Ten of Europe’s brightest ad and marketing agencies, including Ogilvy, LBi and McCann London, have formed a partnership with leading cross-platform app developer Grapple to help develop high quality cross platform mobile applications for their brand and retail clients in a clear demonstration that ad land is finally ‘getting’ apps

On-demand e-commerce company Venda has teamed up with m-commerce tech company Digby to develop a unified platform that that allows vendors to co-ordinate how their customers do business with them through stores, online, catalogues and mobile – and help businesses leverage the power of social media in the shopping experience

Canada’s Yellow Pages Group (YPG) has rolled out its Urbanizer iPhone app that lets users put in sentiment-based information to tell the app what kind of restaurant they are searching for based on mood, their social network status and other factors

Lingerie website Figleaves has been bought for £11.5m by home shopping business N Brown Group. The move, says N Brown, will make it the UK’s number one online lingerie seller.

Online ordering has helped to bring new life to the traditional doorstep milk delivery, says Dairy Crest. Now it’s extending the reach of its milk&more service, which hit 250,000 sign ups in March this year.

Airlines and beer brands are benefitting most strongly from World Cup related internet searches, says Experian Hitwise. It says one in every 144 searches is currently related to the football tournament.

According to new figures from Experian Hitwise, one in every 144 UK internet searches is currently related to the World Cup.

A move to engage customers both in the store and online looks to have paid off for Majestic Wine. Today it reported internet sales were up by almost a fifth in its last financial year.

Customers of online ticket exchange Viagogo will soon be able to use the site to find out more about venues, shows and performances through Bazaarvoice social commerce being added to French, German and UK versions of the site.

More than half of online shoppers would abandon a retailer after a bad experience with delivery or returns, new research suggests.

Car parts-to-cycles retailer Halfords says multichannel sales grew by more than a third in its latest financial year and now make up 6% of its total sales. Further integration of online and stores is now planned.

Buy now, collect at Glastonbury. That’s the promise from camping retailer Milletts, whose customers can now buy the equipment they need online, through a dedicated website or in store and pick it up when they arrive at this month’s festival.

On the high street, retail location is everything. But in the virtual world, it’s different. Jonty Sutton, managing director of Redbox Digital, explores the ways traditional brands are competing online.

A two-thirds rise in online sales over half-term was helped by “exceptional” clothing sales. And on the high street, consumers continued to spend despite doubts about the upcoming emergency Budget.

Argos is growing online, its latest figures show, but high street sales have fallen amid ‘challenging and uncertain’ economic conditions.

Online fashion retailer ASOS has marked a decade in businesss with a record set of financial results. Younger customers defied predictions by continuing to spend despite financial uncertainty, helping the trader to a 35% rise in sales to £223m.

An interview with Lauren Luke – panacea81 on YouTube – on her phenomenal rise from her home-produced make-up videos to being one of the top channels on YouTube, a TV star, top-ranking author and with her own make-up line. Lauren’s open and utterly engaging comments are a must-watch for brand managers wanting to understand integrity and direct customer connection.

Small high street retailers can now add video to their entries on Yell.com. The new Shop View service, launching this week, gives businesses a chance to show customers what they look like. For those that go viral this offers opportunities – but it’s one to be approached with care.

E-commerce sales continued to outstrip high street growth in May, notching up their biggest monthly gain since December. The British Retail Consortium (BRC)-KPMG Retail Sales Monitor for May 2010 shows a 21.9% expansion in internet, mail order and phone sales, compared to last year, with 3% growth on the high street, or 0.8% on a like-for-like basis.

We’re pleased to release the videos of our six-part Insight Roundtables on Social Commerce, with Bazaarvoice, Marks & Spencers, QVC, DRL, eSpares and the IMRG.

UK companies are spending more on online search as the economy improves. Social media marketing is gaining a growing share of budgets, according to the fourth annual UK Search Engine Marketing Benchmark Report.