The Retail Podcast

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 Simple Ingredients aisle

01:05 Myprotein and Krispy Kreme sh...

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 sold put options. The Weston family's Witti...

Amazon layoffs hit around 1,000 corporate roles, most of them in its stores division, as Tesco's profits rise and Walmart puts its AI savings back into customer service. Today's briefing tells retail leaders that efficiency is the theme of the season, and the difference lies in where the savings go.

00:00 Intro

00:08 Tesco H1 profits rise, sales momentum weakens

00:31 Aldi names first 10 towns for 2027 stores

00:46 Amazon cuts around 1...

Walmart drone delivery with Wing is expanding to more than 270 stores by next year, and Boots is going private in a £6.7bn deal with the Weston family. Today's briefing also covers a £440m rise in UK retail electricity bills, Amazon's 63% share of German online retail and the ASOS app breach.

00:00 Boots sold to Weston family for £6.7bn

00:42 BRC: £440m rise in retail electricity bills

01:12 Argos marketplace to 130,000 products

01:35 ...

Quick commerce now decides who survives in India: 7-Eleven is shutting around 60 stores because convenience without 30-minute delivery is no longer enough.

Jill Dvorak, SVP Content at NRF, joins Alex Rezvan on the UK sales slump, Primark and Morrisons.

What is quick commerce? It is everyday shopping delivered in minutes from stores and warehouses close to the customer. In India the quick commerce business model has changed what shopp...

Walmart is dropping a patent that would have let Scan & Go personalise prices at the point of scan, while ASOS confirms a cyber attack that reached customers through its own app. Today's briefing shows retail leaders that pricing and customer data are now where trust is won or lost.

00:00 Intro

00:06 ASOS confirms cyber attack

00:32 Just Eat robots move to Cambourne

01:02 T.M.Lewin opens two more stores

01:18 Cotswold Outdoor takes ...

Doug Stephens, Founder of Retail Prophet, argues that AI in retail will never be a competitive advantage. Customer trust, earned through fairness to shoppers, staff and suppliers, is the edge that lasts.

Alex Rezvan, Host of The Retail Podcast, and Doug cover why only 15% of Americans had confidence in big business in 2025 (Gallup), why Warren Buffett treated trust as hard business capital, what Walmart's $1bn investment in pay and ...

TikTok is keeping checkout and customer data inside the app with Buy Direct, and TikTok Shop's UK sales are heading for close to €5 billion this year. Add retailers' very different rules on AI shopping agents, and today's Decoding Retail shows who is taking control of the sale, alongside Lidl passing £13 billion and Aldi going live on Deliveroo.

Sources:

- Retail Gazette: Lidl pushes annual sales past £13bn and prepares to open more ...

What happened to Nike this week is a second round of job cuts and a $2.5 billion cost saving target, as Boots nears a £7bn sale and world food prices hit a near four-year high.

For retail leaders the signal is clear: shoppers are working harder for every basket, and retailers will need to work just as hard to earn it.

00:00 Intro

00:22 US shoppers stretch every dollar

00:42 Nike cuts jobs again as China drags

01:08 IKEA closes thre...

Asia-Pacific's older shoppers, JD Sports' franchise move into Mexico, Fabletics' first store in India, Boots on TikTok Shop and JD.com's new home store in Shanghai. Alex Rezvan and Jill Dvorak of NRF cover the five international retail stories leaders need this week.

This week:

(01:08) WGSN on Asia's silver generation; South Korea is now 20% aged 65+

(02:57) JD Sports enters Mexico with Grupo Axo, 140+ stores from 2027

(04:37) Fabletic...

Costco's digital sales just passed $33 billion, Toys R Us is opening 120 stores, and Best Buy is taking 10,000 products to TikTok Shop. Alex Rezvan and Jill Dvorak of NRF cover the five retail stories US leaders need this week.

This week:

(00:44) Costco digital sales top $33 billion, up more than 20%

(02:43) Toys R Us opens 120 holiday stores with creator studios and cafés

(04:50) Best Buy joins TikTok Shop with nearly 10,000 products

(...

Retail brands still hire creators for one post. Jade Beason says that era is over.

Recorded at YouTube Festival 2026 at the London Palladium, this short conversation covers what retailers are missing in how they work with creators, how trust is actually earned, and what a shoppable YouTube does to the customer journey.

In this episode:

- Why a single sponsored post is the least valuable way to use a creator

- Campaigns across paid, own...

Boots’ creator-commerce push raises a practical question: whose advice helps customers buy? Alex Rezvan and Simone Oloman examine that question alongside virtual try-on, circular textiles, service-led retail, and Vogue World’s runway robots.

Five Things Friday, UK edition. Recorded 25 September 2026.

Alex Rezvan and Simone Oloman discuss five connected retail stories:
• Tesco’s reported F&F virtual try-on pil...

Nine retail companies pitch their solutions at NRF Europe 2026. Host Alex Rezvan then asks what makes each worth choosing over a competitor, before an audience challenge on patents and lasting differentiation.

Recorded at the Innovation Stage in Paris, the session moves from short product propositions to a practical buying question: what makes this company different from the next supplier?

The pitches cover crowdshipping, charitable ...

What happens to e-commerce when the internet is no longer built primarily for humans? John Williams, Co-CEO and CTO of Amplience, explains AEO and GEO, why the AI agent is now your audience before the customer, and why content creation is only a third of what the content supply chain really costs. In partnership with Amplience.

What you will learn

• AEO is the AI answer above Google's results; GEO is ChatGPT, Claude and other generat...

14 startups. 60 seconds each. One question: why should a retailer care?

Day 1 of NRF Retail's Big Show Europe 2026 in Paris, from the Innovation Stage. Buynomics, Keyban, Ace Waves, Akoustic Arts, Wearfits, M11, Ekoo, Pinpoint, N3xgen, Deepneuronic, Najar, Meteoria, Cloz AI and Veeton each get one minute to say who they are, what problem they solve and what it means for the people running retail. Hosted by Alex Rezvan.

What you'll he...

JD’s robotics plan raises a practical question: can automation handle the exceptions that make fulfilment difficult? Alex Rezvan and Jill Dvorak examine the costs, the people, and the operational test behind the ambition.

This Five Things Friday International Edition also covers Inditex’s first-half results, H&M’s Barcelona production office, Google’s changing European search results, and the value pressu...

FULL SHOW NOTES

Primark plans home delivery in Great Britain. Alex Rezvan and Simone Oloman discuss the implications for value fashion and how retailers can earn the next purchase. Plus John Lewis, Boots, Lucy & Yak, Damson Madder, and Tu at Sainsbury’s.

In this UK edition of Five Things Friday, the discussion connects digital convenience with the reasons customers still choose a store or a brand. From shop-floor expertise ...

Target is bringing 90 prestige, emerging and global beauty brands to more than 600 stores. Alex Rezvan and Jill Dvorak examine what Target Beauty Studio means for Target, Sephora and Ulta Beauty—and where the customer’s beauty spend could move next.

This week’s US retail briefing also covers Nordstrom Rack’s expansion, Williams-Sonoma’s 6.2% comparable brand revenue growth, Lowe’s attempt to addre...