On-line retailing report to identify rise of e-commerce

An ‘On-line retailing' project, which sets out to identify how the rise of e-commerce has impacted retailers and developers, is being undertaken by Cushman & Wakefield Healey & Baker, and will be the first of eight research reports commissioned by BCSC to be published in 2006/7. Yvonne Court , Partner and Head of Retail Research and Consultancy at Cushman & Wakefield Healey & Baker said “The potential long-term impact of on-line retailing is huge, with both positive and negative implications forecast for our industry.

The growth of on-line retailing does not mark the end of the retail property industry as we know it. Instead it offers opportunities for shopping centre owners, developers and investors if harnessed appropriately as part of an asset enhancement strategy. It is therefore vital that we understand the challenges and explore the opportunities e-commerce presents and this up-to-date research will go some way to answering the many questions that are currently being asked of our industry.” The ‘On-line retailing' report will be published in May 2006. The ‘Future of Retail Property' report will be published in 2007.

25 January 2005

ASOS back online

As Seen On Screen, the online fashion retailer that suffered extensive damages to its warehouse after a fuel explosion five weeks ago, went back online today. The e-tailer was obliged to refund 19,000 customers as a result of stock lost in the fire in Hemel Hempstead on 11 December.

The warehouse is now once again fully operational, the company said and added that insurance would cover the loss of profit. Furthermore, it said that its profit was in line to meet market expectations. The company's spring/summer 2006 range will be available within a few days.

www.asos.com
16 January 2006

Less fraud in online transactions

In a study involving 160 online UK retailers, figures from CyberSource's second annual UK fraud survey show that while the issue remains unsolved, modern security tools can make the problem manageable. 65% of company's surveyed had seen losses from online fraud stall or fall in the last twelve months. 16% observed that fraud has risen as a proportion of revenues. This contrasts strongly with public perception of the problems of Internet fraud: according to research carried out for the government's ‘Get Safe Online' campaign, one in five people in the UK rates Internet crime of greater concern than car theft or even mugging.

Nathan Jackson, managing director of CyberSource commented: "While fraud remains a problem, there is a clear disconnect between consumer feeling and retailer reality about the extent of online fraud. While retailers are investing heavily in beating fraud - often successfully according to our research - the public is being made to feel nervous about shopping on the Web. The online retail community needs to continue working to beat fraudsters, but while we should be promoting prudence we shouldn't be scaring the consumer away from buying online."

CyberSource's inaugural 2005 report showed that online retailers feared a leap in Internet fraud driven by the introduction of chip and PIN to high street stores. Instead, the latest figures from APACS show that online fraud climbed by 5% in the first six months of this year, which is relatively low when compared to fraud growth rates in other sales channels.

According to the figures from APACS, the major growth has been in other forms of Card Not Present fraud against businesses that might lack the sophisticated anti-fraud technology employed by online retailers.

“Online retail is a rapidly growing sector in the UK economy, with our latest figures showing 38% growth in September, year on year. We need to ensure that consumers continue to be prudent when shopping online, but the fact is that online shopping is no more risky than heading to the high street,” commented Jo Tucker, managing director of the Interactive Media in Retail Group (IMRG).

The Second Annual CyberSource UK Online Fraud Survey was sponsored by CyberSource Ltd. The survey was conducted over two weeks in September 2005 and yielded 160 complete responses. The sample was drawn from a database of companies involved in electronic commerce activities. As an incentive to complete the survey, respondents had the opportunity to win one of three handheld games consoles.

14 December 2005

Online shopping sees rise in consumer confidence

Consumers are becoming more confident about buying things over the internet, with one in three happy to spend more than £500 on a single item, a survey shows. Nearly nine out of 10 people also said they would happily buy something for more than £50 online, up from just 63% in February last year, according to internet payment provider PayPal.

The average person now spends £157 online each month, with a quarter of shoppers buying something over the internet at least every month, while 14% purchase something on a weekly basis.

More than half of consumers use the internet alongside the high street, with 26% looking at products in shops before buying them online, while 25% research products online but then buy them from a shop.
CDs are the most popular things to buy online, followed by books and electrical goods, but increasing numbers of people are also buying clothes and insurance over the internet.

Men are twice as likely as women to feel comfortable spending large sums on internet shopping, with 42% saying they would happily spend more than £500 in a single transaction, compared with just 20% of women.
Men also buy more online, making an average of 20 internet purchases a month, compared with women's 16.

