British department store chain Marks & Spencer feels the need to reduce twenty of its major stores in size and seeks ways to turn higher floors into offices or apartments.

Belgian Deliveroo customers can, as of now, order their meals and pick them up at seventy restaurants in Brussels. If this trial is successful, the project will most likely be expanded to other cities as well.

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) objects to the acquisition of the local AB InBev branch by Japanese competitor Asahi, on the grounds that free competition may be endangered.

Swiss food giant Nestlé is selling its American ice cream brands, including Häagen-Dazs, to its own Froneri joint venture. The deal is worth 4 billion dollars (3.5 billion euros) and would generate one of the world's largest ice cream producers.

In his first interview as interim CEO of Ceconomy, Bernhard Düttmann announced a major change in the stores of the MediaMarkt and Saturn chains. He thinks his stores are too big, and: "the atmosphere in some of our stores is still too cold."

The German Metro group has posted encouraging results in the past year: its Chinese operations have been sold, Real also found a buyer and like-for-like sales have increased by 2.4 %, the strongest growth in a decade.

The former Mexx store in Mons, Belgium is for rent again after a year-long renovation, but the price is set at 30,000 euros per month - twice the local average. It is a textbook example of how real estate logic sometimes clashes with retail and other interests.

Convenience store chain Carrefour Express has opened a pilot store in Brussels according to a new concept, which features fresh produce and organic food and tests the water for more 'blurring'.

Ahold Delhaize is investing 480 million dollars (430 million euros) in its supply chain on the American East Coast. The Belgo-Dutch retailer wants to move towards a fully integrated self-distribution system, thereby saving nearly 100 million euros in costs each year.

Inditex, the Spanish group behind Zara and many other brands, is continuing to live up to the claim of 'fast-fashion': thanks to fast production speeds and state-of-the-art inventory management, the fashion retailer was able to reduce stock-in-trade by 5 %, while sales increased by 7.5 %.

Dutch supermarket chain Jumbo has exceeded all expectations with its first three stores in Belgium: each of the stores is reported to have had average weekly turnovers of 350,000 euros. Jumbo however chose not to confirm the results.

Halfway through the financial year, Belgian market leader Colruyt Group is doing well: its comparable turnover, its gross margin and its market share are on the up. However, profit did fall as a result of one-off events.

Swedish fashion retailer H&M has started offering home deliveries by bike. The chain's Dutch customers are the very first to have the choice of having their orders delivered by bicycle courier.

Black Friday has a new spin-off: ‘Make up your mind Monday', the day which sees the most returns from bargain hunters who regret their decisions. It signals a major problem, as returns in the holiday season cost retailers several billions.

Chinese e-commerce powerhouse Alibaba has released more details about the investments that logistics subsidiary Cainiao has planned for the Belgian Liège Airport. It claims to have invested than 100 million euros in the project, which should create 900 direct jobs.

Ikea has taken a minority stake in Optoro, an American start-up that develops software aimed at making returns more efficient. The investment fits in with the objective of the Swedish retailer to be a circular company by 2030.

The historical shareholders of Belgian bakery chain Le Pain Quotidien have bought out Norac, which owned about a quarter of the shares. Former CEO Vincent Herbert will temporarily take over the management of the company.

The Court of Justice of the European Union has ruled that 'balsamic' is not a protected concept and therefore not exclusively Italian. The verdict is a blow to the professional association of vinegar makers from the Modena region.

French sports chain Decathlon has acquired Dutch hockey brand Dita from All Weather Sports. The former owner will retain control over the distribution of Dita products to hockey specialist stores.

The ongoing efforts of the consortium surrounding real estate investor X+Bricks to win over Metro's Real chain appear to be bearing fruit. The German wholesaler has confirmed that it has started exclusive negotiations with the consortium, to be completed by the end of January.

Irish Primark has said it will expand to Slovakia in 2022, with a shop in the Eurovea shopping centre in the capital Bratislava. The Central European country will then become the fifteenth market for the fashion discounter.

French luxury group Kering (Gucci) has been rumoured to make a bid on Italian clothing and lifestyle company Moncler. The expensive down coats producer would be the latest target in a continuing war with archrivals LVMH.

Marks & Spencer has rolled out vertical farm units in seven stores in London. The British department store chain grows fresh herbs in connected mini-greenhouses.

Belgian supermarket chain Delhaize is starting a pilot project aimed at consumers in a hurry, but with a craving for healthy food. Deliveroo and Takeaway.com couriers will deliver healthy orders (with Nutri-Score A, B or C) from stores in Antwerp and Brussels.

Next year, Belgo-Dutch retailer Ahold Delhaize intends to buy back another one billion euros of its own shares. This means that the supermarket group will continue its long-standing tradition for at least another year.

Dutch drugstore chain Etos is to start selling through webshop bol.com. With this move, both Ahold Delhaize subsidiaries are looking to strengthen their synergies.

Forget FedEx or UPS: Amazon is the world's largest logistics company. As a result of this focus, Amazon is also the quickest parcel delivery company in the United States.

Australians are buying fewer Christmas gifts this year, and opting for more useful and inclusive gifts. Here, too, 'more sustainable' gifts for the end of the year period are a growing trend, because things have reached their peak.

The United States has once again threatened to impose additional import duties on certain French products. The additional taxes (up to 100 %) are a retaliation for the digital tax that France has introduced.

According to initial estimates, American consumers have spent around 9.4 billion dollars (8.5 billion euros) on online purchases on Cyber Monday. That day has now broken the Black Friday record and becomes be the second biggest bargain day of the year.

France is considering banning Black Friday under the French anti-waste law, even though a new record of 57 million card payments was reached this year - compared to just 50 million last year.