September 2025

The Daily Retail Newsletter for brands and media – 01/09/25

Main Image: Joe Browns

PRShots Roundup brings you the latest retail news from Primark, Hotel Chocolat, Fat Face, Frasers, Aldi, Walmart, Heyanno, Topshop, Oxfam and Waitrose. Plus, how to adapt your email for AI-powered inboxes and zero-click journeys, why live experiences are the best way to build trust and more.

THE LATEST RETAIL INDUSTRY NEWS

Profits surge at Royal Mail’s parent company

Royal Mail’s parent company International Distribution Services (IDS) has reported pre-tax profits jumped to £429m in the year to 30 Mar 2025, up from £114m the previous year.

Primark debuts first standalone homeware shop in England

Primark has launched its first UK standalone home store at Manchester’s Trafford Palazzo shopping centre.

Fat Face launches in Germany through Zalando tie-up

Fat Face has made its debut in Germany using etailer Zalando’s platform and intends to enter more European markets the same way.

Frasers cuts bonus goal as Michael Murray misses £100m payout

Frasers Group has unveiled plans for a new five-year bonus scheme for CEO Michael Murray with a reduced share price target of £12, down from £15.

Oxford Street to get one-day pedestrianisation preview in September

London’s Oxford Street seems to be getting closer and a preview of what its future could be with a trial pedestrianisation on 21 Sept for a special one-day event.

Walmart is recruiting UK Sellers to Its online marketplace

Walmart has begun a major push to bring U.K. sellers to its global Marketplace on the US Walmart Marketplace, as well as its growing international marketplaces in Canada, Mexico and Chile.

Aldi ‘s Shop&Go checkout-free stores get checkouts

Aldi's checkout-free Shop&Go store in Greenwich is going hybrid, shifting from a tap-in only format to include a manual self-checkout scanning system.

TRENDS, SUSTAINABILITY, STRATEGY AND TECHNOLOGY

How to adapt your email for AI-powered inboxes and zero-click journeys

Clicks are vanishing, but email still sparks action. Learn how to prove its influence with smarter metrics and schema markup.

Why live experiences are the best way to build trust

Consumers today aren’t asking what you said or posted online. They’re asking: ‘Do I trust it?’ And increasingly, the answer hinges on whether they’ve experienced it firsthand.

More than a third of UK marketers have dramatically changed their AI approach

One year since the introduction of the European Union’s AI Act, new research shows that more than a third (37%) of UK marketers have dramatically changed their approach to AI.

61% of marketers not confident in AI’s ability to drive revenue

New research from General Assembly shows many marketers doubt AI’s ability to impact the bottom line, but a lack of training could be at fault.

Gen X are now the biggest spenders

New figures from NeilsonIQ show Gen X consumers will spend $15.2tn (around £11.28 tn) this year worldwide, eclipsing the Baby Boomers’ $13.5 tn (£10.02 tn).

Waitrose trials AI smart trolleys to keep track of purchases

Waitrose is doing a “very small-scale” trial of an AI computer vision system that recognises products as customers put them in their trollies at the supermarket’s Bracknell site.

PEOPLE, MOVERS AND SHAKERS

Hotel Chocolat taps up Mars executive as new UK boss

Hotel Chocolat has hired Mars exec Carrie Martin as its new UK boss, following CEO Lysa Hardy’s departure from the business.

Ex-ABF finance chief picked as chair of UK deposit return scheme operator

John Bason, finance director of Primark parent company Associated British Foods for over 20 years, was announced as the chair of the UK Deposit Management Organisation (UK DMO).

Giorgio Armani sees succession as a ‘gradual transition’

The 91-year-old Italian fashion titan told the Financial Times he is planning for a “gradual transition” of power and not a “moment of rupture.”

BRAND NEWS

Waitrose trials new ‘Little Treats’ initiative for loyalty scheme members

Waitrose is trialling a new My Waitrose loyalty scheme incentive, by offering members up to three ‘Little Treats’ when they spend £50/100/250.

Danish brand Heyanno starts UK shipping

Danish fashion brand Heyanno is bringing its “genderless designs” directly to the UK for the first time via website mosmosh.

The luxury brands rolling out star-studded campaigns for AW25

Luxury houses are leaning into celebrity power this season, unveiling campaigns that blend cinematic storytelling with global icons like Miley Cyrus and Gisele Bündchen.

Topshop's physical store return looks very different from its previous incarnation

Topshop and Topman have arrived in Liberty and while the dedicated space has been made over in the Topshop style, it still looks very different from the Topshop of old.