Geoff Iddison, chief executive of PayPal UK, said: "People are feeling safer about internet shopping and are increasingly happy to spend big sums on single items."
YouGov questioned 2,000 people during November.

Emap in WGSN deal

Media group Emap has confirmed its acquisition of internet fashion and retail information group Worth Global Style Network (WGSN) for £140m). Emap described subscription-based WGSN.com as "the leading international online source of fashion and apparel intelligence in the retail sector".

London-based WGSN employs 172 staff and reported pre-tax profits of £4m ($7m) in 2004, on turnover of £15m. Shares in Emap were 1.2% lower at 803 pence in mid-morning London trade.

Emap, whose magazine titles include FHM, Heat, Empire and Zoo, said it was buying WGSN from owners Marc and Julian Worth and other private shareholders."The acquisition of WGSN is in line with our strategy to develop and expand ... while seeking to concentrate on premium, market-leading, value-added products with a loyal customer base and superior growth profiles," said Emap chief executive Derek Carter.

WGSN was launched in 1998 to provide information on the latest trends from the catwalks and fashion trade shows, with a focus on colours, shapes, textiles, materials and brands.

Among the 15,000 firms subscribing to the service are Marks & Spencer, Next, Abercrombie & Fitch, Calvin Klein and Dolce & Gabbana. WGSN is dependent on money from subscriptions, and annual renewal rates for the service have been in excess of 90%."It has the potential to be a big business and Emap is the right platform to make that happen," said seller Julian Worth.Analysts said WGSN was a good addition to Emap's stable as traditional publishers take a leap into the online market.

14 October 2005

The online luxury retailer Net-a-Porter.com has won the Harper & Queen/Chanel ‘Entrepreneur of the Year' award 2005. Founder Natalie Massanet was at London's Somerset to pick up the award last week.

The industry is recognizing Net-a-Porter.com's five years of hard work since its etablishment. The site, which offers over 100 luxury brands including Chloé, Zac Posen and Jimmy Choo, is the only fashion e-tailer offering the current season's must-haves to the world. The company has doubled in turnover every year since its conception in 2000 and finally turned a profit last year.

“Receiving an award is always a huge compliment but to be recognized by two such highly esteemed fashion leaders as Harpers & Queen and Chanel makes the accolade even more poignant,” said Massanet.

The other winners of the day were Bibie Boerio, Managing Director of Jaguar for Business Woman of the Year, and Jennifer Harris of JRBH Strategy & Management for Young Business Woman of the Year.

www.net-a-porter.com
12 September 2005

The British online boutique One for you and one for me is a must for those interested in unusual and vintage fashion. Launched in May of this year, the London based store offers finds form all of over the world. Creator Deborah Efemini has managed to combine her love of travel with her sense of style. The result is an online store with a diverse and eclection selection of fashion on offer.

Key pieces for winter 2005 include hand knitted capes, delicately crocheted bonnets and fingerless lace-trim mittens from Lowie, low-slung leather belts with ornate buckles by Lowie and T'immagini. Also look for one-off knitted and leather combination tote bags from Matilda Lowe, metallic leather ballet shoes from Lucky and leather bags from Space Goat. Designers such as Diane von Furstenburg, Gina and Ozzie Clarke are represented in the vintage section. Also available on the site is a selection of vintage furs, t-shirts, jewellery and lingerie.

www.oneforyouandoneforme.com
29 August 2005

Bluefly sales increase

The US online fashion retailer Bluefly Inc has announced an increase in its net sales for July 2005 of approximately 23 percent to about $ 3.1 million (£1.72 million). The company announced earlier this year its plans to continue to report monthly sales results throughout 2005, and to report quarterly sales results thereafter. Bluefly was founded in 1998 and has its headquarters in the Fashion District in New York .

www.bluefly.com
23 August 2005

Tiscali UK to collaborate with Shopping.com

Tiscali UK have selected Shopping.com to be the enabling force behind its shopping channel and to provide additional customised content to selected Tiscali shopping feature pages. Following the collaboration, more than five million Tiscali UK visitors a month will have access to Shopping.com's product catalogue through www.tiscali.co.uk where they can compare millions of products. Shopping.com brings some of the largest and most well-known UK online retailers to the Tiscali shopping site in hundreds of categories, ranging from cameras to clothing, to sports and software. Retailers include B&Q, Comet, Dabs.com, Dixons, Oddbins, Pixmania, ShopDirect and Tesco to name but a few.

