The Retail Podcast

Marks and Spencer wants online to reach nearly 50% of fashion, home and beauty sales alongside a network of 180 highly productive stores, but has put no year on it. Today's briefing also covers US grocery prices rising at their fastest since April, Travis Perkins selling Toolstation Benelux for one euro, and Lidl keeping its comparative price ads in France. 00:00 Intro 00:07 M&S targets ne...

Dean Kramer, Chief Services Officer at Currys, on the customer experience that builds loyalty over years, not one sale. Why saying no to risky credit protects customers, and why AI should make colleagues better. Currys Group recurring services revenue rose 7% to £873m in FY 2025/26, and flexpay credit reached 23.7% of Currys UK&I sales. Dean explains why the business still turns down higher-ri...

Well People is moving into Sprouts, Ulta is adding Oura rings, and NikeSKIMS has another collection on the way. This US edition also covers Warby Parker's smart glasses and Depop's plans to get more students buying and selling secondhand. IN THIS EPISODE Well People at Sprouts. Cosmetics and skincare are heading to more than 500 stores and Sprouts.com, priced from $12 to $26. e.l.f. Beauty...

Meta's AI shopping assistant Muse launches in the UK within weeks, and any retailer signing up has to ask who controls the channel and who owns the customer data. Today's briefing also covers the CVS Health split, the Kroger and Albertsons merger dispute, and the EU's conditions on JD.com's takeover of Ceconomy. 00:00 Intro 00:08 Meta readies AI shopping assistant Muse for UK 00:43...

UK & Europe retail news for Monday 9 November: Meta readies AI shopping assistant Muse for UK; Police link resale bargains to shoplifting gangs; EU clears JD.com takeover of Ceconomy; Armani heirs favour IPO over a sale. 00:00 Intro 00:07 Meta readies AI shopping assistant Muse for UK 00:42 Police link resale bargains to shoplifting gangs 01:27 EU clears JD.com takeover of Ceconomy 02:28 Arman...

Visa let 22 AI agents shop 15 customer journeys and 4 in 10 test runs failed. Jill Dvorak, SVP Content at NRF, explains why agentic commerce is a nice to have this holiday, plus the midterms, Kroger, Starbucks and Walmart Sparky. CHAPTERS 00:00 Cold open 00:20 Five Things Friday, US edition 01:10 Midterm blue wave puts retail crime bill at risk 03:52 Kroger courts solo diners with Thanksgiving for...

Poundland's slide towards administration puts around 11,000 jobs and a value price anchor on the high street at risk, just as the BRC warns retail faces £41 billion in business taxes this year. In the US, Aritzia, Etsy and Walmart show where growth and price pressure are heading, while Migros moves to centralise Switzerland's largest retailer. 00:00 Good morning, this is Decoding Retail 00...

Luxury brands are pulling out of David Jones as the 100-year-old department store fights for relevance. Ryf Quail and Ngai Yuen Low, co-hosts of Five Things Friday APAC, explain what it means for luxury retail in Australia and Asia. David Jones sales fell 8.7% to A$2bn in the year to June 2025, with a A$95.5m pre-tax loss, per accounts lodged with ASIC. The chain is down to 38 department stores, a...

Chris Browne, Retail Director at Jigsaw and 30 years at Ted Baker, on why Jigsaw opens stores while rivals close them. Fewer staff, less footfall, market towns, and the business rates fight with online giants. Chris started with a paper round and built his career at Ted Baker London before moving to Jigsaw. His view of the UK high street is practical rather than nostalgic: trading is not tougher t...

Aldi Thanksgiving for $39 feeds 10, Sam's Club goes bigger, and NRF expects 4.2% holiday growth. Jill Dvorak, SVP Content at NRF, on why value is winning the holiday season. In this US edition of Five Things Friday, Alex Rezvan, Host of The Retail Podcast, and Jill Dvorak, SVP Content at NRF, look at budget friendly meals on the Thanksgiving table, what NRF's forecast says about holiday sh...

Christmas in London starts in October as Selfridges unveils its Christmas in the City windows. Simone Oloman, Co-host of Five Things Friday UK, covers that plus Gap x Victoria Beckham and John Lewis x Rixo. Alex Rezvan, Host of The Retail Podcast, and Simone also cover Sainsbury's extra £3 a week for Healthy Start families this winter, the 44-piece John Lewis x Rixo collection and what it says...

Sainsbury's is winning back the weekly shop on price, while Walmart writes the rules for AI shopping agents that buy on a customer's behalf. Today's Decoding Retail also covers BRC confidence and shoplifting figures, Waitrose's first full-line supermarket in eight years, eBay's 1,000 job cuts and Target's $30 Thanksgiving meal. 00:00 Intro 00:06 Sainsbury's returns to v...

Walmart has opened its platform to third-party AI shopping agents, which means retailers now sell to machines as well as people. Today's briefing also covers UK inflation rising to 3.5%, Sainsbury's pulling SmartShop from more than 800 Local stores, Primark's first store in Qatar and Ahold Delhaize's next CEO. 00:00 Intro 00:07 UK inflation rises to 3.5%, BRC wants a budget cut 00:...

