From Bodycare’s plans to become the UK’s “first AI retailer”, to Joybuy launching its ‘Summer Black Friday’ and Sports Direct adding q-commerce deliveries for World Cup fans, what’s been making waves in retail this week?

Bodycare picks PMC to support its big AI ambitions

Bodycare will partner with PMC to design, orchestrate and deliver the digital infrastructure that will power its new store network, as it looks to become the UK’s “first AI retailer” as part of its High Street comeback.

Building a community-first estate, Bodycare will run all its store operations through a proprietary, custom-built AI-platform, which will power everything from WFM, to POS systems and digital shelf technologies.  It also aims to make each new store a social content hub for local communities, generating hyper-localised UGC within dedicated production studios.

“Store experience, digital presence and community engagement – all underpinned by AI intelligence – will be central to Bodycare’s new vision, as we prepare to welcome customers back,” said David Stern, Managing Director at Bodycare.

PMC will support the end-to-end design and execution of Bodycare’s IT infrastructure.

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The Wine Society taps Preferabli’s AI to power discovery

The Wine Society has teamed up Preferabli to create new personalised online shopping experiences and 1-2-1 AI recommendations for customers.

Leveraging Preferabli’s discovery software, which uses AI to create sensory experiences, The Wine Society has launched a new online recommendation tool, My Taste Match.

This will guide customers’ purchasing decisions via a series of quick questions about their personal wine preferences, developing a detailed taste profile to help them choose the best matched product to suit their tastes.

Developed by a team of PhDs, Masters of Wine and Master Sommeliers, My Taste Match’s recommendation engine is underpinned by a proprietary database that contains hundreds of characteristics for each wine to help broaden shoppers’ horizons.

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Social media drives new speed demands among shoppers

Viral trends, influencer culture and faster content cycles are compressing demand windows and accelerating consumers’ expectations for new product drops, says new data from invent.ai. 

Original research of over 1,000 UK shoppers by invent.ai showed that two fifths (37%) expect brands to bring products to market more frequently compared to just two years ago, rising to almost half (46%) of Millennials.

One in three (29%) say social media means they expect retailers to drop new products more quickly, with a further 32% saying faster product drops keep them engaged and excited by brands.

“Retail is now operating at the speed of social media, where a single viral moment can instantly distort demand patterns, said Farid Mohsen, VP of Strategic Accounts at invent.ai. “The challenge for retailers is no longer simply forecasting demand but forecasting volatility in real time.”

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Joybuy takes on Amazon with ‘Summer Black Friday’

JD.com’s new online marketplace, Joybuy, has announced an inaugural “Summer Black Friday”, running from 15 – 30 Jun 2026, aiming to offer summertime discounting to rival the traditional November promotional period.

Joybuy said the move was designed to deliver value to shoppers who are facing rising costs, with its latest poll of 2,000 UK consumers suggesting almost half want a Black Friday in the summer.

Joybuy said the new annual shopping would be built around great value, trusted brands and fast, reliable delivery.

The timing of the Joybuy Summer Black Friday event will cross over with Amazon’s Prime Day (23 – 26 Jun 2026). However, Joybuy said its promotional event will be “open to everyone” and that “no subscription is required”, unlike Prime Day which reserves discounts for Members.

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LTW 2026 | Holland & Barrett, Estée Lauder & FedEx on supply chain evolution

As London Tech Week, Holland & Barrett’s Vineta Bajaj, Estée Lauder’s Jamal Chamariq and FedEx’ Tony Kreager discussed the evolution of the supply chain.

Joining Customer Whisperer, Kate Hardcastle MBE, on the Transformation Stage, they explored:

⛓️ Strategies for moving beyond supply chain visibility and into orchestrated action
🔮 Forecasting in growing volatility, from social demand spikes to geopolitical uncertainty
📈 The role of culture, AI and data in supply chain evolution
💸 Putting the ‘value’ into the value chain; moving from cost centre to value creation

Read the full session write up here 👉 LTW 2026 | Holland & Barrett, Estée Lauder & FedEx on moving beyond supply chain visibility.

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Sports Direct launches World Cup same day deliveries with Zapp

Sports Direct will team up with on-demand delivery platform, Zapp, to give footie fans across London fast deliveries on FIFA World Cup 2026 merchandise, from shirts to last-minute match-day essentials.

Customers can order FIFA World Cup merch alongside drinks, snacks and match-day essentials, delivered in up to 20 minutes, around the clock.

Zapp said it expects England fixtures to be among the busiest events of the year on its platform. And, with matches taking place in the U.S. meaning late night kick offs falling outside of traditional store opening hours, it expects demand to be driven by last-minute q-commerce purchases.

Zapp said that since the teams landed in the U.S. for the tournament, it had already seen football-related searches rise over +300%.

“Football creates spontaneous shopping moments,” Rowan Lawson, Commercial Director at Zapp, said. “Traditionally that’s meant a rush to the shops – but, through our partnership with Sports Direct, fans can now get FIFA World Cup merchandise, delivered in minutes.”

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WHS deploys ESLs to enhance CX within its travel retail hubs

WHSmith will enhance CX with SOLUM’s electronic shelf labels (ESLs) across its UK travel retail estate, starting with high-footfall locations including the retailer’s recently opened flagship stores at Heathrow.

The rollout is also designed to strengthen pricing accuracy, improve shelf-edge communication and support more efficient store operations.

“As we continue to evolve our offer, ESL solutions help us support a more intuitive customer experience while enabling colleagues to operate more efficiently,” said Heidi Reynolds, Retail Director at WHSmith.

Supporting WHSmith’s stores at Heathrow’s T3, 4 and 5 as across its wider travel network, the ESLs will “support high-footfall environments, helping improve shelf-edge accuracy, efficiency and in-store experiences,” Mark Duckworth, Country Manager UK&I at SOLUM, added.

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