"It is important to reward our site visitors with a premier online shopping experience. With Shopping.com, we have found a partner who not only provides the breadth and depth of offers we wanted but also a high-quality search that empowers shoppers to make an informed choice," said Alex Hole, Commercial Director for Tiscali UK. In addition to powering Tiscali's shopping channel's search, Shopping.com will supply customised content for shopping feature pages on www.tiscali.co.uk such as Top 10 products or gift finders. This is enabled by the online comparison site's proprietary xml- technology that provides partners with tailored content feeds. Consequently, merchants will enjoy receiving additional qualified buyers who arrive through various Tiscali shopping channel pages.

"Our alliance with Tiscali will foster further growth in the UK where we are one of the leading online shopping comparison sites. We are proud of having been selected by one of Europe 's largest internet service providers as it emphasises our high-quality offering and flexibility in reacting to our partners' needs," said Ehud Furman, Managing Director of Shopping.com UK .

12 August 2005

ASOS reports profit growth

ASOS, the online fashion retailer, has reported a rise in full-year profits and an auspicious start to the first quarter. Previously known as As Seen On Screen, the company said that profit before tax, amortisation and goodwill increased by a whopping 77 per cent to £1.1 million during fiscal year ended 31 March.

Sales for the year surged forward, increasing by 79 per cent to £13.5 million. Meanwhile, first quarter sales are expected to surpass last year's by over 100 per cent. The company is now faced with a quieter summer, a warehouse move and an important pending Christmas season. However, it stated that it remains confident of another strong year.

www.asos.com
12 July 2005

Growth online retail sales

Online retail sales continue to grow, having climbed 34 per cent in the first week of March, compared with the year before. Annual sales have reached $1.48 billion (GBP 0.86 billion), up from $1.1 billion, reports comScore Networks Inc.

Meanwhile, total retail sales for the week ending 5 March increased by 0.4 per cent, according to reports by ShpperTrak's National Retail Sales Estimate. Online travel sales for the same week climbed 16 per cent to $1.29 billion from $1.11 billion in the same week the year before.

29 March 2005

Lands End Home Shopping Business For Sale

The Lands' End home shopping business is reported to have been put up for sale by owner Sears Roebuck less than three years after it was acquired by the US retailer.

US trade journal Women's Wear Daily has reported that Sears has put a price tag of £1.2bn on Lands' End in presentations to a small number of potential buyers, substantially below the $1.9bn it paid for the business in 2002.

Sears, which has agreed a merger with the K-Mart retail business, in understood to believe that Lands' End is a poor fit with the new business. Lands' End is the largest specialist clothing catalogue retailer in the US, as well as the largest seller of clothes online, Since the takeover, Sears has also sold Lands' End clothing ranges in some of its stores.

Potential buyers are understood to include private equity group Texas Pacific, which has a majority stake in clothing retailer J Crew, and David Dyer, president and chief executive of Tommy Hilfiger and a former boss of Lands' End.
Lands' End announced 375 job cuts last month, as it restructures the business to cope with an increase in online orders and a corresponding fall in telephone orders.

16 March 2005

Online Retailer Asos Foresee Profit Slide

Online fashion retailer Asos says discounts used to clear winter stock after warehousing problems will dilute full-year profits. Asos, which specialises in fashions based on celebrity styles, said pre-tax profits for the year to March 31 are estimated at between £1.05m to £1.2m, up on last year but described by chief executive Nick Robertson as "a disappointment" after strong sales across the year.

In January and February, Asos sales were up by 120 per cent and 140 per cent respectively. These stronger than forecast sales compounded problems caused by the business operating from four warehouses. Robertson said that "given the strength of our other business performance indicators, the profits shortfall can be directly attributed to our short term warehousing problems."

"Operating out of four warehouses has led to a delay in stock appearing on the website. As a result, we have had to heavily discount winter stock across January and February, which should have been selling at full price pre-Christmas."

The discounting has led to a significant increase in sales, and "as a consequence, we are bearing the costs associated with very high sales volumes but without the gross margin to support them." Asos has agreed terms on a new 70,000 sq ft warehouse, expected to be in place by mid-May. A general manager of distribution, previously head of supply chain at Hamleys, has been appointed to the logistics team.

3 March 2005

Online Clothing Retail Strategy

Among the challenges facing online clothing retailers, effective inventory management can go a long way toward providing a pleasant shopping experience for customers, retail experts said at the eTail 2005 Conference in Palm Desert, California last week.

One of the issues online apparel retailers constantly face is when, or whether, to remove product listings as inventory levels decline. While some retailers will automatically remove listings once inventory falls below a certain threshold, others take a more flexible approach based on the product and customer demand, and whether customers are likely to be willing to wait for a delayed delivery.

