The Commerce Brief: Fri 17th April

Welcome to another exciting week in the world of eCommerce and retail 🛍️

Deals, Acquisitions & Investment

💰 Unilever is acquiring wellness brand Grüns for more than $1 billion, as the gummies supplement brand becomes the latest target in the booming preventive health space. The deal underscores the accelerating convergence of CPG and wellness. (source)

🤖 Allbirds is pivoting away from footwear entirely and into AI compute infrastructure. While the sale of its footwear IP and assets to American Exchange Group for $39m proceeds, the company has secured a $50m convertible financing facility to become a cloud-based service provider offering GPU-as-a-Service. It will also rebrand as NewBird AI. (source)

🛍️ NEXT is reportedly eyeing a takeover of British handbag brand Radley, just months after its acquisition of footwear brand Russell & Bromley through an insolvency process. (source)

📊 Nike CEO Elliott Hill and Apple's Tim Cook purchased a combined 52,660 shares worth approximately $2.3m. The insider buying comes as the sportswear giant navigates ongoing strategic shifts under Hill's leadership. (source)

AI & Technology

🤖 Frasers Group has launched Ask Frasers, an AI-powered shopping assistant across its premium FRASERS website. Early indicators show conversion rates up 25% compared to traditional search experiences. (source)

🚁 Walmart is expanding drone delivery to another 150 US stores, in one of the clearest signs yet that drone-based retail logistics is moving towards commercial viability. (source)

📱 Lidl is set to launch budget mobile phone plans in several new markets later this year, as the discounter looks to open up new revenue streams beyond its core grocery business. (source)

Revenue & Financial Updates

📈 Hermès reported Q1 2026 consolidated revenues of €4.1bn, up 6% at constant exchange rates. The luxury house saw double-digit growth in the Americas and Japan, though France dipped 3% due to reduced tourist flows linked to the Middle East situation. (source)

📦 Rent the Runway is diversifying its revenue streams by launching a marketplace, scaling advertising, and offering its dry-cleaning services to external companies like hotels. Full-year revenue rose 7.7% to nearly $330m, and the company swung to net income of $22.6m from a $69.9m loss in 2024. (source)

💄 Justmylook reported Q1 year-on-year growth of 29.4%, supported by strong customer performance and standout category results for the online beauty retailer. (source)

🇦🇪 UAE delivery orders rose 18% in Q1 2026, with average revenue per delivery restaurant up to AED454,000 per quarter from AED385,000 a year earlier, despite a decline in the number of venues offering delivery. (source)

International Expansion

🌍 TikTok Shop is expanding into Poland, the Netherlands and Belgium, with job postings indicating an imminent launch in all three markets. The expansion will bring TikTok's social commerce platform to nine European countries. (source)

🌍 Mytheresa is pressing ahead with Middle East expansion despite ongoing regional conflict. The market accounts for just under 10% of revenues, and new CEO Francis Belin said the luxury retailer is considering further investment through marketing, personal shopping and events. (source)

🌍 Carrefour has signed franchise agreements with local partners in Guinea and Nigeria as the French group pushes to become the largest food retailer in Africa. (source)

🇬🇧 Norwegian outdoor brand Norrøna is opening its first dedicated UK flagship store, expanding its physical retail network into a new market. (source)

Loyalty & Customer Experience

💳 Marks & Spencer has transformed its Sparks loyalty programme with a new digital wallet that lets customers earn real money rewards to spend across Food, Fashion, Home and Beauty. Customers can save up or spend rewards at any time, giving the scheme greater flexibility. (source)

💳 Sainsbury's Nectar360 has partnered with Uber to let Nectar members redeem their loyalty points on Uber Rides and Uber Eats for the first time, expanding the utility of the scheme beyond grocery. (source)

💲 Aldi has invested £122m in price cuts across almost 500 items in Q1 2026, spanning fresh and frozen food, household staples, essentials and personal care as the discounter reinforces its value positioning. (source)

🏬 IKEA Saudi Arabia has launched "Step Buy Step," a campaign offering shoppers 10% off if they walk 4,000 steps in-store. The wellness-focused activation, aimed at IKEA Family members, ties into Saudi Arabia's Vision 2030 goals. (source)

Partnerships & Marketplaces

🛒 Asda has partnered with Deliverect to streamline its quick-commerce operations, improving availability, pricing synchronisation and in-store fulfilment across its express delivery network. (source)

🛒 eBay has been revealed as a beta partner for Meta's new Facebook affiliate programme, enabling creators across Facebook's global ecosystem to natively feature eBay inventory within their content. (source)

🏬 Decathlon and IKEA Croydon are launching a world-first retail partnership, with Decathlon opening a new location at the IKEA Croydon site on 24 April 2026. The collaboration is designed to streamline the shopping experience for South London consumers. (source)

📺 Depop has partnered with HBO Max to curate character-inspired edits celebrating the release of Euphoria Season 3, with the show's stylist curating exclusive looks on the resale platform throughout the new season. (source)

Store Openings & Physical Retail

🏋️ Gymshark is opening its first-ever gym, the Gymshark Lifting Club, in Wynwood, Miami, later this year. The move marks one of the biggest strategic shifts in the fitness apparel brand's history. (source)

💄 Superdrug is expanding its K-beauty range to 400 stores as demand for ingredient-led skincare and globally trending beauty brands continues to rise in the UK market. (source)

People Moves & Partnerships

🎾 Hugo Boss has become the official lifestyle outfitter for the Australian Open from 2027, replacing Ralph Lauren in its biggest sports partnership to date. (source)

👤 PUMA has appointed former adidas executive James Carnes to the newly created role of SVP of Creative Direction. (source)

🎵 Represent has launched House Blend, a curated monthly series of weekend DJ sets at its Owners Club Café in the brand's London Soho flagship on Wardour Street. (source)

That's a wrap for this week! If you found this useful, hit reply and let me know, or share it with someone in the industry who'd enjoy the read. See you next Friday. 📬