From John Lewis piloting a new rapid delivery service to B&Q launching Click & Collect for orders from third-party sellers on its marketplace to consumers’ rising adoption of AI in their day-to-day lives, what’s been making waves in retail this week?

Prime Day deal hunters stick to searching on Amazon

Despite rival retailers, including Boots and Argos, offering discounts during the Amazon Prime Day period (08 – 11 July 2025), consumers weren’t searching beyond Amazon for deals, limiting the halo effect of the event on non-Amazon sites, according to data from product discovery platform, Constructor.

Analysis of over 160million search queries across 100+ retail sites during Prime Day 2024 and 2025 by Constructor showed that while many retailers ran competing sales, there was no increase in sales-related searches, such as “sale,” “promo” or “clearance”, on non-Amazon sites during the Prime Day period.

“Most shoppers aren’t trained to look for deals across other sites,” Nate Roy, Strategic Director of Ecommerce Innovation at Constructor, said.

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John Lewis enlists Uber Eats for new rapid delivery pilot

John Lewis will pilot a rapid delivery offering in partnership with Uber Eats, providing customers with a quick and convenient way to shop across for nursery, premium beauty and gifts. 

Customers within an 8km radius of John Lewis stores in Leeds and Stratford can now order from 150 curated products from brands including Benefit, Molton Brown, Creed, Ultrasun and MAM. Ordered directly via the Uber Eats app, items can be delivered in as little as 30 minutes and will match prices across John Lewis’ other sales channels to uphold its ‘Never Knowingly Undersold’ price promise.

The John-Lewis x Uber Eats pilot runs until early September and aims to understand customer demand, purchasing behaviours and operational logistics before a wider national rollout.

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Lincolnshire Co-op taps Trust Retail to optimise inventory

Lincolnshire Co-op has partnered with Trust Retail to deploy a dynamic inventory management system across 99 food stores and filling stations.

The move aims to improve stock accuracy, optimise inventory levels as well as enhancing operational efficiencies. The system will also provide accurate stock information for Quick Commerce (Q-commerce) customers purchasing through third-party platforms, such as Just Eat and Uber Eats, improving consistency between physical and digital channel inventory.

“This solution will not only increase our stock file accuracy to drive sales and reduce waste, but also simplify operations and reduce workload for our store teams so they can focus on our customers,” Andy Warman, Chief Transformation Officer at Lincolnshire Co-op, said.

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Rethinking returns: retail’s next competitive frontier

While retailers have sought to optimise every click of the customer journey, returns remains a conundrum. But, rather than accepting exchanges as a cost of doing business, it’s time for a new mindset, says Signifyd‘s Nikhita Hyett.

In our latest guest article, she explores why returns could be one of retail’s biggest untapped opportunities, covering:

⏪ From logistics to loyalty, why returns now matter more than ever
📦 Smarter strategies for managing returns risks
🎯 Building intelligence, not just efficiency into the returns loop
💞 Exchanges as a long-term loyalty driver

Read the full article, here: Guest Post | Signifyd’s Nikhita Hyett on why returns are retail’s next competitive frontier.

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TP Toys links with Scurri to reduce carrier costs by -25%

Top 10 toy supplier TP Toys has reduced carrier costs by over a quarter while also enhancing carrier diversification and optimising shipping processes to improve CX, partnering with delivery management platform, Scurri.

Scurri has enabled the business to integrate seamlessly with a broad network of carriers, reducing its dependence on any single provider while its Rules Engine automates optimal carrier selection based on pre-set criteria.

“Having access to a wide range of carriers significantly reduces risk, particularly during peak trading periods, making Scurri instrumental in delivering our carrier diversification strategy,” said Andrew Bevan, Compliance and WMS Manager at TP Toys.

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B&Q launches Click & Collect service for diy.com customers

B&Q has launched Marketplace Click & Collect, a new service for customers ordering products from third-party sellers via its online marketplace, diy.com, aiming to offer shoppers greater flexibility, speed and convenience.

In a “first for a UK marketplace,” B&Q’s new service, which is being trialled in B&Q Fareham, allows customers to buy products from third-party sellers on diy.com for next day collection in-store.

Marketplace Click & Collect will complement B&Q’s existing return-to-store service which is already available on diy.com orders, further expanding the retailer’s omnichannel proposition.

Following its success, B&Q plans to extend the service to ~300 stores as part of a phased roll out.   

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40% of UK consumers use AI at least once a day, says Yext

AI is becoming embedded in consumers’ everyday search behaviour, as adoption and trust for the technology continues to grow, according to the latest research from brand visibility platform, Yext.

Original research of over 2,000 global shoppers by Yext revealed that 40% of UK consumers now use AI search tools at least once a day to discover, evaluate and choose the brands they shop with.

8 in 10 UK shoppers have increased their AI search use over the past year, while 38% now trust AI-powered tools, closing the gap between trust in AI and traditional search, which stands at 50%.