IMRG, the UK’s industry body for eCommerce and multichannel retail, has today endorsed the MSc in Internet Retailing as a qualification for our industry’s future leaders, blending commercial rigour, emerging best practice and academic validation.

IInternet Retailing has teamed up with Bazaarvoice to bring you a six-part Insight Roundtable video series on social commerce, hosted by editor-in-chief Ian Jindal. Read this story to find out more.

JD Sports’s e-commerce site is number one for customer service, according to the latest eDigital Research study, followed by Marks and Spencer and Amazon. But bottom of the list was Dixons.

Online sales are growing fast as more goods become available online, reports BDO’s High Street Sales Tracker. On the high street, recent good weather also gave a lift to store sales.

Haven Holidays saw a 5% rise in sales after it introduced online customer help from Eptica to answer routine enquiries. The growth came as inbound emails fell by 46%, freeing up its contact centre agents’ time.

Jill Lewis, merchandise director at John Lewis, is moves to a strategic role ahead of her retirement, while Peter Ruis will replace her current role with the new title of buying and brand director.

Online grocer Ocado will continue to deliver Waitrose goods for at least another 10 years, following a new deal between the two partners. Analysts expect the agreement to mean Ocado’s stockmarket launch will go ahead in July.

Argos is hoping to add a new phrase to the language, as it prepares to launch a new advertising campaign promoting the benefits of multichannel shopping. ‘Argosing it’, it says, means modern shopping for busy people.

Online sales at Marks & Spencer rose by 27% to £413m in its latest financial year, as it increased focus on multichannel service. That’s well ahead of 4.6% growth in group-wide underlying profits.

Counterfeiting and social media are among the threats that brands consider potentially damaging, according to new research. Brands who responded to the survey by intellectual property group Marks & Clerk called for legal reform.

Retail domain names from MyShopping.com to OnlineDeals.net are up for auction next week. Sedo is selling a number of retail-related names that could prove sought after.

Amazon is the most visible site when UK customers search for brown goods, such as televisions, DVD players and computers, according to new research from Greenlight.

Filofax is to use Twitter and Facebook to get to know its customers in email campaigns. Email campaigns will encourage customers to share their stories via social media.

Online now accounts for more than 20% of its UK business, children’s-equipment-to-clothing retailer Mothercare said in its full-year results this week.

Consumers can now see how a new touchscreen Tissot watch would look on their wrist from their own computer, using new augmented reality technology. It’s part of a novel advertising campaign, that could make distance purchases of big ticket items more likely.

Expanding beyond boys toys has proved profitable for multichannel gift retailer Firebox, which today announced its profits had passed the £1m milestone. Today, half its customers are women.

UK online shoppers spent £4.4bn in April, according to today’s IMRG Capgemini e-Retail Sales Index. But while online sales were up by 13% year on year, they were down by 3% compared to March.

Online sales have widened their share of the UK retail market, according to the latest figures from the Office for National Statistics. E-commerce took an 8.1% share of the retail market in April.

Royal Mail has launched a new e-commerce tool to help retailers manage their sales, giving them a more efficient way to sell online and across other channels.

Not just an m-commerce site, but an M&S m-commerce site… Marks & Spencer launches m.marksandspencer.com – the first mobile shopping site from a high street retailer – synching its e-commerce website with all mobile phones with a browser