Priya Sharma 
AO World’s full-year results show revenue up about 11% to roughly £1.26bn and adjusted profit near £50m. Founder John Roberts says the online electricals retailer is just getting started on a five to 10 year plan.
Debenhams Group, the retailer formerly known as Boohoo, narrowed its annual pre-tax loss to £108m and lifted adjusted EBITDA to £53m for the year to February 2026. The results confirmed its shift to an online marketplace model is restoring profitability, and that PrettyLittleThing will stay in the group after returning to profit.
Coupang’s Taiwan flywheel has crossed the demand-proof threshold, and its market-entry pattern points to Japan as the next capex magnet. The likely outcome: a deepened Japan footprint signalled by Q4 2026, not a brand-new country.
Three independent signals from the last month point to network-tokenized rails, not closed-loop platform checkout, becoming the default settlement layer for agentic commerce. The shift looks likely to be visible by the end of Q3 2026.
Academy Sports and Outdoors beat Wall Street expectations for the first quarter of fiscal 2026, with net sales up 6.7% to $1.44 billion and comparable sales returning to growth. The sporting goods retailer raised the low end of its full-year guidance and lifted its dividend.
MoneyGram and Western Union both launched dollar stablecoins within a month of each other. With GENIUS Act final rules due July 18, more payments incumbents are likely to follow before the end of Q3 2026.
TikTok Shop opens in Poland in 2026 as the eighth European market. What it means for D2C brands, Allegro, Temu, Shein and the wider CEE region in 12 to 24 months.
Pay-by-bank promises lower fees and instant settlement, but refunds, disputes, and consumer habit still gate retail adoption. Here is the concrete 2026 read on account-to-account payments alongside cards, wallets, and the crypto digital wallets conversation.
Buy Now Pay Later shifts the credit risk to the provider, but the dispute risk often lands back on the merchant. Here is who pays, when, and the evidence that actually wins a BNPL chargeback in 2026.
Tap to pay on phone turns a smartphone into a contactless terminal with no extra hardware. Here are the real fees, the security model, and the rollout steps for a small retail counter.