Alibaba.com: How AI is reshaping B2B sales and entrepreneurship November 25, 2025 For Alibaba.com, the true transformative power of AI won’t be for customers; it will be for business-to-business sales. Multimodal search, such as AI search using multiple data points, is driving a “paradigm shift” in global e-commerce, says Alibaba.com president Kuo Zhang at CoCreate Europe. “We’re completely redesigning what search is… for this year alone, our multimodal [...]
Budget: Sugar tax to be extended to milkshake and lattes November 25, 2025 Pre-packaged milkshakes and lattes are set to be included in the government’s new ‘sugar tax’ as it attempts to tackle obesity in the UK. The labour government is set to end the exemption for milk-based drinks from the tax on sugary drinks, although the move would not include drinks made in cafes and restaurants. Chancellor [...]
Westfield issues retail taxes warning ahead of Budget November 25, 2025 Shopping centre giant Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield has warned that higher taxes for the retail industry in tomorrow’s Autumn Budget would lead to inflation and low investment. Reeves’ second Budget is widely expected to reveal a range of tax hikes after a bruising year for productivity and GDP growth. Crucially for retail, the Chancellor is expected to unveil [...]
Asda billionaire quits role at Vinted rival November 25, 2025 Billionaire Mohsin Issa, who co-owns supermarket giant Asda, has stepped down as a director of a second-hand fashion startup he backed. The businessman is a major investor in online platform Loopi alongside Victoria Price through Boulder Investco – a fund which supports startups in the UK. Launched in the UK in January, Loopi was co-founded [...]
Next hikes dividend after NIMBY backlash sparks Essex land sale November 25, 2025 Retail giant Next has offloaded a highly contested piece of land in Essex after a group of NIMBYs blocked its plans to build a distribution centre. The firm completed the sale on November 21, bringing to a close its intention to develop the Waltham Abbey site and generating £54m in cash. Next has said it [...]
Reeves delays Shein import clampdown to 2029 November 22, 2025 Rachel Reeves will wait four years before scrapping a controversial tax break that benefits low-cost foreign retailers such as Shein and Temu, hitting British high street chains who had pushed for immediate action in next week’s Budget. The chancellor has confirmed she will abolish the UK’s ‘de minimis’ rule, which exempts parcels worth under £135 [...]
Retail sales drop in pre-Budget disappointment November 21, 2025 Retail sales fell 1.1 per cent in October, following a 0.7 per cent rise last month, in a “disappointing” start to the all-important festive season ahead of the budget next week. Sales in clothing were particularly affected as shoppers took a more cautious approach, with spending “constrained by consumer nervousness amid mixed messaging from a [...]
Consumer confidence is ‘bleak’ ahead of Budget November 21, 2025 Consumer confidence has cratered ahead of the Budget according to a leading survey closely monitored by policymakers at the Treasury and Bank of England. The GfK consumer confidence barometer has shown the overall index falling to -19 in November, slightly lower than at the same time a year ago. The survey of around 2,000 individuals [...]
Asda raises almost £600m from supermarket sell-off November 20, 2025 Asda has raised close to £600m from three deals for its supermarkets ahead of a looming debt repayment to previous owner Walmart. The grocery giant struck sale-and-leaseback deals for its supermarkets totalling £568m, according to the FT. It raised £467m in two deals with New York-based asset manager Blue Owl and London-listed Supermarket Income REIT [...]
New Bond Street crowned most expensive retail destination in the world November 20, 2025 London’s New Bond Street has been crowned the world’s most expensive retail destination for the first time as investor confidence returns to high-end retail. Rents on New Bond Street have risen 22 per cent in the past year, helping it to leapfrog over Milan’s Via Montenapoleone and New York’s iconic Upper Fifth Avenue. Duncan Gillard, head of central London Retail at Cushman & Wakefield, [...]