The Belgian e-commerce sector keeps on growing: during the first three months of 2019, online turnover went up 8 % as the number of online purchases even rose 18 %. Beauty products are the fastest growing sector in the online trade of physical products.

Toy manufacturer Mattel has rejected a takeover bid from American competitor MGA Entertainment for the second time, even though Barbie has certainly seen better days.

The blurring trend continues: French supermarket giant chain Carrefour has opened its first restaurant in Paris. Officially, 'Bon Appétit!' is only a test, but if this establishment becomes a success, more will inevitably follow.

The German ministry for the environment wants to bring an end to the destruction of unsold and returned products. Currently, four procent of all returned goods end up as rubbish.

German discounter Lidl wants to open more than forty new stores in London alone in the next five years, an ambition that comes with a price tag of half a billion pounds (560 million euros).

CEO Alan Jope thinks Unilever should widen its brand portfolio, as society diversifies and it becomes increasingly difficult to be relevant to a large number of people.

Belgian supermarket chain Delhaize hopes to expand its current e-commerce service to its 400 franchise stores and has started a same-day delivery test in five of those stores.

Spanish fashion giant Inditex (Zara, Bershka, Massimo Dutti) has increased its sales figures by 5 % in the past quarter, clearly bucking the trend of struggling clothing stores.

British department store chain Debenhams is implementing an intense recovery plan with some vigour: fifty stores will have to close, thirty others will be downsized.

The only way for the Dutch branch of Hudson's Bay to get rid of its overly expensive and very long-running rental contracts would be bankruptcy, as the chain's odds of survival are looking slim no matter what.

E-commerce continues its double-figure growth in Europe: online turnover this year is expected to climb 13 % to 621 billion euros as many people's fear to buy online is clearly evaporating.

Cigarettes have become an increasingly rare sight on store shelves, with several chains choosing to stop tobacco sales voluntarily. In the United States, Beverly Hills even is the first place to ban the selling of tobacco altogether.

Waterstones owner and private investment company Elliott Management has acquired American bookstore chain Barnes & Noble. As a result, the chain will be taken off the stock market.

On Amazon, you can now look for a particular outfit based on a picture. StyleSnap is a new addition to the online retailer's app, which recognises photographs with artificial intelligence.

As Aldi opened its first two Chinese supermarkets in Shanghai, early images suggest that Aldi is aiming for a higher position in the market in China than it has here. There was no lack of interest, with long queues at the entrances.

Walmart is trying out a new Scan & Go system, called Fast Lane, in in Toronto. It is an improved version of an earlier, and failed, attempt in the United States.

This summer, RetailDetail is offering you a glimpse into the future of shopping, with an inspirational tour in the retailhub and/or a retailhunt through Antwerp. An English language tour, open to individual subscribers, will take place on 20 August.

Fans of Nutella can breathe again: the strike in the world's biggest factory of the chocolate spread is over and the feared shortages will not materialise. The strike lasted for ten days as employees demanded higher wages.

French spirit producer Rémy Cointreau has had a tremendous financial year, as cognac proved to be a booming business with sales going up 12 %.

Bart Van Malderen, former CEO of Belgian diaper producer Ontex, is not only competing against his former company with his own Drylock, but has become the biggest shareholder of German diaper webshop Lillydoo.

Schoenen Torfs has been voted "Best workplace" with more than 500 employees. For the Belgian shoe store chain this is a step up after four consecutive second places.

European spirit producers will start mentioning the number of calories in their drinks on their packaging. Officially, alcoholic beverages are exempt from this European regulation. This non-binding agreement does also not apply to wine and beer.

Digital disruption is causing strong worldwide growth for online grocery shopping, but the rise of new e-commerce models and ecosystems is forcing traditional players to adapt quickly and thoroughly.

Six years after the Rana Plaza disaster in Bangladesh, working conditions for textile workers are still sub-par, the university of Sheffield concludes in a new report. Some major chains perform way better than others.

The American clothing group Gap is going through a rough patch, and major measures are deemed necessary: Old Navy will be split into a separate listed company, while other brands will have to close several stores.

Despite the harsh climate for toy stores, ToyChamp is expanding rapidly in Low Countries. In the next month, the chain is to open three new stores in Antwerp (Belgium), Leeuwarden and Helmond (both in the Netherlands). More openings are still on the cards.

Belgian fruit and vegetable producer Greenyard has suffered a heavy loss in the past financial year. As a result, the company's debt load also increased.

British supermarket chain Waitrose is using a store in Oxford to try out some innovative concepts that could eventually get the stores rid of thousands of tons of plastic packaging. The big question is whether the shoppers will go along with it...

A week-long strike in the world's biggest Nutella factory has closed all but one production line, meaning the supply of the chocolate paste is threatened. Since the end of May, workers block the ways in and out of the factory in Villers-Écalles, where a quarter of the world's Nutella production takes place.

The list of biggest retailers in the world is dominated by American companies, with Walmart and Amazon at the top. While challengers from China are continuing to rise, Belgian-Dutch Ahold Delhaize climbes to fourteenth.

Amazon has opened a first pop-up store in the United Kingdom and intends to open a small dozen more. Their aim will be to help small online companies grow, and to function as pick-up location.