The company’s commitment to fostering innovation and providing inclusive benefits has been key to its success. This strategic move aligns with Trent’s ambition to build Indian brands with international appeal, as evidenced by Westside’s recent foray into the UAE. This impressive growth was fueled by the aggressive expansion of its Westside and Zudio store networks, with 20 new outlets added during the period.
This post was created in partnership with Ibotta As consumers shift their habits to delivery and last-mile platforms, commerce brands have to move quickly to keep pace. New Moody’s data shows why the mass market is still important for Walmart, but the next dollars of spending growth are increasingly coming from the top. AI shopping is changing retail discovery, but its impact will vary by category based on how much help shoppers need comparing products and reducing uncertainty.
The price cuts follow Walmart’s launch of Walmart.com for shoppers in Mexico last month, providing access to hundreds of thousands of eligible products via international shipping. The EC rejected Hungary’s reasoning that profit is simply the gap between what a company pays to source a product and what it charges to sell it, noting this fails to account for costs such as wages, property and tax obligations. The Allbirds brand will continue operating under AEG and WSG via an asset-light licensing model, with growth targeted across new product lines, retail channels, and international markets. The renamed company said it is in active discussions with prospective customers and is in the early stages of designing its first cluster deployments. “Resale continues to outpace the broader retail sector, with online resale in particular driving the sector’s growth. From the integration of social commerce and innovative AI applications to the establishment of trade organizations and interfacing with government, it’s clear why resale is seeing accelerated growth and has such a promising growth trajectory.” – James Reinhart, CEO, ThredUp
An eye on growth
For international industry players, understanding these dynamics will be critical to navigating the next phase of global retail change. Uneven footfall and high operating costs have increased financial stress in certain categories, with analysts warning of a higher risk of restructurings and store closures in 2026. In 2026, stricter returns management is expected to continue, supported by better sizing tools, clearer product information and in-store return options. Data from retail analytics firms shows consumers prioritising essentials and planned purchases over impulse buying, especially during major sales periods. For suppliers, this shift affects store design, staffing models and last-mile logistics, particularly as stores take on a dual role as sales and distribution points.
In the final quarter of 2025, Shimano recorded a decrease in bike sales, but a slight increase in fishing revenue, plus cost-reduction efforts and other factors, reduced costs so that operating profit for the quarter was up 5% company-wide versus the fourth quarter in 2024. Uniqlo said that consumers were likely to understand from its ad that the products were made to a “meaningful extent” from recycled materials, and that its claims were supported by an international certification scheme. Changing consumer use, the evolving role of the consumer in conjunction with their AI agents, and the increasing deployment of AI systems by other firms and within system infrastructure means that firms must adapt their governance models now.
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- Retailers view resale as a new revenue stream that helps them stay competitive and acquire new customers.
- Supply chain transformation is highlighted as essential for resilience amid rising global trade-related costs.
- This strategic move aligns with Trent’s ambition to build Indian brands with international appeal, as evidenced by Westside’s recent foray into the UAE.
Designed for anyone working in retail, NRF Smartbrief is a free daily retail newsletter covering the latest news and industry information. There’s also a Daily Dive newsletter that lands in inboxes daily, Monday through Friday, covering retail tech, ecommerce, marketing, and in-store operations. A subscription is free, and the daily retail newsletter only takes five minutes to read. Part of the Morning Brew family of newsletters, it shares the same style of on-pulse reporting and sharp analysis written in a witty tone.
Oregon’s PUC approved a 29% rate hike on data centers under the POWER Act, while residential customers will see bills drop by an average of 1.3%. San Francisco’s only PetSmart location on Geary Blvd. is closing July 19, directing pet owners to the Daly City store and online delivery options. Those pressures have contributed to cost-cutting and widespread store shutdowns across the sector. Citing company representative Amy Thibault, The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported that the https://newmarch.org/how-do-economic-shifts-impact-the-job-market/ planned openings will cover several types of locations, including full-format CVS stores, CVS outlets operating inside Target stores and pharmacy-only units.
First look: New Look opens largest concept store at Metrocentre
- The human aspect of retail remains crucial, with personalised customer experiences and community engagement becoming increasingly important.
- It also offers the “Daily Dive”—a free daily newsletter that covers technology, ecommerce, marketing, and holiday-related retail news.
- Designed for anyone working in retail, NRF Smartbrief is a free daily retail newsletter covering the latest news and industry information.
- This Deloitte report outlines how five dynamics are expected to reshape the retail industry in 2026, demanding agility, intelligence, and discipline in an increasingly AI-led marketplace.
- Harding+ has announced that it has extended its partnership with Princess Cruises, building on a collaboration established in 2021.
For international retailers, brands and suppliers, the events of 2025 now provide a clear framework for what will matter most in the year ahead. Industry reports from consultancies, data firms and retail analysts point to a sector moving away from short-term experimentation towards longer-term operational change. Retail trends in 2026 are being set by a series of structural shifts that accelerated during 2025, as retailers responded to economic pressure, changing consumer behaviour and rapid advances in technology. In 2025, retailers embedded AI, standardised omnichannel retail and reinvested in physical stores, shaping how the industry plans for growth and resilience. The human aspect of retail remains crucial, with personalised customer experiences and community engagement becoming increasingly important. The rise of quick commerce and ultra-fast delivery https://the-business-mag.net/category/customer-engagement/ services has intensified competition, particularly in urban markets.
Analysts expect this trend to strengthen in 2026 as retailers seek to balance digital efficiency with customer engagement. In-store events, product demonstrations and services such as repairs or returns are being used to support broader omnichannel retail strategies. Physical stores are increasingly positioned as experience centres, fulfilment hubs and brand touchpoints rather than purely transactional spaces. For technology vendors and logistics partners, this increases demand for interoperable systems and faster deployment cycles.
The best public interest journalism relies on first-hand accounts from people in the know. The latest bans handed down by the advertising regulator form part of a wider investigation into environmental claims in ads in the retail fashion sector. We’ll be continuing to monitor ads making green claims, taking action where we do see ads breaking the rules, whilst also supporting advertisers with advice and guidance to help them get it right.” “When absolute terms like ‘recycled’ are used, the basis of those claims should be clearly explained and properly supported by evidence. “It’s important that people can trust the environmental claims they see in ads,” said the ASA director of complaints and investigations, Miles Lockwood. It https://www.justuk.org/category/tech-and-innovation/ added that if such absolute environmental claims are made in ads then they “must be supported by a high level of substantiation”.