Jessica Weilland, senior vice president of marketing for Neiman Marcus Direct, the web and catalogue unit of Neiman Marcus Group, said the most important thing is to let customers know when they can expect to receive an item not currently in stock. "If the product will be in soon, tell them it will be in soon," she said, adding that back-orders can work "as long as you can give good information and manage expectations."

David Towers, vice president of e-commerce at Liz Claiborne Inc., said apparel retailers face the extra challenge of managing inventory information for several SKUs for each product shown online. If a book retailer is out of a particular title, it's a relatively simple matter to have a message appear regarding expected deliveries for back-ordered books. But with apparel, where each product can have several sizes and colours, the ideal system would show inventory status and, if appropriate, back-order delivery schedules for each SKU.

Retailers were also offered advice as how to choose keywords that are specific enough to the brand and products a merchant wants to sell: focus on a brand name and be descriptive: 'wool blazer,' for example, would do better than 'blazer'."

When choosing images to illustrate garments online, presenting the best photography for each of multiple illustrations isn't necessarily the best strategy, whereas consistency in apparel presentations denotes quality.

21 February 2005

ASOS Captures Celebrity Clothing Market Online

A fashion business that specialises in selling "celebrity" style to twentysomething shoppers last week emerged as one of the biggest Christmas winners in the retail sector - and it doesn't run a single shop. Asos (formerly known as "AsSeenOnScreen" attracted almost a million customers to its website in December generating a 70% jump in sales to £8.9m. Founder and chief executive Nick Robertson said: "We had a cracking Christmas but we could probably have done more if we had a bigger warehouse."

Asos was forced to use overspill warehouses to cope with the Christmas rush, which accounts for 40% of annual profits. It hopes to move to a single, larger warehouse before June. Asos.com targets young shoppers who want to dress just like the celebs they see in magazines like Heat and Now. Its website heaves with descriptions of clothing "in the style" of young fashion icons such as Victoria Beckham, Jamelia, Cat Deeley, Sienna Miller, Rachel Stevens and Sarah Jessica Parker.

Trading figures for the Christmas season marked the end of an extremely successful 12 months, which saw the group's shares end the year as the best performer on the stock exchange - up from 5p to 78.5p. Mr Robertson's 14% stake has climbed in value from £490,000 to £7.7m. Asos claims to have 420,000 registered shoppers and according to Hitwise data, it is now the second most visited UK fashion website with 4.5% of the market. It is outranked only by the mighty Next, but beats many of its far bigger rivals, including Top Shop, Mothercare and Ann Summers.

Its shoppers are confident with the net - so confident that Robertson has ditched the call centre he used to operate to handle enquiries. Now all contact is by email. "We had to be bold," he says. "We are an internet business and I only really want shoppers used to buying on the web. If you start talking to them they cost more." He is in a fast-growing market. According to IMRG there are now 16 million internet shoppers in Britain. Clothing, after a stuttering start, is now the fastest growing category.

The Asos site's busiest times are not weekends, but lunchtimes and between 7pm and 9pm, with lulls when his customers stop to catch up on their TV soaps: "We can tell when Eastenders is on," Robertson says. The average shopper buys a couple of items at a time, spending about £37, nearly 25% more than they did a year ago. Broker Seymour Pierce has pencilled in profits of £1.55m for this year, rising to £2.3m in 2006.

23 January 2005

Walker Gunn gains ground

The British e-retail men's shirts business, Walker and Gunn, is on its way to becoming the leader in its field. Founded by Taro Gibbs, the company's head office is located in Northampton and is managed by the Gibbs family. The family has worked in fashion for over 30 years. Taro's father gained extensive experience in the Italian shoe and fashion industry, and was instrumental in turning Walker and Gunn into a success story.

The Walker and Gunn shirts are all made in Italy, of the best Italian two-fold cotton. Thanks to the company's virtual shop's low overhead costs, it is able to sell Jermyn Street quality shirts for excellent prices. The costs are also suppressed because they are sold directly to the customer, without the need for a middle man. In addition to the shirts, Walker and Gunn also offers silk ties and a limited range of cufflinks. The sale of accessories has been especially strong and has contributed largely toward the monthly turnover.

Considering Taro's father's wealth of experience in the shoe industry, it is not surprising that the company has recently added two shoe brands to its collection. The brands John White and Jeffery West both have headquarters in Northamptonshire, ideally located for Walker and Gunn. Both brands offer top quality footwear for men, and the feedback from Walker and Gunn's clients has been extremely positive.

