From Co-op committing to an estate-wide ESL roll-out, to bakery chain Greggs battling shoplifting and ASOS revealing new AI plays in customer engagement, what’s been making waves in retail this week?

Circular fashion – Nobody’s Child expands into resale with eBay and Reskinned

British, eco-led fashion brand, Nobody’s Child, has extended its commitment to circular fashion launching an exclusive resale partnership with eBay and textile recycling platform, Reskinned.  

With eBay’s reach with Reskinned’s expertise in garment repair, resale and recycling, Nobody’s Child will extend the life cycle of its garments, making it easier for customers to shop pre-loved items and prevent clothing going to landfill.

“Our mission has always been to design beautiful clothes with a conscience,” Jody Plows, Chief Executive of Nobody’s Child, said. “Now, we’re taking that promise even further, giving customers the power to contribute to circular fashion.”

Digital stores – Co-op commits to estate-wide roll-out of ESLs

Co-op will partner with VusionGroup to replace traditional paper labels with Electronic Shelf Labels (ESLs) across its almost 2,400-strong store estate by 2026.

By digitalising the shelf-edge, Co-op aims to improve CX, enhance product information, reduce waste and simplify in-store operations.

“The electronic labels have the potential to make everyday tasks easier – improving ways of working and enhancing experiences for members and customers,” Steven Logue, Head of Operations at Co-op, said.

The technology is expected to be deployed to around 1,500 stores by the end of this year, and to all Co-op stores by the end of 2026

World Retail Congress – ex-H&M CEO, Helena Helmersson’s keynote on meeting green retail goals

Speaking at World Retail Congress, former H&M CEO, Helena Helmersson, delivered a keynote session on the business of sustainability. Key outtakes included:

• Cutting the conflict: retailers must allow sustainability and profit to co-exist, bringing green retail into their core
• Change starts at the top: the role of retail leaders in creating cultures that drive meaningful environmental change
• Switch up the mindset: true progress means thinking about eco-retailing beyond an engagement strategy
• Changing a conflicted consumer: shopper behaviours will only adapt if retailers can tap into ‘real needs’ – cost, convenience and cool
• Retail is not too complex to change: the industry needs to unpick complexities to drive change

The full session write up is available here: WRC 2025 – H&M’s Helena Helmersson on making sustainability the fabric of retail.

Cyber attacks – Recent hacks on UK retailers erodes consumer trust in online payments

Recent cyber incidents, including attacks on M&S, Co-op and Harrods, have made shoppers wary about sharing personal information with online retailers. Research from Checkout.com, reveals the number of UK consumers who feel comfortable sharing financial information with online retailers has fallen by -6 percentage points in the last two months.

“When a British brand like M&S falls victim to a vicious cyber-attack, the retail world gets a wake-up call. Consumers are shaken and without trust the digital economy cannot thrive.”  

Jenny Hadlow, COO, Checkout.com

It’s research also showed that 73% of shoppers feel recent cyber attacks on UK brands had eroded their trust in making payments online.

Retail theft – Greggs removes self-service fridges to fight shoplifting

Greggs will pilot removing self-serve fridges in some of its bakeries as it attempts to reduce theft in shoplifting hotspots across its store network in a trial which will take place in five of outlets.

The bakery chain has reported being repeatedly targeted by shoplifters, with some stores experiencing theft attempts every 20 minutes, prompting it to explore loss prevention solutions, including body cams and high security doors.

Official figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) released in April showed that shoplifting offences in England and Wales rose +20% year-on-year.

Braze CityxCity – ASOS reveals how it plans to scale AI in customer engagement

Speaking at the Braze CityxCity event this week, ASOS’ CRM Lead, Shaghig Babikian, outlined how the retailer is plugging AI-powered data and marketing automation into customer engagement programmes.

Key outtakes included:

• A tailored experience: why personalisation matters to ASOS customers
• Building smart personalisation: how ASOS partners with CDP Simon Data and CEP Braze
• ASOS’ first AI-generated segment: the launch of a new weather-based use case will drive multi-geo 1-2-1 engagment via automation
• Microtrend-led engagement: how ASOS will use micro-trends with AI insight to engage its 20million customers

The full session write up is available here: ASOS to scale AI personalisation with Simon Data and Braze to enhance customer engagement.

AI adoption – Shopper AI use rises +47% year-on-year

Shopper adoption of AI has surged in the past 12months, rising +47% year-on-year as consumers increasingly use the tech in everyday buying journeys, says research from Adyen.

Over half (58%) of consumers now use AI for inspiration when shopping, with the same proportion saying AI assistants provide inspiration faster than anything else, such as traditional search.

“Consumers are embracing AI at an unprecedented rate as they discover how this technology is transforming the shopping experience,” Roelant Prins, CCO at Adyen, said.

New retailer tie-ups, including Castore, help boost Klaviyo’s Q1 performance 

New retail partnerships with leading brands, expanded operations and new additions to its leadership team have helped CRM platform, Klaviyo, deliver European growth, with EMEA revenues in Q1 rising +47% year-on-year.

Welcoming a growing number of new brands including Castore, Paul Smith, ICONIC London and Simba Sleep, have helped boost performance. Now, Klaviyo works with 169,000 retailers globally, which use its all-in-one CRM platform to increase engagement, drive revenue and build loyalty.

“Businesses [are] looking to move beyond traditional marketing tools to build deeper, more profitable customer relationships… to unlock the potential of their customer data and drive sustainable growth.”

Ben Jackson, MD EMEA, Klaviyo

Having growing its regional team by 67%, Klaviyo’s EMEA presence was also supported by the recent opening of its Dublin office in February.