The British online florist Bloom & Wild is taking over its Dutch peer bloomon. Both brands continue to exist separately and, together, they form the largest e-commerce player in the European flower and houseplant market.

Nestlé performed better than expected in the first quarter. Increased demand for coffee and baked goods boosted sales.

Dutch chain Kruidvat has developed a new store concept in three variants, which it will now roll out in Belgium as well. The chain sees plenty of chances for both offline and online expansion in Belgium.

Heineken sold as much beer in the last quarter as a year ago. The world's second-largest brewing group was able to compensate for the European lockdowns with growth in Asia and Africa.

Consumers are becoming ever more aggressive towards supermarket staff asking them to comply with Covid measures, unions at Belgian supermarket chain Colruyt say.

British online supermarket Ocado invests 10 million pounds (12 million euros) in Oxbotica, which develops software for autonomous vans and robots.

If companies have learned anything from the pandemic, it is the importance of being agile and resilient. The Covid crisis has changed consumer behaviour globally and permanently, according to Accenture. 

For some time now, Amazon has been far more than just an e-commerce giant. The group continuously proves this by launching all kinds of physical store concepts. The latest innovation will soon open up in London: a hairdressing salon.

FMCG producers can barely keep up with the demand. After another quarter of growth, which was better than expected, Procter & Gamble (P&G) is now raising its prices.

Ikea's retail holding company, Ingka Group, will allocate an additional 4 billion euros to invest in renewable energy. In addition, investment vehicle Ikea Foundation is pumping another 1 billion euros into reducing carbon emissions.

French retailer Carrefour has had a solid first quarter, where especially the strong performance in the home market is a boost. In Belgium, the retailer gained market share again, the south of Europe remained somewhat below expectations.

The secret admirer of the Dutch specialist in plant-based meat substitutes Vivera has revealed itself. It is the Brazilian meat giant JBS, giving itself a more future-oriented profile in the run-up to a new attempt to take its American operations to the stock exchange separately.

Victor and William Fung, the brothers who are two of the main shareholders in Belgian luxury brand Delvaux, are said to be looking to sell their stake in the 192 years old hand bag producer.

German distribution group Rewe has seen its sales shoot up by more than 20 % last year. Gross profit rose as well, despite major losses in the group's travel division.

FNG may keep the e-commerce platform Ellos (for now) after all: the fashion group, formerly also the owner of Brantano, is paying the disgruntled former owner Nordic Capital 100 million euros. Together they will ensure a relaunch.

Despite a strong first quarter, Fnac Darty upholds its outlook for 2021, targeting slight growth in sales and operating profit compared to 2020.

In his final letter as CEO of Amazon, Jeff Bezos promises to pay more attention to employee well-being. "We will be the world's best employer and the world's safest place to work."

French retail groups Casino and Intermarché will not only purchase together, but will also develop digital services and produce private labels. It is the start of a redrawing of the French - and European - purchasing landscape.

Hugo Boss has made its webshop accessible to twelve additional countries, including Russia, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates. The German fashion label wants to double its online turnover in two years' time.

In the first three months of the year, Deliveroo received more than double the number of orders compared to the same period last year. The company does expect the growth to slow down as the Covid measures will be phasing out.

After C&A Germany joined Zalando's Connected Retail partner programme at the beginning of this year, the retailer is now extending the collaboration to seven other European countries. The Netherlands is among the first to follow. Belgium will join at a later stage.

PepsiCo again benefited in the first quarter thanks to consumers spending time at home and buying more snacks, crisps and oats. As a result, sales and profit exceeded Wall Street's expectations.

Belgian hypermarket chain Cora expands its store La Louvière with a shop-in-shop for babies clothing of French fashion retailer Kiabi.

Soon non-essential stores in the Benelux will be allowed to fully open their doors again, but how big are their chances of survival? Will it be a battlefield or a resilient recovery? Locatus calculated the risks and assessed the impact of the coronavirus pandemic.

Last year, fashion platform About You passed the billion-euro milestone in terms of turnover. Sales outside the German-speaking market have more than doubled, and in the fourth quarter, the marketplace reached break-even for the first time.

Retailers need different spaces today than they did ten years ago. The coronavirus pandemic has accelerated this evolution even further: "It is time to rethink the interior design of stores", says Jan Geysen of PUUR Interior Architects.

Hopr, Belgium's first online supermarket, will start its activities next Monday, 19 April. Trialling in Hasselt, the goal is to expand to the whole of Belgium by 2026.

In most European countries, food retailer brands maintained their volume share during the pandemic. "A sign of confidence," according to private label manufacturers. However, selling prices were under pressure.

Takeover rumours around Sainsbury's are once again abuzz as Czech investor Daniel Kretinsky has unexpectedly increased his stake in the British supermarket chain to 9.99 per cent.

It has been a historic year for supermarkets, and Tesco is no exception: the British market leader saw its sales rise by almost 9 %, but the extra costs were so high that profits fell by around 20 %.

French luxury group LVMH has presented excellent results as Chinese and American consumers, in particular, are once again happy to treat themselves to handbags and champagne in the absence of other entertainment.