From Primark finally making its move into ecommerce, to The Range deploying connected headsets across its UK store estate, and Stella McCartney enhancing personalisation in-store, what’s been making waves in retail this week?

Primark makes long awaited move into ecommerce

Having resisted calls for a full ecommerce offering for years, Primark will make its move into digital.

Owner, ABF, said in a statement that Primark would launch home deliveries “in the future” and had acquired an automated fulfilment facility in Sheffield to support its new digital capabilities.

“Primark will continue to grow Click & Collect and, having undertaken a detailed review, will in the future offer home delivery in Great Britain.”

The value fashion retailer said that growing “digital maturity” and “online market developments” were behind its ecommerce u-turn, but remained tight-lipped as to when home deliveries would start.

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Pentland Brands taps AI to green its supply chain

Pentland Brands will team up with Inspectorio to consolidate and strengthen its responsible sourcing and supply chain transparency efforts across its global brand portfolio.

Each of the labels within Pentland Brands’ portfolio – from Speedo to Berghaus – will use Inspectorio’s platform as a central hub for managing complex global sourcing and compliance requirements to support their global expansion plans and ESG efforts.

As Pentland Brands expands into new markets, Inspectorio’s AI-powered platform will be deployed at both the group and brand level, creating a central source of key supply chain data in one system.

Richard Mason, Sustainability Director at Pentland Brands, said that the platform “gives teams and suppliers the evidence to back [its] commitment to sustainability across every brand, so responsibility is something [it] can demonstrate and improve.” 

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Stella McCartney reshapes store CX with clienteling platform

Stella McCartney has selected Proximity to support its clienteling strategy, rolling out the Proximity app across 14 stores in the UK, Italy, France, Spain and the U.S.

By bringing customer insights, product information and day-to-day workflows together in a single app, Proximity will enable Stella McCartney colleagues to personalise in-store buying journeys and deliver more informed and connected CX.

Store teams can now quickly understand each customer’s preferences and purchase history, enabling more relevant conversations and timely follow-up for more consistent experiences.

“By equipping store teams with the right customer insights, tools and product knowledge at their fingertips, we can help create more meaningful and valuable interactions every day,” Cathy McCabe, CEO and Co-Founder of Proximity, commented.

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Brits travel 36bn miles a year managing parcel-related trips

Brits collectively travel almost 36 billion miles every year to pick up and drop off parcel deliveries and returns, new research from Quadient reveals.  

Its poll of 2,000 UK consumers found that the average Brit travels 44.4 miles every month – equivalent to 533 miles a year – to send, collect and return parcels, with those journeys adding up to almost 36 billion miles annually across the UK.

Parcel-related journeys have now become an increasingly time-consuming part of everyday life. More than a third of consumers (36%) say they make more trips than they would like simply to manage parcel deliveries and returns.

“Managing parcels is taking up more of people’s time than it should. Too often, consumers must visit several locations because different carriers operate through separate networks,” said Katia Bourgeais-Crémel, EVP Lockers, Europe & International at Quadient.

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Retail sales slow as summer spending winds down

Dampened consumer demand hit retail sales last month, according to new figures from BRC-KPMG, as early summer heatwaves brought forward seasonal spending, leaving retail revenues flat.

For the period spanning the four weeks to 29 Aug 2026, total UK retail sales increased by +0.7% year-on-year, however this was below the rolling 12-month average of +1.6%.

“August was a disappointing month for retail sales,” said Harvir Dhillon, Lead Economist at the British Retail Consortium (BRC).

“Despite pockets of growth, particularly in some food categories, overall performance was below the average for the past year. With the cost of households bills rising, and set to rise further, many shoppers have clearly been tightening their belts.”

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Viral stockouts and socially-driven out-of-stocks risk long-term loyalty

While scarcity created by viral stockouts can create FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out) among shoppers and make products more desirable, repeated availability failures can quickly turn into frustration and put brand loyalty at risk, according to the latest research from invent.ai.

Original research of over 1,000 UK shoppers by the AI-native retail planning and inventory decisioning platform found that product scarcity driven by viral out-of-stocks can make brands more aspirational.

Nearly half (49%) say they become frustrated when viral products sell out and believe retailers should have forecasted demand better. That frustration rises to 61% when retailers fail to anticipate demand for popular items.  

The loyalty risk is also clear, with more than half of shoppers saying repeated availability problems would make them reconsider their relationship with a brand.

“Scarcity can create desire, but it’s availability that builds lasting loyalty,” said invent.ai’s Lukas Fischer. “Retailers need to anticipate these fast-moving demand signals and adapt inventory in real-time to convert hype into long-term relationships, rather than short-lived viral demand spikes.”

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The Range rolls out VoCoVo’s headsets to 283 stores

Homeware and garden retailer, The Range, will deploy VoCoVo headsets and call points across all its 283 stores to enhance efficiency, customer service and staff wellbeing.

The move follows a year-long one-store trial, which saved 2,975 labour hours through streamlined operations and accelerated task completion.

“The initial trial with The Range has shown how it can achieve significant time and cost savings while maintaining outstanding service levels and optimum in-store experience,” said Beth Worrall, CEO of VoCoVo. “We’re looking forward to working alongside the team to implement the technology across all its stores.” 

By connecting colleagues across the store, the headsets will help create a more efficient working environment where colleagues spend less time chasing information and more time supporting customers.  

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