48% of shoppers are buying gifts in September, in order to spread the cost of Christmas, and a third of shoppers are planning to spend less than last year, says Asda as it adds a dedicated Christmas gift shop.

Since building Locayta’s merchandising platform into its new website, the wine specialist has seen its conversion rate increase by four times and expects sales to increase overall by at least 15%.

The UK market for email marketing platforms and services will grow by an estimated 15% in 2009 to £292 million, according to new research from Econsultancy.

But only 11% of British consumers regularly buy food online and 45% say they can’t see the point, according to new research from Mintel.

UK cybercrime has rebounded to levels not seen since 2006 as a result of the recession and consumer complacency, according to Garlik’s annual UK Cybercrime report.

The Internet Retailing conference, to be held in London on October 13, boasts three streams packed with high-powered speakers. Stream one, ‘The Customer as King’, is centred on what it takes to put customers in a place where they feel happy to spend…

The stores launching on 1 October will all include touch screens enabling shoppers to browse the new retailer’s collections and its website in-store.

Online sales will begin in the Autumn/Winter 2010 season in Spain, France, Germany, the UK, Italy and Portugal and will be followed by a progressive rollout in all Zara markets.

The fashion retailer will open its first transactional site in the UK during the autumn of 2010.

In a one day experiment the department store equipped store assistants with smart phones and encouraged customers to engage with them via Twitter.

eBay Outlet is a UK-only launch so far and promises shoppers savings of up to 70%.

The fifth part of Internet Retailing’s Inspiration Index is now open for voting, and this time we want to hear whose marketing most inspires and impresses you.

Online sales in August 2009 rose by 16% against 2008, beating expectations, according to the latest IMRG Capgemini e-Retail Sales Index.

The entertainment ecommerce specialist and new owner of the Zavvi brand has ranked first in the Sunday Times’ list of fastest-growing private technology companies.

Research reveals a stark message from increasingly impatient consumers: They’ll allow two seconds for your pages to load, and at three seconds 40% will abandon your site.

Analysis of the behaviour of 163 million online shoppers has shown that 65% wait a day or more to complete a purchase, with the average delay being 33 hours and 54 minutes.

It’s easy to ignore, or write off as something just for the bigger players, but testing creatives, propositions, navigation and other site elements against each other is something everyone should be doing. Here David Hefendehl, ecommerce manager at digital agency Pod 1, offers hard-won tips to get you up and running quickly.

There are nine free workshops running alongside the exhibition and the main conference at Internet Retailing 2009 in London on October 13, but you should book early to guarantee attendance.

Research shows that 44% of US shoppers have already started their Christmas shopping, and the trend looks similar in the UK.

Holly Tucker and Sophie Cornish, co-founders of notonthehighstreet.com, picked up the Entrepreneur of the Year gong at last night’s Specsavers Everywoman in Retail Awards.