The Commerce Brief: Fri 1st August

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

🗓️ This week’s industry updates

📌 Debenhams x Pinterest
Debenhams partners with Pinterest to drive discovery across its 15,000+ brand marketplace. Early results from its bridal campaign suggest Pinterest's AI-powered personalisation is driving shopper engagement. (source)

🥐 Greggs Profit Dips Despite Sales Growth
Greggs saw pre-tax profits fall to £63.5M, despite 7% sales growth. The warm June weather and cost pressures in logistics and tech were contributing factors. (source)

👟 Adidas Delivers Growth, Warns on Tariffs
H1 sales were up 14% and net income was up 77%, however Adidas is planning for a €200M tariff hit in H2 as US duties rise. (source)

🍔 Just Eat Halves Losses, Cuts 1,600 Jobs
Just Eat Takeaway.com halved its net loss to €90M despite a 7% decline in orders, thanks to aggressive cost-cutting ahead of the Prosus acquisition. (source)

🇪🇸 Aldi Nord Is Spain’s Fastest-Growing Grocer
With 480 stores and 7.7M+ customers, Aldi Nord added over 500K new customers in the past year, expanding store area by 60% since 2020. (source)

💼 Hermès Reports 9% Growth
Hermès continues to outperform, raising prices by 5% in the US to offset tariffs while still posting 9% sales growth. (source)

💪 Myprotein Heads to Walmart
THG’s Myprotein will hit Walmart shelves in the US starting August 8, accelerating the UK brand’s American expansion. (source)

👕 M&S Launches 1-Year Kidswear Guarantee
Marks & Spencer now offers a 365-day quality guarantee on all children’s clothing, building on its popular 100-day back-to-school return policy. (source)

🌸 Boots to Open Fragrance-Only Boutique
Boots is opening a standalone fragrance store in London this autumn, offering immersive scent-led experiences and exclusive products. (source)

🚚 Co-op x Deliveroo Express
Co-op partners with Deliveroo Express to power white-label deliveries via its own online shop - promising delivery from hundreds of stores in under 60 minutes. (source)

⚖️ Brandy Melville Sues Temu
Brandy Melville is suing Temu for allegedly selling knockoffs using its brand images and designs - following an earlier lawsuit against Shein. (source)

💍 Claire’s Enters Administration in France
Claire’s, with 239 stores and 1,258 staff in France, is exploring a sale of its local operations. (source)

🧃 PepsiCo x Shein Lifestyle Collab
PepsiCo and Shein have launched a Gen Z-targeted product line including apparel, dorm décor, pet gear, and more. (source)

📉 Amazon Exits Google Shopping Globally
According to PPC Land, Amazon pulled all Google Shopping ads worldwide between July 21–23, dropping its impression share from ~60% to zero. Analysts cite margin testing, leverage building, and a strategic pivot to internal traffic sources. Expect cheaper CPCs for competitors. (source)

🧠 Walmart Debuts AI Super Agents
Walmart will roll out four AI-powered “super agents” across customers, employees, suppliers, and developers. “Sparky,” the customer-facing bot, will suggest, reorder, plan events, and eventually use computer vision to recognise items. Walmart aims for online to hit 50% of total sales within five years. (source)

The Commerce Brief