Decathlon has just put more than 500 kids' sports products onto FirstCry's platform in India. Neither business had to build what the other already has, and that is the pattern worth studying, whatever category you are in.

Mamas & Papas has completed a refinancing after a record year. The interesting part is not the money, it is the order they did things in. They fixed the route to market first, let the trading numbers prove it, and only then raised. Most brands in difficulty run that sequence backwards.

The best market research is not a spreadsheet, it is a day on the shop floor. After a day in Cambridge with the mother-and-daughter founders of maternity brand AuraLai, studying packaging and merchandising and talking to genuinely helpful store staff, here is why in-store market research is invaluable for ecommerce brands, how to do it well, and why a gap in a city's maternity, baby and children's retail could be someone's opportunity.

A retail residency lets an independent shop host an emerging brand for a season, a genuine win-win. The retailer champions something fresh with low risk because they do not own the stock, and the brand gains real physical space, which matters most for baby products and gifting. Here is how the model works and how to start one.