Oxfam launches Second Hand September retail campaign

Oxfam’s annual Second Hand September campaign fronted by Jameela Jamil is calling on people to choose second-hand over fast fashion to reduce the billions of items of unworn clothes.

AND FINALLY x2

Counterfeit clothes fraudsters sentenced after £90m tax scam

The retail fraudster behind one of the UK’s biggest ever carousel tax frauds has been ordered to pay back over £90m with the sale of property across London, Preston and overseas.

Giorgio Armani launches the Armani/Archivio digital platform at the Venice Film Festival

Giorgio Armani is marking its 50th anniversary with the debut of Armani/Archivio, a new digital platform created to showcase and preserve the brand’s rich heritage.

PRSHOTS TOP 10 SEARCHES

What were our users searching for on PRShots Week ending Aug 29^th 2025?

1/ Christmas

2/ AW25

3/ Halloween

4/ Cushion

5/ Candle

6/ Wreath

7/ Throw

8/ Vase

9/ Stocking

10/ Bauble

PRSHOTS DIARY

PRShots Retail Calendar Alerts

Days until School holidays are over (3rd Sept) – 2

Days until Halloween – 60

Days until Black Friday - 88

Days until Christmas Day – 115

How to make your products attractive to the media in September

Our September PR toolkit and content calculator is here to help PRs and marketers forward-plan campaigns and pitches armed with some timely and topical angles, plus it’s a checklist for potential campaign hooks.

Summer is nearly over, and it’s time to look to the autumn and to the winter. Mid-September marks just 100 days to Christmas so you should be adding your Christmas images for those monthly/weekly magazines with medium lead times. Plus, look at adding some Spring-Summer 2026 images for those titles with long lead times, as they will be starting to look at their Feb and March 2026 issues so you can help them out with previews of SS26.

The media are going to be starting to create features around what to wear for university or college, and the office autumn wardrobe. Now the nights are drawing in, they’ll also be running features on winter wear, so add coats/jumpers/boots. Plus they’ll be looking for images for Halloween and bonfire night parties and then there are titles looking for decorations and gifts for Christmas and some last-minute AW images.

Don’t forget to add keywords – Gifts, Christmas, Xmas, Autumn, Winter, and Halloween will all be looked for. It’s National Yoga Awareness Month, so you could add yoga as a keyword on any athleisure wear, floor mats, rugs etc.

If you’re a PRShots brand user and you need more ideas, then take a look at the keywords that media are searching for on PRShots and try and add those in.

If you’re looking for more hooks to help promote your brand and products, then see the list of days, weeks and fortnights below.

September Diary - Weeks/Months

September is National Honey Month and National Yoga Awareness month and it’s second-hand September (an Oxfam initiative https://www.oxfam.org.uk/get-involved/second-hand-september/), Self-Care September, as well as Organic September, and Sourdough September.

September also has London Fashion Week between 18^th-22^nd September and will features men and women’s fashion and includes digital and physical events. The schedule will be available here https://londonfashionweek.co.uk/schedule, other fashion weeks include New York Fashion Week (11^th-16^th), Milan Fashion Week (23^rd-29^th) and Paris Fashion Week (29^thSept -7^th Oct)

There’s also: the Moda trade show (7^th-10^th Sept), London Textile Fair (2^nd-3^rd Sept), Top Drawer (14^th-16^th Sept) and Sustainable Fashion Week (27^thSept to 5^th Oct).

Other weeks to celebrate this month include;

Sexual Health Week (8^th- 14^th) (Second week in September)

British Science Festival (10^th -14^th)

Jane Austen Festival (12^th-21^st)

Open House Festival (13^th -21^st)

Bridal Fashion Week (14^th-16^th)

Great British Beach Clean Week (19^th-28^th)

Wrap’s National Recycle Week (22^nd-28^th)

Negroni Week (22^nd-28^th)

Fairtrade Fortnight (22^nd –5^th Oct)

British Food Fortnight (26^thSept – 12^th Oct)

Wool Week (28^th Sept – 4^th Oct)

September - Days

1^st – National Tofu Day

1^st – Labor Day US

3^rd – Schools start going back

4^th-5^th – Eid Milad an-Nabi (Mawlid)

5^th – International Charity Day

6^th – Read a Book Day

12^th -14^th – The Goodwood Revival

7^th – National Beer Lovers Day (US)

7^th – Great North Run Newcastle

16^th – 100 days until Christmas

21^st – Zero Emissions Day

22^nd – Car-free Day

22^nd – September Equinox

22^nd-25^th– Rosh Hashanah

22^nd – Navaratri Starts

25^th – 3 months until Christmas Day

27^th – World Tourism Day

For more diary dates for this year see the Marketing Retail Diary

NB - All dates have been checked, but some events may change due to unforeseen circumstances or have not been fully confirmed for 2025 by the authorities controlling the event(s).