Taro Walker has a few basic rules for success: "Walker and Gunn's success and growth has mainly been down to three simple things: Firstly, our no compromise approach to quality: that's one reason why we chose to sell only Italian made shirts. Secondly, all shirts are at competitive prices, - in fact, over 50% cheaper than equivalent quality on the highstreet! And finally, because Walker and Gunn's approach to customer service is focused totally on customer delight - I ensure that my team treat every customer more as a client, rather than your usual shopper." Walker and Gunn's next step is to expand its quality product range and to develop the company into an international presence.

www.walkerandgunn.com
17 January 2005

More spending Online

More shoppers than ever shifted a significant chunk of their Christmas spending online, according to internet traffic analyst Hitwise.
Hitwise data shows that the 2004 Christmas season saw the strongest ever performance for the internet retail sector in the UK, with online retailers experiencing a 23 per cent increase in traffic from December 2003.
From December 2003 to December 2004 the sector experienced a period of particularly healthy growth between August and December 2004, with market share of UK Internet traffic directed at online shopping websites increasing from just over 10 per cent in August to more than 12 per cent in the final month of the year.

The highest performing week during December was the week ending December 4. The first week of the month saw market share of online traffic to retail sites surpass 13 per cent as online shoppers sought to beat the Christmas crowds and avoid the last-minute pre-holiday rush by searching for the best deals and making gift purchases online.

The top 20 UK online retail websites for December included eBay, Amazon, Kelkoo and Argos, as well as the websites of several major high street computer and electronics chains: Currys, Comet and PC World all performed strongly throughout the pre-Christmas period.
A popular gift this Christmas was clearly the portable MP3 player, with the iPod and its various imitators flying out of stores around the UK in December. Subsequently, both Apple's iTunes and the newly-relaunched Napster MP3 download site saw a massive peak in traffic on Christmas day.
December 25 saw both sites increase their market share amongst all sites tracked by Hitwise by more than 500 per cent and 150 per cent respectively since December 23rd, as users rushed online to download music for their new gadgets.

6 January 2005

Vivaladiva.com

The British home shopping specialist JD Williams has launched an aggressive marketing campaign to promote its new ladies' footwear website VivaLaDiva.com. Hoping to capitalise on the emotional bond that women have with shoes, the company has developed the VivaLaDiva concept for time-challenged women between the ages of 25 and 55. The concept has been researched and tested at length to ensure a successful launch.

The company started with a soft launch in November, with most of the focus on the online activities such as search engine marketing. Subsequently the marketing campaign, managed by OMD Digital, will include banners and promotions on a range of women's lifestyle websites. Further to this, the company will continue to market directly to its existing clients.

The Manchester-based distance shopping specialist, Photolink Creative Group, is working together with London fashion agency, Iroquois, to guide trade and consumer public relations activities. Head of VivaLaDiva.com, Wendy Derbyshire, told reporters that the company plans to use its extensive knowledge and experience in direct marketing to attract its target audience.

The site will offer dozens of famous shoe brands such as Schuh, Hobbs, Camper and Clarks. The site currently features shoes by the inimitable Emma Hope and plans to include up-and-coming couture designers like Georgina Goodman, Olivia Morris, Jane Brown, Adele Clarke and Rupert Sanderson.

www.vivaladiva.com
8 December 2004

Lulu Guinness opens online store

Lulu Guinness, the British accessories and handbag designer brand, is to open an online store as part of its recently re-launched website. The collection of bags and accessories will be available online as well as her two London-based stores.

www.luluguinness.com
8 December 2004

Internet shopping up to 15 per cent of total

Familiar names from the UK High Street are seeing increasing success in transferring their brands online, according to online traffic analyst Hitwise. Hitwise reports today that the online retail sector in the UK reached its highest ever share of Internet traffic at the weekend, surpassing 15 per cent of all online visits on Sunday November 28. At the same time last year, market share of visits to online shopping sites was just 12 per cent.

Despite reports that traditional high street retailers are facing a tougher Christmas this year, with many starting to slash prices well in advance of the post-Christmas sales, Hitwise data shows that the online arms of several high street retailers are booming.

This may show that many customers are merely opting out of the Christmas crowds, preferring the convenience of doing their Christmas shopping online. Hitwise data reveals that 50 per cent of the top twenty UK retail sites visited on Sunday belonged to bricks and mortar retailers. In addition, the top five websites belonging to high street retailers have all boosted their traffic significantly over the past few weeks.

