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EU Retail Loses Share of Private Consumption, NIQ Report

A NielsenIQ (NIQ) report finds that EU purchasing power per capita rose nominally by 3.3% in 2025 to €22,425, while retail sales in the EU grew only 2.1%, slowing from previous years. Total available funds across the 27 EU states reached roughly €10.1 trillion. The share of private consumption spent in retail fell to 31.9% in 2025, with Germany the lowest at 22.2% and Croatia the highest at 48.3%. Retail sales growth varied widely across markets (Norway +13.1%, Lithuania +10.5%, Sweden +8.9%, Bulgaria +8.2%, Slovakia +8.0%); the UK saw a -0.6% decline. Average EU inflation dropped to 2.5% in 2025 but NIQ expects inflation to rise to about 3.1% in 2026, which could keep pressure on retailers as consumers shift spending toward services, travel and leisure.

• NielsenIQ (NIQ) reports average purchasing power per EU inhabitant rose 3.3% in 2025 to €22,425.
• Total available consumer funds across the 27 EU states were approximately €10.1 trillion in 2025.
• EU retail sales grew 2.1% in 2025, slower than the 3.3% gain in purchasing power.

PDD Holdings Grows, Investments Weigh on Profit

PDD Holdings, parent of Temu and Pinduoduo, reported second-quarter 2026 results showing revenue growth but lower net profit due to higher investments. Q2 revenue rose 8% year-on-year to RMB 112.4 billion, driven by transaction services, while net income attributable to shareholders fell 12% to RMB 27.2 billion. Operating expenses increased as the company expanded spending on merchant subsidies, marketing, compliance, and platform development. PDD retains a strong liquidity position with RMB 456.4 billion in cash, cash equivalents and short-term investments and positive operating cash flow, and management says it prioritizes long-term platform-building over short-term profit maximization amid a complex regulatory environment.

• PDD Holdings reported Q2 2026 revenue of RMB 112.4 billion (approx. USD 16.6 billion), up 8% year-on-year.
• Net income attributable to shareholders fell 12% to RMB 27.2 billion in Q2 2026.
• Transaction services revenue increased 13% to RMB 54.7 billion; online marketing and other services generated RMB 57.6 billion.

Pitch us your next photoshoot

Unsplash is inviting photographers to pitch their next photoshoot idea, as announced in a new blog post by Kelsey Bryant.

Attractive Media launches AI social-media platform

Munich-based Attractive Media has launched Attractive Accounts, an AI-driven social-media management platform that combines content creation, publishing, community management and analytics in one system. The tool targets freelancers, small and medium-sized businesses and agencies, and offers an integrated personal AI assistant called "Kai" which can import existing knowledge from external LLMs. The platform supports Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, Facebook, LinkedIn and Pinterest, includes a video editor with Storyblocks assets, and integrates EU-required AI labelling (effective 2 August 2026). Pricing is positioned between €9 and €49 per month.

• Attractive Media (München) developed "Attractive Accounts", an AI platform for social-media management.
• The platform combines content idea generation, text and video creation, publishing, community management and cross-channel analytics and supports Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, Facebook, LinkedIn and Pinterest.
• Attractive Accounts includes a personal AI assistant called "Kai" that can import existing knowledge from ChatGPT, Claude or Gemini and auto-selects suitable AI models/prompting in the background.