All Newsletter briefing articles
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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 what’s changing in the world of food and drink. It’s 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
Retailers’ £5bn 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
“It is easy for retailers to position AI as something for the future. The reality is more urgent,” writes OC&C’s Matt Coode. That grabbed my attention. So, did the statement that AI will have influenced nearly £1m 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? It’s a question many retailers may be asking as they turn to tech to enhance and improve processes. We’re hearing lots about shiny new chatbots, and shopping directly through AI platforms is becoming increasingly popular – but we haven’t got into the nitty-gritty of whether ...
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NewsletterIntelligence Briefing: It’s the economy, stupid…and 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 YouGov’s exclusive data on UK consumers’ thoughts on shoplifting, violence in stores and the police. It’s 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 ‘often’ 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 “no choice” but to appoint administrators, Claire’s has fallen into administration again, Quiz ...
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NewsletterIntelligence Briefing: Say what you like about 2025… here’s your retail sales lowdown
The ONS verdict on the golden quarter landed last Friday, and on the “drab” to “disappointing” 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 ...
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NewsletterIntelligence Briefing: Inflation up! Consumer confidence up! Online shopping turn-offs!
The headline inflation numbers for December showed a disappointing tick up in the costs headline rate to 3.4% (vs 3.2% November), with +5.2% on alcohol and tobacco costs (vs 4% in Nov), along with higher transport costs driving the rise. Food price inflation also increased to 4.5%, up from 4.2% ...
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Newsletter
Tech & Digital Briefing: The nightmare after Christmas; We explore Google’s try-on tool
A mixed picture of Christmas is forming with the British Retail Consortium reporting just a 1.2% growth in UK retail sales from November 30 to January 3. The Retail Week team has put together an analysis showing the themes that shaped the so-called “drab” Christmas shopping season. Fear not, there ...
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Newsletter
Tech & Digital Briefing: Post-Christmas trading, partnership updates, and Next’s international ambitions
We’re well and truly in the thick of countless Christmas updates, with more to come in the next couple of weeks as a picture of peak trading performance is now forming. One of the first to report was Next, and in what is a surprise to nobody, the fashion retailer ...
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NewsletterIntelligence Briefing: Mixed fortunes at Christmas; shoppers’ caution continues
Happy New Year! Stay tuned for a data-heavy January as retailers’ reports on golden quarter trading continue to fly in. We already have a good sense of how things went in the grocery sector, thanks to the NIQ and Worldpanel releases from earlier in the week. In short, everything ...
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Newsletter
Tech & Digital Briefing: What’s to come in 2026?
A Happy New Year to you all! Hope everyone had a Merry Christmas and that you are all fresh for 2026. We’re expecting a flurry of results to come in this month, revealing the true picture of how Christmas performed for retail, but it looks as if consumers aren’t feeling ...
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NewsletterTech & Digital Briefing: One last hope for big festive spending
Santa is nearly embarking on his annual round-the-world trip and retail will also hopefully get a present under the tree this week. While retailers such as Marks & Spencer, Aldi, Home Bargains, Pets at Home and Wickes are shutting up shop on Boxing Day, Adobe predicts many consumers will shop ...
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NewsletterIntelligence Briefing: Reasons to be cheerful
This is my last newsletter of 2025 and, as promised last week, I wanted to end my coverage for the year with a few reasons to be cheerful. 1. The economic gods have charmingly lined up with my content plan and delivered a faster-than-expected drop in inflation yesterday and, almost ...