Richard Lim

What’s been happening in retail this week?

• Amazon will cut 14,000 corporate roles, equal to 4% of its 350,000-person workforce, as it addresses pandemic over-hiring and increases AI investment. Earlier in the year, Andy Jassy CEO said, “We’ll need fewer people doing some of the jobs that are being done today,” citing GenAI’s growing role in planning, analytics, and forecasting. 

• Bodycare has been acquired out of administration by an investment group led by Charles Denton. The plan includes reopening 30 to 50 stores in early 2026.

• Morrisons will open 250 Morrisons Daily stores in 2026, converting existing corner shops in underserved areas in the South and Midlands.
 
• Tesco enabled full-basket shopping on Whoosh, removing minimum order limits in select areas and adding scheduled same-day delivery. The rollout uses partner Stuart’s car and van couriers and is expanding to 700 stores by the end of 2025.

• New Look launched Club New Look, its first national loyalty programme, offering a 25% online welcome discount. Exciting Helen Connolly.

• Marks and Spencer & Spencer has appointed ex-Asda boss Roger Burnley as a new non-exec.

• Amazon sales hit £137.1bn ($180.2bn) in Q3, jumping 13% from the same time last year. Amazon Web Services (AWS) saw sales rise c.20%, the fastest since 2022.

• Matalan has secured Ruth Golightly as its new head of buying for childrenswear, formally exec at George (Asda).

• AliExpress launched Brand+, a price-match scheme against Amazon covering over 1,500 brands ahead of Singles Day. UK shoppers can claim a seven-day refund if they find lower prices on select platforms.

• Marks and Spencer ended its IT service desk agreement with Tata Consultancy Services in July. Both parties said the change followed a competitive review and was not linked to the £300m cyber-attack earlier this year.

• The Very Group reported record adjusted EBITDA of £307.1m, up 15.9%, with a 14.7% margin for the year to 28 June. Group sales fell 1.8% to £2.09bn, with home, beauty and toys growth offsetting fashion and sports declines.

• Next increased its full-year profit guidance by £30m to over £1.13bn after Q3 full-price sales rose 10.5%, £75m ahead of expectations. UK sales grew 5.6%, overseas rose 38.8%, helped by weather, competitor disruption, stronger stock and digital marketing.

• Superdry returned to profit with £33.8m adjusted pre-tax for the 52 weeks to 26 April, reversing a £48.3m loss. Revenue fell to £374.6m from £488.6m due to closures and restructuring, while gross margin rose 3.2 points to 58.2%.


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What’s been happening in retail this week?

· Walmart has partnered with OpenAI, which will allow customers to complete purchases from Walmart directly within ChatGPT. The retail experience promises to shift reactive to proactive, as AI learns, plans and predicts - anticipating their needs before they do.

· Amazon unveiled smart delivery glasses to assist drivers with navigation and improve safety in the US, as well as Blue Jay robots to optimise warehouses, and Eluna, an AI assistant for operations managers.

· Morrisons teamed up with VusionGroup to install 10.8m electronic shelf labels across 497 supermarkets from early 2026, replacing paper labels and enhancing price accuracy, promotions, and gap scanning.

· Gymshark partnered with DICK'S Sporting Goods as its first US wholesale retailer, with gymwear available in 12 stores from 25 Oct following its first US store opening in NYC.

· Gap will reopen three standalone UK stores, marking a return to physical retail.

· Matalan appoints ex-H&M UK & Ireland CEO Henrik Nordvall as its new chief executive.

· DFS x Pinterest UK launch their second global creative partnership “What’s Your Thing? Collage Quest”, a gamified omni-channel experience across six interior worlds.

· Marks and Spencer CEO Stuart Machin urges Chancellor Rachel Reeves to “change course,” criticising a £25bn National Insurance rise and calling for “no more taxes that hit consumers.”

· Primark enters the Middle East with a flagship store in Kuwait’s Grand Plaza, The Avenues, a milestone in its global expansion with Alshaya Group.

· Dunelm posts a strong Q1: sales up 6.2% to £428m, margins improving, and digital participation climbing to 40% as online and cross-channel growth continues.

· AllSaints profits surged 55% to £28.2m despite a 4% sales dip to £441.3m, driven by tighter markdowns, earlier launches, and stronger inventory management.

· Shoezone Retail Limited reported a 7.6% revenue fall to £149.1m and adjusted pre-tax profit down to £2.4m for the year to 27 September, with store numbers reduced to 269 and digital sales up 2.3%.

· Lidl GB posted pre-tax profits of £156.8m, up from £43.6m, on 7.9% higher sales of £11.7bn for the year to 28 February, driven by store investment and customer switching, with 40 new stores planned by year-end.

· Wickes reported a 6.9% revenue rise to £420.1m for the 13 weeks to 27 September, with click-and-collect up 18% and 632,000 active TradePro members.

· Dunelm saw sales up 6.2% to £428m in the 13 weeks to 27 September, with digital at 40% of total sales, led by textiles and app-driven growth.

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What’s been happening in retail this week?

· Frasers Group has implemented the AI-powered commercetools Agentic Commerce Suite. This enables FLANNELS, Sports Direct, and Frasers customers to make purchases directly through ChatGPT and Google's Gemini. Things are moving so fast!

· John Lewis & Partners launched a new supplier brands platform to speed up online brand listings and expand product choice in partnership with Mirakl. The platform uses a direct-shipping model to reduce stock handling.

· Superdrug launched 400 Korean beauty products in partnership with PURESEOUL • The Home of K-Beauty, marking its first move to showcase international beauty. Brands such as Torriden and 셀리맥스(celimax) are now stocked in 30 stores, with rollout to 100 more in January as part of a new global beauty concept.

· ASOS.com will launch premium menswear line Asos Collective on 20 Oct. The move follows improved profitability but lower-than-expected sales as the retailer enters the final phase of its transformation.

· Screwfix launched Screwfix Rewards, a free loyalty programme offering member-only deals, discount days, giveaways and spend-based rewards.

· ProCook opened its first concept store in Birmingham’s Bullring, aiming to deliver a more premium, hands-on shopping experience. Four more new-format stores will open before Christmas as ProCook targets 100 UK stores.

· MANGO confirmed a data breach via an external marketing supplier, exposing some customer contact details.

· Marks and Spencer extended chair Archie Norman’s tenure by up to three years from September 2026 to support its next growth phase.

· Ocado Group appointed Nick de la Vega as its first chief revenue officer to lead global sales and expand partnerships across food and non-food retail.

· Halfords has named Sarah Haywood as its new CIO, effective 3 Nov.

·Temu more than doubled EU pre-tax profit to nearly $120m in the year to December 2024, according to accounts for its Ireland-based parent Whaleco Technology. Revenue almost doubled from $910m to $1.7bn. With just eight staff, it paid $18m in tax. Temu now serves 115 million EU customers.

· Sosandar reported 15% net revenue growth to £18.7m for the first half to 30 September, though pre-tax loss rose to £1.1m. Losses reflected seasonal trends, a cyber attack at Marks & Spencer, and a maturing store base. A homeware range launched with Next in September delivered a strong start.

· IKEA UK recorded retail sales of £2.25 billion for the 2025 financial year, a 2.1% decline compared with the previous year. However, the home furnishings retailer returned to growth in the final quarter, with sales rising by 3.3%.

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