From Lidl’s half a billion pound expansion plans, to Debenhams deploying virtual try on tech and M&S battling an ongoing cyber attack, what’s been making waves in retail this week? 

New stores – Lidl eyes 40+ new UK store openings

Lidl GB will invest half a billion pounds in its expansion, as the discounter plans to open more than 40 new stores across the UK. Marking a fourth decade of growth in Great Britain, the raft of planned store openings are part of its mission to provide shoppers with access to affordable, high-quality food.

In addition to investment in new stores, Lidl said it would complete construction on extending its Belvedere warehouse and start of work on its Leeds DC.

Circular fashion – Vinted posts +36% YOY revenue rise

Vinted announced its 2024 financial results, with revenues growing +36% compared to 2023, with increased demand for second-hand goods, category extension and international expansion driving performance.

Supporting its mission to make second-hand the first choice worldwide, Vinted also launched its dedicated investment arm, Vinted Ventures, in April.

People moves – Retail Insight appoints Alex Considine Tong as CPO

In-store execution software provider, Retail Insight, has announced the appointment of Alex Considine Tong as its Chief Product Officer (CPO) to accelerate its product roadmap and scale and enhance its solution offerings.

She will leverage her expertise of collaborating with senior technologists and commercial leaders to deliver Retail Insight’s strategic product goals, enhancing its suite of software solutions that power grocery retailers’ in-store execution.

Virtual fit – Debenhams deploys be Retail Social’s try on tech

Debenhams will partner with virtual fitting room and try on platform, be Retail Social, deploying its virtual try on tech across its beauty products, before extending it in to its fashion and clothing brands.

be Retail Social’s AI-powered virtual fitting room platform delivers enhanced customer experience by blending animated, interactive and personalised content with social influence.

“We love innovation and think the use of moving, personalized human avatars with social influence is a real step forward in the virtual try-on space for beauty and fashion and [are] already seeing tangible benefits.”

Daniel Finley, CEO, Debenhams

Loyalty – Active members x4 times more likely to keep spending when confidence dips

Active members of loyalty programmes are almost four times as likely than shoppers who aren’t signed up to loyalty schemes to continue making purchases from a brand when consumer confidence falls, the latest data from LotyaltyLion reveals.

85% of active loyalty members that regularly redeem rewards will still make repeat purchases in periods of low consumer confidence; a 3.9-fold increase compared to those not signed up to a retailer’s marketing scheme (22%).

Last month, UK consumer confidence remained flat in the first quarter of 2025, according Deloitte‘s latest Consumer Tracker. This marked a second consecutive quarter of stalled confidence following a two-year period of improvement.

Store innovation – Morrisons taps NCR Voyix for POS

Morrisons has extended its partnership with digital commerce solutions provider, NCR Voyix. Investing in additional capabilities that replace legacy point-of-sale (POS) technology, Morrisons will roll out POS solutions powered by the NCR Voyix Commerce Platform to almost 500 stores in a five-year contract.

Martin Dawson, Group Retail Director of Morrisons, said that the move will “further improve our retail technology as we seek to operate with greater agility and efficiency for the benefit of our customers.”

Cyber security – Everything we know so far on M&S cyber incident

As M&S continues to battle the fallout from a cyber attack which took hold over the Easter weekend, we round up what we know so far about the incident.

Earlier this week, Co-op also confirmed it has been hit by a hack to its back-office systems and call centre services over the weekend.