The Retail Recap – 15 August 2025 – what’s been making waves in retail this week?

From Lucy & Yak and the Entertainer becoming employee-owned businesses to Farmfoods empowering its frontline retail teams and the rise and rise of locker fulfilment and out-of-home deliveries, what’s been making waves in retail this week?

Lucy & Yak and the Entertainer become employee-owned

Fashion brand, Lucy & Yak, announced it is transitioning to an Employee Ownership Model (EOT), giving its team a controlling stake in the business, making them indirect owners and key beneficiaries.

“We believe that if you share the workload, you should share the benefits,” said Lucy Greenwood, Co-Founder of Lucy & Yak. “Now is the time to hand things over to our employees.”

Separately, Gary Grant, founder of the UK’s biggest toy chain, the Entertainer, has also announced he is handing over control of the business to his 1,900 workers.

He is transferring 100% ownership of the family-owned business to an employee trust, which means staff will get a share of the profits and a say in how the firm is run.

Farmfoods taps YOOBIC to empower frontline staff

Frozen food retailer, Farmfoods, will deploy YOOBIC, a leading platform for frontline retail teams, to empower its workforce and supercharge its store operations.

The retailer will use YOOBIC‘s all-in-one platform to digitise store operations, streamline task management and improve communication among its 5,000 colleagues across 340 UK stores.

It will also leverage the solution to deliver bite-sized training and e-learning, delivered to colleagues in the flow of work, as well as improving compliance, conducting digital store audits and KPI tracking.

Demand for locker deliveries gains ground

Over 115million retail parcels were delivered or returned via UK lockers in the last 12months, new research from InPost and Retail Economics has revealed, as demand for convenience sees out-of-home delivery adoption soar.

The new data showed that 87million outbound deliveries – representing 7% of all online orders – were made to lockers last year, while 28million parcels were returned at pick-up drop-off (PUDO) locations, making up 12% of all online returns.

The research also showed room for further uptake of locker deliveries; 20% of those yet to use PUDO would be open to doing so in the future, as consumers increasingly demand flexible fulfilment options that fit in around their daily routines.

Gearing up for Groceryshop – what not to miss at the global grocery event

With just over six weeks to go until Groceryshop 2025, we round-up some of the key goings on set to take place in Sin City when the global event for grocery retailers and CPG brands opens its doors at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas from 28 Sept – 01 Oct 2025.

New for 2025, Groceryshop’s Test Kitchen offers immersive AI-focused sessions across two tracks, led by top grocery retail execs and analysts.

Meanwhile, over on the main conference programme, Groceryshop 2025 will bring 150+ global leaders and changemakers to the stage, sharing insights on how to stay ahead and drive real impact in grocery and CPG.

Full event preview 👉 What not to miss at Groceryshop – 28 Sep – 01 Oct 2025.

Futon Company selects Wincanton for fulfilment

Futon Company has extended its contract with Wincanton in a new three year deal, which will support the furniture brand with end-to-end warehousing and omnichannel fulfilment.

Futon Company, which has become the go-to brand for space-saving furniture and compact urban living solutions, now has 24 stores across the UK and a growing digital presence. As part of its next phase of improved efficiency, it will partner with Wincanton to create a future-fit supply chain solution to support its ongoing systems development.

Wincanton will manage Futon Company’s end-to-end warehousing and distribution operation, including multi-channel stock management, delivery optimisation and seamless customer experience.

Integrations boom predicted as retailers prep for Peak

Patchworks is predicting a rise in the number of online retailers adopting integration-first strategies as they prepare for Black Friday/Cyber Monday (BFCM) and the 2025 Christmas peak trading period.

Last year during BFCM, Patchworks saw a +310% jump in the volume of operations processed via its solution – and it is forecasting the rise could be even greater in 2025, as retailers increasingly turn to iPaaS (integration Platform as a Service) to scale during peak trading periods.

Its data suggests online brands increasingly want to offer shoppers connected, omnichannel retail experiences – but without the complexities and operational demands that come with managing over-engineered tech stacks.

Xpand raises $6m to accelerate global growth

Retail technology start-up, Xpand, which builds autonomous, AI-powered retail stores, has raised $6million in a funding round led by Ibex Investors and Emerge.

Xpand develops modular ‘store-in-a-box’ units that integrate robotics, computer vision and real-time inventory management, allowing unmanned stores to operate 24/7 without staff.

This plug-and-play model allows retailers to grow their store footprint, fast and flexibly, while delivering seamless, personalised shopping experiences.