Debenhams Group CEO Dan Finleyexplains how the brand was rebuilt as Britain's online department store and whyits marketplace model is shaping the wider group. Recorded at NRF Europe 2026 in Paris,this six-minute conversation with Alex Rezvan of The Retail Podcast and JillDvorak of NRF covers the value of the Debenhams name, AI in retail, and theplaybook for boohoo, boohooMAN, PrettyLittleThing and...

ChatGPT virtual try on is live, and NRF SVP Content Jill Dvorak explains what it means for retailers. Plus Kroger's 3,000 job cuts, Tractor Supply, Ross and Prime Day pulling Halloween forward. Alex Rezvan, Host of The Retail Podcast, and Jill Dvorak, SVP Content at NRF, on the five US retail stories that matter this week: what virtual try-on inside ChatGPT means for who owns the customer, Kroger'...

Simone Oloman, Co-host of Five Things Friday UK on The Retail Podcast, asks whether Stelios's easyShop marketplace can win shoppers from Amazon and Temu. Plus the TFG cyber attack, Gymshark's first celebrity and the collab boom. Alex Rezvan, Host of The Retail Podcast, and Simone Oloman cover the five UK retail stories of the week for 16 October 2026: a golden quarter heading into Black Fr...

LVMH results show luxury demand moving at different speeds inside one group, with fashion and leather goods down 5% while selective retailing grew 8%. Alongside that, Just Eat, Amazon, Ocado and Sainsbury's compete for shoppers' time and trust, Albertsons withdraws its outlook, and Flipkart narrows its losses ahead of a listing. 00:00 Intro 00:13 Just Eat: 'Stay Just Where You Are'...

Shoppers are asking AI assistants what to buy, and those answers cite YouTube videos. Ben Jeffries, co-founder of Influencer.com, explains creator-first AEO, the sports-brand test, and why content now has to work for shoppers and for AI. With Alex Rezvan, Host of The Retail Podcast. Your next customer may never type your name into your own search bar. Ben Jeffries, co-founder of Influencer.com, to...

Amazon grocery storefronts for individual retailers are closing on Amazon.com, while US inflation reaches 3.7% and Adobe finds 49% of AI shopping assistant users have abandoned a purchase over conflicting product information. For retail leaders, today's briefing is about control: of the channel, of your product data, and of assets like Bluewater, where Landsec now holds 74%. 00:00 Intro 00:06...

Creators are the new beauty counter. That is how Charlotte Lock, Chief Customer Officer, Boots, describes where customers now discover products and find advice they trust. Recorded at YouTube Festival London 2026, just after Charlotte came off the main stage, this conversation with Alex Rezvan, Host of The Retail Podcast, asks what that shift means for a retailer founded in 1849. Charlotte says Bo...

YouTube is no longer just where shoppers see your brand. It is where they decide to buy it. On the red carpet at YouTube Festival London 2026, Alex Rezvan, Host of The Retail Podcast, talks to Sophie Neary, Managing Director, Retail & Consumer Goods, Google. Where a retailer should start on YouTube, why brand and creator content belong in one plan, how shoppable video now reaches the living ro...

The Ahold Delhaize outage has left websites and apps down since Sunday and Dutch stores showing last week's shelf prices, a reminder that pricing now depends on central IT. Kroger is cutting 3,000 corporate jobs, UK shoppers are holding back before the budget, and Shein, Temu and AliExpress are losing ground in Germany. 00:00 Intro 00:08 BRC: UK retail sales subdued in September 00:36 CBRE: £4...

Jill Dvorak, SVP Content at NRF, on Prime Day, Walmart's $300m bulky-item hub and the Nike sales decline in China. Is early discounting growing holiday demand or just moving it? Alex Rezvan, Host of The Retail Podcast, and Jill Dvorak, SVP Content at NRF, cover the week's five US retail stories: the Amazon vs Walmart holiday race, Target's plan for more than 30 new stores in 2026, Matt...

ChatGPT virtual try-on puts OpenAI between the shopper and the checkout, while UK footfall fell 2.9% in September and every format went down. Today's briefing also covers Ocado's clean-label aisle, Refresco's possible IPO above $10bn and Seven & i's plan to make Europe a growth pillar for 7-Eleven. 00:00 Intro 00:09 UK footfall falls 2.9% in September 00:48 Ocado launches Simpl...

Lidl adds 43 million visits, Frasers ups its Burberry bet and Boots changes hands. Simone Oloman, Co-host of Five Things Friday UK, explains what this week's moves mean for UK retail. Alex Rezvan, Host of The Retail Podcast, and Simone Oloman cover five stories. Lidl GB grew sales 10.8% to £13bn. Frasers Group, the retailer Mike Ashley founded, lifted its Burberry position to 6.32% through sol...