WANT TO GET YOUR IMAGERY IN FRONT OF OVER 20,000 MEDIA?

If you’re a brand looking to get your imagery on PRShots then get in touch with our sales team at sales@prshots.com We have solutions and pricing for all sizes and types of business from small startups to large multi-nationals.

NEW BRANDS TO PRSHOTS

Gardena has been producing products and solutions for the garden for more than 50 years and operates in more than 100 countries. Products and services include watering, lawn care, tree and shrub care and soil cultivation.

Flymo invented the hover mower more than 50 years ago, and since then Flymo have become the market leaders in the design and innovation of unique gardening products, which makes gardening easier.

Salts Cashmere is launching today (1^st September) with a unisex range of cashmere jumpers and tops that are made in Yorkshire.

BRANDS WITH NEW IMAGES

Clothing, beauty and accessories

Bonmarché has new Lisa Snowdon, Dash and Autonomy ranges of AW25 clothing, new Lorraine Kelly collaborations for AW25, plus new women's wear ranges including coats, blouses, jackets and jumpers.

F&F has new Kids and womenswear Christmas clothing ranges, autumn womenswear ranges, a new Kate Ferdinand active wear collaboration.

Peacocks has new AW25 ranges, including a Dani Dyer Collection and a Louise Redknapp Edit of summer womenswear, plus her Linen Edit for summer, a new SS25 Edit range, and a new menswear range.

Fable England has a new range of scarves, bags, and jewellery plus Agnes jewellery, nightwear, scarf and bag range for the autumn.

Matalan has new men and women’s autumn winter ranges including Happily Denim after denim ranges, AW25 menswear including casual and formal evening wear, Disney Villains family outfits including Halloween ranges.

Roman Originals has new AW25 Dusk, Curve and Petite ranges, plus outfits with this year’s must-haves, crochet and embroidery/broderie anglaise, big-pattern midi-length dresses and Bardot tops.

Accessorize has new AW25 womenswear, new jewellery, charms, socks, hats, scarves and wraps for Christmas, a new Palma range of womenswear shoes and accessories, a new SS25 beachwear, bags, and scarves.

Very has new Halloween outfits, including Addams Family ranges, V by Very August drops of womenswear for high-summer from suedette dresses, lace, crochet and Bardot tops to midi skirt dresses, jeans and ra-ra skirts.

New Look has new AW25 clothes, bags, shoes, boots and accessories, back-to-school ranges, new womenswear outfits and cowboy core womenswear drops.

Sims Wear has new men’s accessory ranges.

Barbour has new Heritage ranges, September clothing ranges plus new outfits and footwear for the festival season.

Joe Browns has new AW25 for men and women including clothes, jewellery and accessories; large patterned maxi and Midi-dresses big coats, khaki and camouflage trousers and lots of warm outfits for the autumn and winter.

Inspecs has new Regen Optics glasses to reduce glare, blue light, plus lenses to enhance gaming, as well as campaign imagery of sunglasses for men and women from Radley, Superdry and Botaniq.

Monsoon has new AW25 clothing, jewellery and accessories, including bags, sunglasses, shoes, boots, scarves and jewellery, new wedding and bridal ranges, new SS25 ranges for the beach and holidays, plus women’s and kids clothing for the summer.

Oliver Bonas has new autumnal womenswear including jumpers, cardigans, trousers, scarves and shoes, plus jewellery and clothing for September, new accessory drops including bags, hats, shoes, sandals, scarves and sunglasses.

Primark has new Performance athleisure ware, a viral products clothing range, Conscious Clothing ranges, Wednesday Core themed clothing and accessory ranges, new back-to-school ranges of clothes, backpacks and shoes.

River Island has new Suede season handbags, Summer Darks ranges of clothing, shoes, bags, and accessories, back-to-school ranges, summer denim ranges, Rococo Revival and Perfect Prints range of summer clothing.

M&S has new accessories and jewellery, ballet shoe ranges, new back-to-school ranges including clothes and shoes, summer menswear and womenswear campaign imagery.

John Lewis has new AW25 kidswear and womenswear lookbook images, plus bags, shoes, boots and accessories, a John Lewis x Rejina Pyo new collection and a new back-to-school kids range of uniforms.