Compared with the previous Sunday, November 21, those shopping sub-categories that saw the biggest increase in traffic were Flowers & Gifts (18.6 per cent increase in visits), Health & Beauty (17.6 per cent increase in visits) and Books (10.3 per cent increase in visits).

1 December 2004

UK Most Popular Sites

The web's most popular sites for shopping are Next (25.28%), La Redoute (12.82%) and River Island (6%), as was compiled by Hitwise, the real-time competitive intelligence agency. At 10th place is New Look, with 1.37% hits, while high-end online fashion boutique www.net-a-porter.com did not make the top ten UK fashion sites.

29 November 2004

Internet sales doubled

2003 saw the value of internet sales more than double to GBP39.5 billion, according to the Office of the National Statistics UK. The e-commerce survey reflected trading across the board on Information and Communication Technologies (ICT), in all sectors of the economy, and by all business sizes.

Non-internet sales, suchas Electronic Data Interchange, email, PC based fax and automated phone entry also rose, but not as drastically, by 15% from GBP170.8 billion to GBP195.6 billion. Internet purchases rose by 113% in 2003, from GBP18.7 billion to GBP39.9 billion. In October E-Bay's British and American sites were the most visited retail sites, followed by the media internet retailer Amazon. Tesco, Argos and Next also featured in the top 10 list. As the biggest online grocer, Tesco recieves 120,000 online orders a week.

23 November 2004

Fashionable alternative to eBay

There is a new player on the e-tail market. The British www.clothesagency.com is the brainchild of Lady Sara Apsley. The Gloucestershire-based Lady Apsley has provided all would-be wheelers and dealers in fashion with an easy alternative to the sophisticated eBay.

The website is dedicated to fashion, offering visitors the opportunity to buy and sell fashion and accessories. For a mere £2.50 you can list the items you wish to sell for 28 days. The site evens provides a so-called Top Drawer Service to pick up the clothes to sell on the internet, if you don't want to do it yourself. With this service they charge a flat fee of £25 for any article sold over £100 and 30% for any item under £100. A donation from the commission goes to the Alzheimer's Society, so you will be assured of doing a good deed while being commercial.

According to Lady Apsley, the site has accrued over 2,000 members since it was founded five months ago. She told reporters that the sellers have formed a community in which they feel safe to do business, and she encourages them to have a returns policy to enhance customer satisfaction.

www.clothesagency.com
1 November 2004

Amazon To Run M&S Online

Amazon is reported to be close to a deal to take over Marks & Spencer's online retail operations. M&S chief executive Stuart Rose is said to consider the group's online offer to be 'non-core' as he focuses on restoring sales at the group's UK store chain.

The approach reflects Rose's reputation as a consummate traditional retailer, but will raise eyebrows in a market where an integrated online sales channel is seen by many as an essential part of a retail offer.

The London Evening Standard reports Amazon will take over all the M&S e-commerce operation, from running the site to processing transactions and delivering products. M&S sells clothing, homeware and gifts through its site. It also sells wine by the case, but has not entered the potentially lucrative but logistically challenging grocery home delivery market.

Amazon already operates sites for other retailers, including booksellers Borders in the US and Waterstones in the UK. However, it has recently had an acrimonious falling out with Toys R Us, with both sides taking legal action in a dispute over the US site run by Amazon for the toy retailer.

M&S told news agency Reuters that it is in talks with a number of potential operators of the site, but would not confirm that Amazon is in the running. Spokeswoman Sue Sadler said "It's an important selling channel for us and we're looking for ways of enhancing it. Talks are at an early stage and no deal has yet been signed."

Online traffic monitor Hitwise, which features weekly stats on The Retail Bulletin, ranks M&S alongside department store retailers rather than fashion. Its traffic figures for the week ending September 4 rank M&S behind Amazon, as well as Tesco and Argos, but ahead of traffic to the e-commerce sites operated by John Lewis and Debenhams.

www.amazon.com
>> more M&S at FashionUnited
13 September 2004

Cards Focus On Security

Mastercard and Visa will focus on security for online shoppers. The credit card companies will be promoting the idea that customer card information is safe when consumers are buying products online.

MasterCard will be running a series of ads in consumer magazines over the next few months, while Visa ads running on internet shopping sites will stress the zero liability to consumers associated with purchases illegally made with consumers' cards.

