General

Dutch retailer Hema plans to cross the Atlantic and conquer America: this year its first ten stores in Mexico are planned to open. There is even potential for 200 shops in Mexico, the Amsterdam-based company believes.

Bol.com is a superpower in the Benelux e-commerce sector, but its exact figures have long been a well-kept secret. In order to support its own share price, owner Ahold Delhaize has been considering more openness about the figures in recent months, but for fear of Amazon's expansion to the Netherlands, this plan has been abandoned.

The very first event that RetailDetail organises at its new headquarters in Antwerp's Stadsfeestzaal shopping centre, has turned out to be an instant hit: all available tickets have been sold out.

French payment solution provider Worldline has acquired its compatriot and competitor Ingenico for 7.8 billion euros to form the world's fourth company in the field. The deal is partly paid in shares.

Two out of every three webshops do not abide by the most fundamental European consumer laws, says a survey that was ordered by the European Commission. Most of them do not apply or display the correct rules concerning the right to withdraw from a contract, the two year guarantee period, or pricing.

Bernard Arnault says he will continue to refuse selling his fashion house LVMH's products on Amazon. The CEO says platforms like Amazon enable the sale of fake products, and goes on to say that this way, they indirectly support organised crime and even terrorism.

“In the rapidly changing world of retail, we have been considered dinosaurs. But we adapted constantly, like chameleons, and we now have to become agile like dolphins,” says Philippe Houzé, who is the current chairman of the Galeries Lafayette Group. He sees great potential in a close relationship between the physical and the digital world.