Join us on 10 September at 10am for Internet Retailing’s first webinar, in association with Keynote Systems, looking in detail at how to ensure your site delivers fast response times — even during the peak Christmas shopping period.

The big winners in the latest IMRG-Hitwise Hot Shops List were Next, New Look, Halfords and John Lewis, while Sainsbury’s saw a huge 26 point drop in the rankings.

UK internet retail sales were 15.7% higher in July than in June and 16.8% up on July 2008, according to the latest IMRG Capgemini e-Retail Sales Index.

Littlewoods Europe has an initial focus on expats but there are also plans to deliver local language versions of the site in the future.

International internet retailing isn’t just a question of getting your website translated, Oban has found — you also need to look at adjusting the layout and phrasing to maximise sales from different cultures.

Online reputation management is a growing challenge as the internet affords ever-increasing opportunities for people to post comments on a proliferation of blogs and social media websites. Feefo’s Bill Cawley explains how to manage negative comments and turn them to your advantage…

Research recently conducted by Google’s chief economist has found that the display position of an AdWords advert has little or no effect upon its conversion rate.

Input from businesses, trade bodies and other interested parties is being sought by the Office of Fair Trading, ahead of a new advertising and pricing market study that will investigate potentially misleading advertising and pricing of goods and services — especially online.

Brands such as Ribena, Baileys and Coca-Cola are becoming increasingly savvy and successful at generating awareness and activity around their brand online, according to Nielsen’s analysis of the fastest growing online sectors in the UK.

The 98-page catalogue features around 20% of the total non-food range now offered online and is designed to encourage customers to go online to check out the full range.

The US retail giant is marketing its new teen furniture line with an ‘augmented reality’ service that lets viewers change the view of a room they create with a special marker they wave in front of a webcam.

Its massive scale makes China simultaneously a rewarding marketplace and cost-efficient source of supply, but doing business there is notoriously fraught. Alibaba’s Maggie Choo will brief delegates at Internet Retailing 2009 on the opportunities and difficulties they may encounter…

Research conducted for Feefo has found that one in ten people has either parted with money on a bogus website or knows somebody who has, and that consumers are increasingly looking for validation in the form of customer reviews and feedback before they buy.

The first dozen applications are now going live on eBay’s new Selling Manager Applications Platform.

The catalogue retailer’s website now allows searching of clearance deals by postcode and store, moving one more reason to visit onto the net.

Three quarters of consumers plan to return later to purchase items they add to a shopping basket and then abandon, according to new research from Amaze and the University of Glasgow.

New research from Key Note finds 65% are still spending as much as ever, but only 3.8% of the population shop online for groceries on a weekly basis.

Mums spend the same amount of time as anyone else surfing the web each month, but show a strong predilection for visiting retail sites.

Marks and Spencer has launched an online look book for its Per Una fashion range’s Autumn collection and is inviting customers to sign up for a dedicated Per Una club.

Fabrice Berger-Duquene, CEO at PureShopping.com, will tell delegates at this year’s Internet Retailing conference on October 13 how the e-tailer is using visual search to make online shopping more like browsing in a store.