Iolla has new Healy, Aitkin ranges of glasses in all shades and colours.

Scamp & Dude has new leopard print and stripey clothes and accessories, new SS25 athleisure wear, dresses, shorts, jackets, hoodies, coats, bags and scarves.

Tu Clothing has new AW25 clothing ranges.

See additional new clothing and accessories images from

TK Maxx National Trust George at Asda Dune London

Home, garden and food

Cambridge Imprint has new notecards and envelopes, Christmas and New Year cards, back-to-school stationery, notebooks, exercise books, new clipboards, tissue boxes, postcard boxes, pencil pots, letter trays, portfolios and magazine files, plus Christmas paperchains, coronets, banners.

Jellycat has new Christmas cuddly toys and tree decorations, new Halloween themed cuddly toys and amuseables, plus new designs and bag charms.

Joe Browns has new homeware including lights, faux plants, signs, lamp shades, dining and drink ware, trays, coasters, stools, side tables soft furnishings, prints and throws.

The Orchard has artificial Christmas tree ranges, new Miami Corner Group sofa, new autumn and Halloween decorations, new furniture ranges for indoors and outdoors from garden tables and chairs to sofas and chairs for the lounge.

Arran Sense of Scotland has new Island Dusk range, 2025 Christmas gift packs and an advent calendar, new refill packages, home fragrances, scented candles, plus a new mum and bride scent range.

Very has new Halloween and Christmas decorations for the home.

John Lewis has its new Ancient Wonders, Worldly Treasures and Heirloom Splendour ranges of Christmas 2025 decorations and homeware, and a new collaboration with John Cooper and AW25 lookbook images from its Heritage, Modern Luxe and Timeless range of homeware collections.

George Home has new AW25 Cosy Autumn, Autumn Revival, French Fancy and Serene ranges of tableware, tables, lights, candles, cushions, and soft furnishings.

Oliver Bonas has new furniture, Christmas decorations, gifts and things for the home, plus new August/September/October drops of homeware ranges for the lounge, bedroom, kitchen, dining room and lounge for AW25.

Primark has a new Viral Product range, Halloween decorations and gifts, back-to-college ranges, harvest festival ranges of decorations, and Edit homeware ranges.

Oriana B has new furniture ranges including side tables, sideboards.

B&M has Frosted Night, Nordic Glow, Peaceful Wishes, Snow Much Fun and Festive Folklore Christmas decorations, home ware for back to college, university Halloween decorations and accessories, plus AW25 Warm Earth, Natural Calm, Quiet Luxury for the home, from bedding to hosting to laundry.

Dobbies Garden Centres has a new RHS collaboration range of gifts, plus Christmas decorations, gifts and food, Halloween decorations, new summer pots, pet toys and accessories for the garden.

Ivyline has a selection of Autumn and Halloween decorations, Christmas trees, tree decorations, lights and decorations for the home plus candle holders, pots and vases.

Home Bargains has new autumn and Halloween things for the home as well as Christmas decorations and homeware.

Quorn Stone has new marble and decorative effect tiles, Parisian Manoir, Lullington, Chalfont and Orotelli decorative tiles, plus new natural stone and Canyon Terrazzo effect porcelain tiles and chequered decorative tiles for the bathroom.

Dunelm has a new homeware for the autumn, plus festive Kitschmas collaboration with designer Sophie Robinson, a new AW25 Modern Nostalgia, Into the Wild, Harvest Hues and Quite Luxury collections of homeware including furniture, bedding, curtains, soft furnishings.

Designers Guild has new Trevenna, AW25 ranges of big patterned print material for curtains and soft furnishings.

M&S has new Christmas decorations for the tree and the home.

Matalan has Christmas decorations and gifts, AW25 homeware for the autumn including Halloween and Harvest Festival themed soft furnishings.

Habitat has new AW25 Festive Fairground, Alpine Retreat, Jazz Bar and Moorlands ranges of home furniture, lighting and accessories for the lounge, dining room and bedroom, plus dinner sets and glassware.

Homesense has new home furniture and accessory ranges for the kitchen and living room, including soft furnishings, dishes and glassware. Plus Halloween and Christmas decorations for the home.

Nest has new Knoll Studio dining tables and chairs, new Tradition Icons furniture, new HKLiving furniture and rugs, Audo Copenhagen and Norwegian designer furniture for the home plus Hay Traverse and Pallisade garden furniture.

Sofology has a new Modern Classic Christmas range of sofas and chairs and a new Texturalism and Materiality, Rural Refined and Get Yer Freak On range of chairs and settees.