Carlos Crespo's appointment as CEO of Inditex, which was announced earlier, has been officially confirmed by the Spanish fashion group's general meeting.

This past Prime Day was the most successful one yet for Amazon – keeping in mind the 'tradition' is still young. The hype surrounding it also gave a boost to its main competitors in e-commerce, however.

A global first for the Netherlands: the Ikea store in Groningen is the first where the chain totally redesigns its lay-out and arranges items by price. The store also aims at selling 'full experiences', rather than single pieces of furniture.

Swiss watchmaker Swatch has seen its turnover and profit drop over the past six months, due to political tensions in China and what it calls the "grey market": unofficial traders selling the watches at discount prices.

European Commissioner Margarethe Vestager is opening an official inquest into Amazon, which she believes is treating the sellers on its platform unfairly.

Belgian supermarket chain Delhaize is changing the composition of its Board of Directors as Françoise Burlet leaves the company. The EVP Commerce is responsible for buying, marketing, quality and store concepts: those will be divided among two other directors.

Bringing in Italian designer Riccardo Tisci was a fruitful move for British luxury brand Burberry, which performed very well in its latest quarter.

Dutch supermarket chain Jumbo has achieved a 16.5 % turnover growth this semester, increasing its market share to 21.6 %. Expansion towards Belgium is next on the agenda.

Belgian beer giant AB InBev has decided to cancel the IPO of its Asian branch: demand for the stock was expected to disappoint due to its launch price, which American investors thought was too high. The supposedly biggest FMCG flotation of all time therefore is no more.

Activists and Amazon employees in the United States and Germany are using the two-day discount event Prime Day to protest against several aspects of the e-commerce giant.

Frozen potato brand Lutosa is changing its name to Belviva, with which it wants to emphasise its Belgian identity... and avoid legal problems.

Pop star Lady Gaga will launch her own beauty brand, called Haus Laboratories, exclusively for Amazon. Starting from September, the label will be for sale in nine countries.

Google employees listen to, and analyse in detail, recordings made by its Home speakers and the Assistant app on smartphones. And all that without clear notification, let alone permission, a Belgian news show claims.

The shareholders of DIY group Kingfisher (which includes such chains as B&Q and Brico Dépôt) are protesting the severance payment of departing CEO Véronique Laury, who would be receiving 552,000 pounds (610,000 euros).

Valérie Chapoulaud-Floquet, the CEO of French liquor group Rémy Cointreau, will be leaving her position at the end of the year, as the group announced "with sadness".

PepsiCo has outperformed expectations with a 2.2 % organic turnover growth. Especially a growing sparkling water department pushed the FMCG producer forward on its way to achieving its own predictions.

Superdry is sinking deep: the British fashion label has now reached a record loss of more than one hundred million euros, while turnover remains stagnant.

Two Dutch retail organisations have issued a joint report that says non-European webstores such as AliExpress are not in compliance with local regulations. Detailhandel Nederland and Thuiswinkel.org therefore think such shops have a competitive advantage that is deemed unfair.

Levi Strauss saw its first quarter on the stock market end on a negative note: there was less profit than envisioned, to the investors' disappointment. Still, sales of the jeans brand went up in every market.

Amazon's new return policy in the United States allows customers to drop their products without package or labels in thousands of sales points, nationwide and free of charge.

Samsung is suffering from the trade war between the United States and China: for the third quarter in a row, the smartphone producer predicts lower profits. Fortunately, the decrease is less dramatic than initially feared.

Illycaffè is looking to expand by opening more of its own coffee bars. To that end, the Italian coffee manufacturer is looking for a partner with retail experience. This could spell good news for Nestlé or Douwe Egberts, both of which have had their eye on their Italian competitor for some time.

The two branches of Aldi, Nord and Süd, are going to unify their private labels. By 2020, customers of both chains will only be able to buy the same brands, spelling the end of brands like Topstar and Milsani.

Amazon just celebrated its 25th anniversary. In that short time, Jeff Bezos' creation changed retail forever. But more than that: the company has made an indelible mark on the global economy. Is the world getting divided between Team East and Team West?

Tmall, the online platform for Western Alibaba brands, is updating the look of its virtual shops. The new concept, Flagship Store 2.0, offers more personalisation, brand experience and augmented reality.

FNG, known from Brantano and Miss Etam, is taking over the Swedish Ellos Group, a leading e-commerce player in fashion and interior decoration. A sum of 229 million euros is involved.

Lidl and Leclerc keep growing their market share in the hyper-competitive French food market, which has barely seen any growth as a whole. Most of their success comes at the cost of Carrefour, Casino and Auchan, which are all in a state of decline.

German internet company Zalando is about to build a new mega-distribution centre in Bleiswijk in the Netherlands. The project will yield 1500 jobs and involves an investment of 200 million euros.

Walmart is setting aside 8 billion yuan (1 billion euros) in the coming decade to improve the logistics of the retailer in China. The American colossus has made its ambitions in the Middle Kingdom quite clear.

After a questionable quarter, Hema is hoping to find greener pastures in the US and Canada. The Dutch department store company will be collaborating with Walmart, no less.

French sneaker retailer Courir is coming to Belgium with its own stores. The first two outlets will be opened in Brussels, more precisely in City 2 and at the Elsensesteenweg.