The results of the second annual BrandZ Top 75 Most Valuable Global Retail Brands report were revealed by WPP and Kantar today. The research - which looks at luxury, apparel, retail and fast-food outlets - shows that the world's most valuable retail brands are worth $339 billion more this year than last, a total of $1.4 trillion. 14 May 2019
"Ugly" or "wonky" veg were blamed for up to 40% of wasted fruit and vegetables in 2013, as produce was discarded for failing to meet retailer appearance standards. 14 May 2019
Instagram has launched a @shop account, essentially a curation of posts from online merchants that sell products through the image-sharing app. 14 May 2019
Mugg & Bean has introduced a new 'Move Thru' store format with the first outlet opened in Cape Town today. The Move Thru concept has been launched to support the M&B On The Move business strategy. 14 May 2019
In #FreshOnTheShelf, we round up some of our favourite food and beverage products that have hit the shelves recently. 13 May 2019
The winners of the 2019 International Visual Merchandising (VM) Awards were announced at the RetailExpo, a European retail trade event, in London earlier this month. 13 May 2019
Rwandan PaaS (platform as a service) startup Ared has marked its first international expansion by setting up 10 women-run 'smart business in a box' solar-powered kiosks in Uganda. These kiosks have been set up in Kampala as well as in the refugee camps of the Arua district. 13 May 2019
Entries are now open for this year's South African Council of Shopping Centres' (SACSC) Retail Design and Development Awards 2019. SACSC is calling on shopping centre developers, owners and retailers to submit entries for the awards, which aims to identify and award exceptional shopping centre developments and retail store design within the South African property industry. 13 May 2019
LVMH, the world's largest luxury group, has announced the launch of a new Paris-based luxury fashion house, developed by Robyn Rihanna Fenty. 10 May 2019
The Cannabis Expo is making its way to Sibaya Casino in Durban, a city famous for the specific strands of cannabis that grow in the region. The Expo, presented by Go Life International, will be showcasing innovative products and businesses from across the globe. 10 May 2019
Nike has launched a new in-app scanning solution in the US, called Nike Fit, that provides customers with their recommended shoe size in each of the company's footwear products. The tool measures the full shape of both feet using a proprietary combination of computer vision, data science, machine learning, artificial intelligence and recommendation algorithms. 10 May 2019
South Africans can now shop for their favourite luxury beauty brands online at Takealot.com and Superbalist.com. Catering to strong local demand for luxury beauty products, the online retailers have extended their offering to include Estée Lauder, Clinique, Bobbi Brown, Smashbox, Glamglow, Tommy Hilfiger, DKNY, Aramis and Lab Series. In addition, Mac and Michael Kors are available at Superbalist. 10 May 2019
Sorbet Group has launched its first aesthetics concept store, called Sorbet SK-N. The new brand provides advanced cosmetic treatments for dermatological concerns in an elegantly-designed store format. 9 May 2019
The April 2019 fire at the Notre-Dame de Paris Cathedral came as an immense shock to the people of France, as well as throughout Europe and in countries across the world. 9 May 2019
The global number of successful retail chatbot interactions will reach 22 billion by 2023, up from an estimated 2.6 billion in 2019, as AI offers compelling new engagement solutions. This is according to a new report from Juniper Research titled AI in Retail: Segment Analysis, Vendor Positioning & Market Forecasts 2019-2023. 9 May 2019
Takealot.com has launched more than 25 collection facilities across the country. Its flagship Takealot Pickup Point at the New Road off-ramp in Midrand spans the N1 highway, the busiest highway in Africa, allowing motorists travelling in both directions to easily collect their online orders. 9 May 2019
Food Lover's Market has launched its annual Hunger Month initiative - a month-long in-store campaign aimed at raising awareness and funds for meals by encouraging consumers to purchase selected partner products. 7 May 2019
More than 100 years ago, Jock Morrison was asked to take over a general dealer store in KwaZulu-Natal; the owner had suffered shell shock after returning from World War I. Morrison took the opportunity to establish a grocery business called Jock Morrison & Sons (Pty) Ltd or JMS, which is still running to this day. 7 May 2019
Following on from its Little Shop and Little Garden promotions, Checkers has launched its Little Checkers collectables. For every R200 spent in store, Checkers and Checkers Hyper shoppers will receive a block pack, each containing a unit that forms part of a 35-piece mini Checkers supermarket. 7 May 2019
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