VAT is to rise to 20% in January, the Chancellor George Osborne announced in his emergency Budget today.
The news is likely to be met with mixed feelings by retailers who had feared the impact of an increase in the sales tax on retail jobs and consumer spending.

SuperGroup, owners of youth fashion label Superdry, is taking the official Superdry seconds website in-house as it looks to increase its e-commerce profits. Chris Griffin, who previously ran the 888 Clothing site as a sole trader, is SuperGroup’s new head of e-commerce, with a settlement of £500,000, payable in the recently-listed SuperGroup’s shares.

Consumers are now happy to buy cars over the internet without so much as a test drive, according to Ford Retail. Now it has launched its own direct sales website to allow them to do just that.

ChoicesUK owner The Webb Group is planning for growth following an injection of cash from its new owner, private equity fund Endless. That growth is set to come via DVD rental through convenience stores and through larger retail partners.

The MSc in Internet Retailing has caught the attention of retailers looking to develop their teams or advance their careers. Decision-time is nigh, however, and July 16 is the final date for Manchester Metropolitan University to accept applications. Time to act, or see others gain a year’s career development advantage!

The UK currently has the highest number of consumers participating in mobile commerce in Europe, with 18 to 34 year olds the primary drivers, finds the latest Mobile Consumer Briefing conducted by the Mobile Marketing Association and Lightspeed Research.

A new apps from retail solutions company Futura lets managers who are out and about check on sales figures and other head office data from their mobiles, as companies increasingly embrace mobile in the management of retail outlets. Leading retailer and Woolworths replacement Alworths tries it out and finds it gives quite a boost to morale and productivity

Some £4.5bn was spent online in May, as the UK e-commerce market grew by 22%. Multichannel retailers saw significant growth, according to the latest IMRG Capgemini e-Retail Sales Index, while the World Cup proved a significant spur to sales.

Britons want the freedom to shop where and when they like, whether that’s online, over their mobile or in an in-store kiosk, according to new research.

Sainsbury’s online grocery sales grew by almost a fifth in the first quarter of its financial year, with a new record achieved for weekly orders. Its vuvuzela, said the retailer, is selling particularly well.

Internet sales continued to grow in May, though their share of the total retail market dipped, according to the ONS. World Cup-related sales are expected to rise in June, says the BRC, but in the meantime the tournament is keeping shoppers off the high street and in front of televisions, according to BDO figures.

In today’s guest comment, Geoff Brash, VP of marketing at SLI Systems, discusses the art of turning online browsers into a customer. In an age when the internet is widely used for research before a purchase, how can individual traders encourage a sale?

Durex’s new e-commerce website is now live. The brand is now on the same hybris e-commerce platform as sister SSL group brand Scholl. The result, says SSL International’s digital marketing head, is lower costs and a more efficient customer experience.

Reservations are now open for the Internet Retailing Conference 2010, to be held on October 12 in London. Find out more about the key speakers, events and exhibitors here.

In Germany, a number of conferences and events have recently highlighted the increasing importance of electronic and mobile commerce.

M-Retailing, in association with mobile marketing company Sponge, is inviting retailers to take part in its first annual survey aimed at uncovering the role mobile really plays in retail and the trends we’ll be seeing in a year or two

There is no getting away from the fact that mobile is on every retailers radar in 2010, but with many only just getting to grips with the technology and how to make the best of …

The value of physical and digital goods that people buy with their mobiles could reach $200 billion globally by 2012, compared to just less than $100 billion this year – driven by smartphones, more secure billing and the work being done by the Mobey Forum

As the next step in the continuing expansion of its online and mobile access strategy, leading global auction house Christie’s International, has come over all mobile web, delivering a service that makes its mobile offering available to anyone, anywhere in the world with a web-enabled mobile handset

Japanese consumers with spots are set to be able to use image recognition to snap special logos on goods, in magazines and on TV adverts with their mobiles that will launch a whole m-retailing browsing and purchasing experience, for the Proactiv range of skin care products