content based on YouGovâs exclusive data on UK consumersâ thoughts on shoplifting, violence in stores and the police. Itâs a topic weighing heavily on all kinds of retailers, and ...
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NewsletterIntelligence Briefing: Fibre vs protein, and the UK as the world capital of shoplifting (say punters)
Lots to chew over this week in the January supermarket trading releases from Worldpanel by Numerator and NIQ. January is the month of health and Worldpanel by Numerator polled its 13,000+ panel to ask what nutrient they were âoftenâ seeking. In what might be viewed as a mild and narrow ...
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Newsletter
Tech & Digital briefing: Consumer use of AI up; visits to retail websites down
The past week has been busy with news of administrations and acquisitions as many retailers battle with weak trading and government policies weighing heavily on operations. The Original Factory Shop chair told Retail Week that there was âno choiceâ but to appoint administrators, Claireâs has fallen into administration again, Quiz ...
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NewsletterIntelligence Briefing: Say what you like about 2025⌠hereâs your retail sales lowdown
The ONS verdict on the golden quarter landed last Friday, and on the âdrabâ to âdisappointingâ landing zone we were predicting, it probably leans towards the latter. Sales volumes dropped by 0.3% in Q4 after strong trading in Q3. Seasonally adjusted momentum slowed in most major sectors, with the exception ...
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Newsletter
Tech & Digital Briefing: Social media shutdown for under-16s; shoppers want more from loyalty
A potential social media ban for under-16s has been debated for several weeks now, in a move that will impact not just retailers, but the whole country. Australia has taken the leap, and many are debating the pros and cons of this. From a retail standpoint, social commerce is more ...