9 September 2004

Online Fabric Catalogue

Freeborders and Invista, formerly DuPont Textiles Interiors, has launched an online catalogue of fibres and fabrics. The website - www.fastextile.com - will enable 500 mills in 50 countries to communicate with more than 1,600 brands and buyers. Mills will be able to quickly and inexpensively provide brand and retail decision-makers with search, sample and cost facilities for fabrics, cutting lead times and increasing speed.

4 August 2004

Online Customers Search For Bargains

The desire for a bargain is tempting more UK consumers online, with new research from Mintel showing that price is still a key factor in internet buying decisions, and more consumers are using auction sites such as eBay.
Mintel found that over the last three months Internet access has grown to 57 per cent of all adults, an increase of around 3m people. As a result, 27.8 million people are now online in the UK.

Mintel forecasts that penetration levels are likely to reach a maximum of three quarters of all adults. In the short-term, six in ten will be online in six months time, while the figure will reach 67 per cent over the next two years.

Almost half of the population use the Internet at home, while around three in ten use it at work or place of study. As many as 10 per cent of British now use the Internet outside the home, work or place of study such as at Internet cafes, libraries and when mobile.
Some 10 per cent of internet users bought from an auction site in the first quarter of this year, amounting to a substantial 2.7mn adults. A further 20 per cent of Internet users browsed auction sites with an intention to purchase, during the same period.

The single most important reason for consumers to purchase online is price, whilst the importance of reputation and brand comes way down the list.

Security, at 55 per cent, is the second most important factor for online shoppers when deciding whether or not to purchase online. It is very nearly seen as being as important as value for money, which was mentioned by 57 per cent of internet users.

2 Aug 2004

Littlewoods Capitalises on Euro 2004

Littlewoods-owned sports e-tailer Sport-E has relaunched its website to capitalise on the anticipated GBP1 billion Euro 2004 spending spree.

The e-tailer has set up a dedicated Euro 2004 zone at www.sport-e.com and is confident of hitting the back of the net with a sales boost during the tournament, which starts this weekend in Portugal.

Sport-E claims to offer a bigger range of sportswear than online rivals - with more than 2000 products - and plans to extend its gold, tennis, running, swimming and rugby ranges.

The redesign of Sport-e, originally launched in June last year, has made the site faster and easier to navigate. Sales are expected to exceed GBP10 million in the year to May 2005 and the business is forecast to be profitable by the same date.

11 June 2004

Fashion Businesses Align With Online Boutique

Small fashion businesses in London have been offered the chance to reach thousands of new customers with the creation of a new online boutique. Designers of clothes, handbags, jewellery and other fashion items have been invited to subscribe to the e-boutique, which has been created by the London Development Agency (LDA).

For GBP100 a year, businesses will be able to showcase up to 32 items and provide information about themselves to potential customers. The LDA said that the e-boutique on the FashionCapital website will contain a secure payment system so that customers can safely buy items online from exhibiting firms.

Fashion businesses will be given a free seminar by the LDA to explain the benefits of displaying their work on the FashionCapital site. Jenny Holloway, project manager of the London Fashion Forum, said that since the portal was launched 18 months ago, FashionCapital has received phenomenal growth from its unique users which include stylists, buyers, press and designers.

"The launch of the online boutique will increase FashionCapital's appeal to this audience and will also attract many more fashion businesses to what is already an incredibly successful site. "IMRG reported that e-trading for the clothing industry has risen nearly 500 per cent since 2001, and FashionCapital can now make the dreams of many designers a reality by offering their own boutique site for just £100 per year," she said.

Martin Lewis, chief executive of the LDA, said that the fashion industry is one of the most exciting and colourful sectors in London. "It also makes an important contribution to London's economy with around 3,000 firms in the capital, employing 20,000 people. "The new online boutique is a fantastic development as it will put fashion firms in contact with new customers all around the country, and potentially all around the world," he said.

26 May 2004

N Brown To Expand E-Commerce

N Brown, the home shopping retailer, is expanding its catalogue ranges to focus on developing its TV and internet operations.

In move to drive their sales growth, which at the end of the financial year saw its e-commerce sales almost double to GBP28m, more orders are to be generated from a new television shopping channel. In addition, further expansion and focus will be on their e-commerce and telemarketing markets.

12 May 2004

Online Figleaves Report Record Sales

Online lingerie retailer Figleaves.com outperformed their Christmas traffic with their first 48-hour mid-season. The sale generated the highest ever traffic for the business, which took a record number of orders. The sale started at noon on April 28 and ended at noon on April 30. At the peak of traffic, there were more that 10,000 visitors to the website in a five minute period.

