With ecommerce booming, experiential retail is crucial for retailers right now to entice shoppers to the high street with engaging experiences.
One effective way brands can do this is through collaborations with other retailers in-stores.
According to a 2025 report from international sales outsourcing firm CPM, the “most successful brands” are the ones that “integrate partnerships into their growth strategies”.
Earlier this month, portfolio director of events firm Hyve Group also claimed that retail collaboration “from joint events and shared marketing to cross-store referrals” was “increasingly playing a role” in the sector, and that this helped “retailers reach new audiences and build momentum”.
Retail Gazette looks at five examples of retail partnerships that have been launched over May.
Iceland x Spar
Iceland Foods is teaming up with convenience store giant Spar with an exclusive convenience retail partnership.
The tie-up intends to “significantly enhance the appeal of frozen food sections” in Spar’s shops by “adding depth to the range”.
It will see Iceland exclusive brands including Slimming World, Harry Ramsden’s, TGI Friday’s, and Myprotein made available in the business’s shops, alongside Iceland own label products and Greggs.
The partnership could allow the number of Spar shops throughout England, Scotland and Wales stocking hundreds of Iceland’s frozen goods to hit almost 2,000 during the coming months, up from the current 320 Spar sites.
The offering will arrive in the retailer’s stores with categories Spar is known for, including fresh foods and food to go alongside ambient products and beers, wines, and spirits.
Three of Spar UK’s wholesalers and distributors – CJ Lang & Son, James Hall & Co, and A. F. Blakemore & Son – are behind the collaboration.
Underwear specialist Stripe & Stare teamed up with Freddie’s Flowers to combine lingerie with flowers during the Chelsea Flower Show week.
Throughout the partnership, which ran from 18 May to 24 May, the first 15 customers per day to shop in-store at Stripe & Stare’s King’s Road boutique in Chelsea were gifted a complimentary posy from the flowers company.
The tie-up was launched to celebrate floral art show Chelsea in Bloom and the Chelsea Flower Show, and was intended to bring together “two brands passionate about beauty, sustainability and everyday feel-good moments”.
Fashion giant H&M joined forces with Laura Ashley earlier this month with a a new kidswear collection for spring/summer 2026.
The collab brought Laura Ashley’s archive prints to dresses, separates, swimwear and accessories to H&M stores and website from 21 May, with garments available for babies and children.
The collection uses the heritage brand’s signature florals and classic patterns, while updating them with a lighter summer feel.
Coastal details, lemon prints and shell motifs are used across the range, alongside a palette of blue, yellow, white and light pink.
H&M said that the range had been produced with comfort and durability in mind, with fabrics such as poplin, voile, crinkle jersey and seersucker.
Additionally, details including broderie anglaise, ruffles and lace trims are featured across the collection.
Bicycle retailer Ribble Cycles teamed up with Cotswold Outdoor earlier this month to introduce a new in-store concept in Leeds.
The tie-up, which launched on 11 May at Cotswold Outdoor’s Leeds city centre store, features a dedicated Ribble space which gives shoppers hands-on access to a range of road, gravel, hybrid and electric bikes, supported by guidance from the Ribble team, according to Bikebiz.com.
Shoppers are able to browse the Ribble range, receive advice on sizing and fit, and “build a bike that’s right for how they ride”.
To celebrate the launch, the cycling brand created a one-off ULTRA-AERO SL R LS1 Edition bike using its CustomColour service, with the design displayed in the Cotswold Outdoor store’s window.
In perhaps the most talked about retail collaboration of the month, Swatch launched a limited-edition Royal Pop watch earlier in May, with the product created in collaboration with luxury Swiss watchmaker Audemars Piguet.
Swatch was forced to shut its stores across the UK, parts of Europe and the US over the launch weekend, after the product led to huge crowds, scuffles and police intervention.
The £335 watch attracted shoppers and resellers to Swatch stores overnight. Some customers reportedly queued for several days in efforts to purchase one.
Outside of the UK, police reportedly used teargas in Paris to manage a crowd of around 300 people outside a Swatch shop, where security gates and a metal shutter were damaged.
Queues formed in several other French cities, and police were called to intervene at a shopping centre near The Hague in the Netherlands after hundreds gathered outside a Swatch store that did not open.
In Milan, local media footage appeared to show a fight outside a Swatch shop at its opening time. Additionally, in New York customers described pushing and shoving at the Times Square store, where some shoppers had reportedly been queueing since Wednesday.
In response, Swatch went on to urge shoppers not to rush to stores in large numbers and stressed that the Royal Pop collection would remain available for several months.
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