From ASOS tapping GXO for fulfilment services, to Monsoon Accessorize building greater resilience into its store network to bolster its expansion plans, and predictions Gen Z will represent the lion’s share of Black Friday spending, what’s been making waves in retail this week?
Top retail crime offenders linked to 22k+ incidents
New retail crime figures from Auror have revealed the extent of prolific offenders on driving up theft, abuse and organised crime offences in-store.
Its data showed that the top 500 most prolific offenders were linked to more than 22,000 retail crime events, with each individual associated with more than 27 recorded events.
It also found that repeat offenders are up to four times more likely to be violent, with 70% of the top 500 criminals having been violent towards colleagues and customers.
“These top offenders are overwhelmingly violent and organised,” said Mark Gleeson, GM UK & Europe at Auror. “They offend across brands, are connected with other associates to carry out their offending, and target products that carry high resale value.”
ASOS extends GXO fulfilment partnership to 2034
ASOS has announced a new nine-year contract with pure-play contract logistics provider, GXO Logistics (GXO), extending its warehouse fulfilment and transportation services partnership to 2034.
The renewed partnership will see GXO continue to support ASOS in delivering the fast, reliable service its customers expect, as well as offering shoppers greater convenience, choice and dependable service.
“Our ambition at ASOS is to be The Stylist for our customers, bringing the latest trends and exciting brands through curated, personalised experiences that help customers put together outfits with confidence,” Jonny O’Hara, Logistics Director at ASOS, said. “Delivering that experience relies on strong, flexible and reliable operations, and GXO have been a trusted partner.”
Record numbers of retailers to charge for returns during Peak
More UK retailers will charge for returns during peak sales, according to a new forecast from returns and post-purchase network, ZigZag, with 59% of retailers charging returns fees.
Not only will more retailers charge for returns, but fees are likely to rise by +5-10%. The mean fee rose by +7% to £3.91 per return last peak, with the fee most often paid at £4.99.
As return fees continue to be more commonplace, expectations around service are increasing. Almost two thirds (64%) of shoppers would abandon a retailer after a poor returns experience, demonstrating the premium available to retailers that excel after the point of purchase.
“Free returns are no longer the norm as shoppers have become more receptive to the idea that there’s no such thing as a free return, but charging a fee comes with higher expectations,” Al Gerrie, ZigZag’s CEO, said.
Monsoon Accessorize bolsters estate-wide store resilience with PMC
Monsoon Accessorize has underpinned its in-store technology infrastructure, deploying PMC’s Raptor remote monitoring and management platform to proactively prevent and fix technical issues to improve operations and ensure consistent CX across its estate.
With this growing store footprint focused on High Street and travel hub openings, maintaining reliable and resilient transactional systems remain critical to supporting the retailer’s growth.
Deploying PMC’s Raptor remote monitoring and management platform across its transactional tech stack, the retailer can now proactively monitor devices and software.
Since rollout, the solution has prevented over 2,000 technical incidents annually through proactive identification and automated resolution of issues. It has also now scaled to automate in excess of 20 million procedures each year.
“PMC has played an important role in helping us maintain a stable and resilient operating environment, even as some of our underlying hardware and software has aged,” David West, Chief Technology Officer at Monsoon Accessorize, said.
Gen Z to drive Black Friday spending
New research from eBay Advertising UK suggests that Gen Z will take the lead this Black Friday, doing much of their shopping through online marketplaces and apps as the discounting event takes a greater slice of festive spending.
The survey of over 2,000 UK consumers found nearly half (48%) are likely to buy Christmas gifts during the 2026 Black Friday sales, rising to nearly three quarters (73%) of Gen Z.
“Gen Z are heading into Black Friday ready to spend, and marketplaces are clearly going to play an important role in how they shop,” said Billy Mills, Senior Director of Global Advertising Sales at eBay.
Gen Z also looks set to lean heavily on digital channels for Black Friday shopping, with a third intending to do most of their shopping through online marketplaces (18%) or retailer apps (15%), compared with 23% of shoppers overall.
Despite BFCM AI scam concerns, shoppers drop their guard
Ahead of Black Friday, new Barclays research has shown that shoppers are letting their guard down when it comes to online security, even as scams become harder to spot.
Its data suggests one in three UK adults (34%) have been targeted by, lost money to, or known someone caught out by a shopping scam.
Awareness and concern about online scams is on the rise, with two in three shoppers (67%) believing online scams are more prevalent now compared to a year ago. However, this worry is not translating into caution, with just over a third (36%) saying they would check if a website is genuine before buying.
Shoppers also think AI is making scams harder to spot; three quarters (76%) believe advances in AI have made online scams more convincing, with 43% saying fake retailer websites are now harder to distinguish from genuine sites.
Morrisons taps Vusion for ‘shop to light’ capabilities
Morrisons has partnered with Vusion to launch a shop-to-light feature, aimed at helping customers quickly and easily find goods on-shelf.
The new flashing Product Finder within the More Card app now links with electronic shelf labels (ESLs). Customers using the app search for the product they need and select ‘flash price label’, prompting the shelf-edge to light up, helping the shopper more easily spot the product they want.
The addition of the flashing Product Finder is part of a wider refresh Morrisons has given its More Card app, having added weekly personalised offers and a new shopping list feature in October.
“Our new ‘shop to light’ feature is a great example of how we’re using technology to make a real difference in-store, helping our customers find the products they need quickly,” said Gordon Macpherson, Group Productivity Director at Morrisons.
Roy Horgan, UK & Ireland CEO at Vusion, added: “Technology has a huge role to play in making the shopping journey simpler, faster and more enjoyable for customers. ‘Shop to light’ is a great example of how we can help customers find what they need while making stores more seamless.”
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