A total of 3,500 orders were taken in 24 hours. This smashed Figleaves previous record for Christmas 2003 when the website took 2,300 orders during a day. Figleaves.com's performance mirrors the general trend reported by online retail industry body IMRG this week. Online clothes shopping is now the fastest growing shopping category in the UK, generating £100m sales for March.

The sector's sales have soared 476 per cent in three years and now represents 9 per cent of all British internet shopping. Figleaves.com launched in 1998 and is the world's largest online branded lingerie retailer. It stocks more than 170 brands.

4 May 2004

Starters Award 2004 for internetshop Bivolino

Design your own e-shirt. Everyone who hates shopping must take a look at Bivolino.com, a digital shirt designer. On the site of this internetcompany, surfers can see, design and order the shirt of their dreams with just a few mouseclicks. Reason for the expert jury of the Dutch 'Thuiswinkel Award' to declare Bivolino.com the 'Best Starter of the Netherlands'.

The 16 jurymembers describe Bivolino as: 'innovating', 'fantastic', 'personal' and 'exclusive'. Though Bivolino has been active in Belgium for quite some time, the introduction in the Netherlands took place less than 2 years ago, and it is therefor considered by the jury to be a starter.

Bivolino exists since 1954. During the sixties it was considered to be one of the most will known shirtbrands in the Benelux. It was one of the first shirtlabels to be designed with acomputer-controled size-system. Since 1999, Carine Moitier has taken over the daily management from Michel Bijvoet, who founded the on-line shop. Mondaynight, during a festive gala in Noordwijk aan Zee, she received the prize from Gerard Marsman, president of the 'Stichting Nationale thuiswinkel'. He took the honours for prince Bernard junior, who was excused due to the death of his grandmother princess Juliana.

Some criteria, the 'Starter Award'-winner has to meet :

· How successfull
· Level of innovativity
· Familiarization of its name in a short timespan
· Level of creativity / resourcefulness
· Level of originality
· Fills a niche
· no longer than 2 years on the market

Sponsors of the 'Nationale Thuiswinkel Awards' have donated a service-package with a value of € 84.000,- to the winning Starter of 2004.
SBS Televison offers a tv billboard campagne, production included, with a value of € 50.000,- plus a free halve page in the Veronica Magazine. Kelkoo and Ilse offer free online advertising. Kelkoo also offers the winning starter 250.000 free skyscrapers. Selektvracht completes the service-package with a free transport-check.

www.bivolino.com
30-3-2004

Fraud May Deter Christmas E-shopping

A new study by ClearCommerce Europe, provider of fraud detection and payment processing software, suggests that the take up of online shopping is not as extensive as other studies suggest.

Steve Atherton, vice president and chief technology officer of ClearCommerce said: "It is important to point out that online shopping is safe and consumers shouldn't be reluctant to shop over the Internet. Fraud has evolved over the years and become more sophisticated. It is now increasingly perpetrated by organised networks of criminals."

"Many reputable online retailers are installing risk management software systems that can help to identify fraudulent transactions and those retailers that haven't must get these systems in place if they want to enjoy a profitable e-Christmas."

13 November 2003

Online Sourcing Guide To Launch

Roland Green, ex-director of brands at Marks & Spencer supplier S R Gent, is launching an International Textile Sourcing Guide online in January.

Manufacturers, sourcing companies and logistics providers can pay a subscription fee to have their company profile stored on the website, which will have a link via the sourcing section on fashion website WGSN. The site will be free for users.

The demonstration site is www.its-guide.com.

26 September 2003

US online clothing sales rise

Experts at internet monitoring company Comscore said the clothing industry saw strong growth on the Internet, with major catalogue retailers such as Lands' End, L.L. Bean, and J. Crew in the lead. Even troubled Gap Inc. reported an increase in online sales. The statement accompanied a report in which Comscore estimated that online retail sales in the United States are expected to grow 27% in the upcoming holiday season.

Virginia-based Comscore said that 2002 online sales of non-travel products will total $13.8bn (€ 13.8bn)in the fourth quarter, an increase of approximately 27% compared to the same period last year. In total, online clothing and accessories sales on reached $ 3.1bn the first seven months of 2002. Total online consumer sales -excluding travel - amounted to $ 44.2bn compared to $ 31.5bn compared to the previous year. The biggest growth in online sales came from aggressive shipping promotions launched by the big players of the sector like Amazon.com or buy.com.

09-05-02