​The British Retail Consortium (BRC) has beefed up the non-executive directors on its board with the appointment of two new names, including Peter Wood, the CEO of AllSaints.

India's biggest retailer Reliance will acquire dozens of small grocery and non-food brands as it targets building its own $6.5 billion consumer goods business to challenge foreign giants like Unilever.

French cosmetics group L'Oréal, owner of brands such as Yves Saint Laurent and Lancôme, has appointed Emmanuel Goulin as president and CEO of L'Oréal Italy. Goulin will succeed François-Xavier Fenart.

​BNPL specialist Klarna has rolled out Virtual Shopping, “connecting online shoppers directly with experts in physical stores, through live video and messaging, to provide a highly personalised experience online”. 

Tech firm Nexite has announced a new funding injection. It takes its total funding up to $100m for its breakthrough Bluetooth tag and SaaS platform that boosts physical shopping and makes it more e-tail-like.

​As the cost of living continues to rise, pressure is mounting on the UK government to push ahead to regulate the buy-now pay-later (BNPL) finance industry.

​Failed businesses can yield rewards. Hedge funds that ran Debenhams look to have recovered most of their costs while the retailer’s administrators have clocked up £5.3 million in fees in the two years since bankruptcy.

Alphabet Inc's Google on Wednesday unveiled a palette of 10 skin tones that it described as a step forward in making gadgets and apps that better serve people of color.

UGC is becoming ever more important to the shopping journey and the latest international Shopper Experience Index report shows that “purchase influence has shifted from business-to-consumer, to consumer-to-consumer”.

​UK publishing group Future, which owns titles including Marie Claire and Country Life, has acquired women’s lifestyle platform Who What Wear from US firm Clique Brands for what's reported to be around $100 million.

​The UK government has confirmed earlier rumours that it has plans to force landlords to rent out empty stores to try to breathe life back into high streets.

​Manchester-based beauty platform Beauty Bay has appointed bankers from Threadstone Capital to look at its options and could choose to put itself up for sale, a report said on Tuesday.

​The UK government’s intended clampdown on influencer advertising that targets young people looks to be intensifying. And MPs claim regulation has failed to keep pace with the growth of online influencer culture. 

​Good news for UK online fashion sales. Not so good news for digital beauty sales. Even worse for the e-tail industry as a whole. And after weak April numbers, it suggests the digital boom could well be over.

​Not content with launching another branch of H Beauty a few weeks ago, Harrods is putting big support behind beauty in May as it invites consumers to enjoy ‘The Harrods Beauty Adventure’ at its Knightsbridge flagship.

​There was good news and bad on UK spending on Tuesday as reports showed consumers are being impacted by higher prices, but are still spending on fashion and on activities that require new clothes and beauty products.