Today's roundup covers the stories shaping retail, ecommerce, supply chain and sourcing on both sides of the Atlantic: a widening grocery slowdown in the US against resilient UK retail sales, big swings in ecommerce growth, a rush of tariff driven activity at ports and in manufacturing, and AI moving from pilot projects toward the checkout.
Today's Headlines
Retail Industry
US grocery sales slowdown deepens as shoppers buy fewer items. Grocery unit sales fell 1.8% year over year in June 2026 as stretched shoppers traded down to cheaper brands, according to CNBC.
UK retail sales volumes rise for a second straight month. GB retail sales volumes rose 1.0% in June 2026, following a 1.2% rise in May, according to the Office for National Statistics.
Ecommerce and Digital Retail
Amazon posts 20% sales growth in the second quarter. Amazon's net sales rose 20% to $200.6 billion in the second quarter of 2026, with AWS revenue climbing to $42.2 billion, according to CNBC.
UK online retail sales monitor shows a second year of decline. UK online retail sales fell 2.3% year over year in June 2026, the latest reading in a two year run of declining growth, according to IMRG data reported by Retail Times.
Supply Chain and Logistics
Imports surge at a top US container port as retailers race ahead of tariffs. Inbound volume at a leading US port rose 11% to more than 387,000 TEUs as retailers frontloaded shipments ahead of expected tariff increases, according to FreightWaves.
Marks and Spencer breaks ground on a £340 million automated distribution centre. M&S is investing £340 million to build a 1.3 million square foot automated food distribution centre in Daventry, creating 1,000 jobs, according to the M&S Newsroom.
Levi Strauss to close its Kentucky distribution center, cutting 303 jobs. Levi Strauss is closing its Hebron, Kentucky distribution center and shifting the work to a third party operator in Ohio, with about 303 employees set to lose their jobs as separations begin around August 30, according to Supply Chain Dive.
Sourcing and Manufacturing
New US tariffs on 60 economies over forced labour take effect. The US Trade Representative's new Section 301 tariffs of 10% to 12.5% on imports from 60 economies over failures to curb forced labour took effect July 24, 2026, according to USTR.
Hull bioethanol plant to close after UK and US trade deal removes tariff. Vivergo Fuels is closing its Hull bioethanol plant and laying off 160 workers after a UK and US trade deal scrapped the 19% tariff on US ethanol imports, according to the BBC.
AI for Retail, Ecommerce and Supply Chain
AI driven shopping orders grow fifteen times in a year as agent wars heat up. AI driven orders across US retail sites grew 15 times between January 2025 and January 2026, as Amazon, OpenAI, Target and Instacart race to build shopping agents, according to Modern Retail.
AI powered beauty personalisation debuts at John Lewis on Oxford Street. DCYPHER Beauty is launching AI powered skin analysis technology in store at John Lewis's Oxford Street flagship this August, ahead of a wider rollout across the estate in 2027, according to Retail Technology Innovation Hub.
