The Commerce Brief: Fri 27th February

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

🗓️ This week’s industry updates

🪞 ASOS launches a new virtual try-on tool, allowing customers to see how selected products look on them. As digital returns remain costly, confidence-led commerce is becoming a margin strategy - not just a UX upgrade. (source)

💄 Beauty Bay lines up administrators and shutters its online store while searching for fresh investment. (source)

📱 Dunelm rolls out a new mobile app integrating its AI-powered search, recommendations and browsing functionality. The retailer is doubling down on personalisation to drive frequency and lifetime value. (source)

🏬 Lululemon prepares to open its 100th store in EMEA, launching in Warsaw with franchise partner Arion Retail Group. Physical expansion remains a core growth lever for premium performance brands. (source)

🏁 Marks & Spencer announces a multi-year partnership to dress the Williams Formula 1 across 24 races in 21 countries. A strategic brand play to elevate menswear through global visibility and performance positioning. (source)

🏋️ IKEA pilots a shop-in-shop concept with Decathlon in Croydon this spring. (source)

📊 Amazon surpasses Walmart in annual revenue for the first time, reporting $716.9bn versus $713.2bn.(source)

💋 After more than 40 years, MAC Cosmetics enters Sephora U.S. stores, Sephora at Kohl’s and online beginning March 2. (source)

♻️ eBay agrees to acquire Depop for $1.2bn, targeting younger fashion consumers and strengthening its resale positioning in a competitive circular market. (source)

👶 Zalando expands its pre-owned category to include childrenswear across 14 European markets, embedding circularity deeper into its core assortment. (source)

💰 Saks Global secures a $1B emergency loan as part of a broader financing package. (source)

🔁 Croissant, an app that shows shoppers the guaranteed resale value it will pay for new items bought from its brand partners once they’re ready to be resold, announced it raised $28 million in fresh funds. (source)

🎾 Uniqlo names tennis champion Emma Raducanu as global brand ambassador, reinforcing its performance credibility and international appeal. (source)

🛍️ BHV expands its partnership with Shein, opening additional physical locations in France following its Paris pilot. Even digital-native players are leaning into physical distribution. (source)

The Commerce Brief