Lego’s new Harry Potter range and ‘constructible’ board games, have proved so popular that the Danish toy manufacturer achieved a 48% rise in UK sales to a new record last year. Mananging director for Lego in the UK, Marko Ilincic, also thinks the proliferation of social media sites have played a part in Lego’s increasing popularity. Looking ahead Lego has a strategy to expand its ‘direct to consumer’ activities, through its popular Lego.com web store, as well as affiliate clubs and collaboration programmes.

Pets at Home has launched a Pet Care iPhone/iPad/iTouch application as its first foray into m-commerce and grows the company’s recent ‘Click and Collect’ multi-channel initiative

The market is ready to consume via mobile. Many retailers are scrambling to harness the power of this channel, but how should they best market their new capabilities? Eric Abensur, CEO at Venda, offers some …

Quirky off-licence chain Oddbins is closing 39 stores and seeking an investor to fund its rescue plans. The company is struggling in the face of tough competition from the supermarkets which account for around 70% of UK wine sales today. However Oddbins says increasing web sales following a successful re-launch of the Oddbins online store in October 2010 are encouraging, and a web strategy will be part of the rescue plan.

E and m-commerce platform vendor Digby has integrated PayPal Mobile Express Checkout to offer retailers a new payment option that makes it easier for consumers to purchase from their smartphone with the shortest number of steps

JustShops, a collection of specialist e-commerce pet stores, is to add social commerce to all its online stores, using the Reevoo ratings and reviews solution. JustShops runs 11 specialist web sites, which provide pet owners with a wide range of pet products. Sites include www.justdogbeds.org, www.justrabbithutches.co.uk, www.JustGuineaPigHutches.co.uk and www.ukparrotcages.co.uk. The company is investing in social commerce in the form of product reviews and feedback in order to build greater trust, improve on-site conversion and make its sites more interactive and engaging so pet-owner keep returning.

Eric Broussard is responsible for the development and implementation of Amazon Services strategy in Europe. Under Broussard’s leadership, Amazon Services Europe has signed clients such as Marks and Spencer and greatly expanded the number of sellers offering products on Amazon’s European sites. Broussard will be speaking at the Insights Conference on March 23. part of the Internet Retailing Expo. His presentation will focus on the ways Amazon offers channels for retailers through marketplaces, white label websites, phone and in-store applications.

White Stuff, the fast-growing British fashion brand, is looking at Northern Europe for expansion opportunities and is planning international websites, as well as physical stores, to win new overseas customers. The 78-store chain is drawing up plans for international expansion. Sally Bailey, chief executive of White Stuff said the Nordic market holds the most potential, and so countries such as Norway, Sweden, Denmark and Finland could potentially see White Stuff shops and internet sites launched “over the next five years”. She said no final decisions had been made on which would be the first country targeted with a website.

Despite fresh competition from Waitrose Direct and a tough trading climate in the UK, Ocado has increased both orders and sales in the past three months. This validates its strategy to increase capacity in readiness for further demand, said the online grocer.
Sales increased 24.7% to £146.2m for the 12 weeks to 20 February while orders increased 26.1% year on year to 103,207 a week. The retailer says an increase in customer numbers and shopping frequency demonstrates the strength of the Ocado offer. There was new however that basket size has declined 1.1% during the period.

As we head into World Book Night, (5 March) books are high on the agenda, with press coverage focusing on how internet sales of books have changed the face of traditional bookselling. To tap into British readers’ views on digital books Mintel has just released its latest research. The research also revealed a strong consumer expectation to pay less for e-books than their printed equivalent, with nearly half (48%) of consumers saying they expect to pay less, and just one in five (19%) saying they expect to pay the same. Some 7% of Brits say they expect to pay less than £3, with 28% thinking it should be between £3 and £5.99.

Love it or hate it, X Factor will be returning to our screens soon. Auditions will be starting in London this weekend, and ecommerce company WatchShop.com has bagged some timely PR, providing wristwatches for the TalkBack Thames production team. The aim is to ensure all auditions are timed to perfection. The British online watch retailer is supplying the X Factor production team with Casio Retro Chronograph watches to enable the production team to log their filmed footage of the hopeful contenders for editing purposes, before the final cuts air later in 2011.

As a regular on the BBC’s Dragons’ Den, Julie Meyer enjoys sniffing out innovative ideas, and fanning the flames of nascent entrepreneurial spirit. She will be speaking at the Insights Conference at Internet Retailing Expo on 23 March, and here gives us a taste of her views on opportunities in ecommerce, and the importance of ‘ecosystem economics’.

DIY market leader B&Q has announced plans to invest £35m in updating its web site, introducing an integrated platform that will streamline multichannel operations. It’s expected that the new site and integrated back office systems will be fully operational by 2013. Meanwhile Wickes, part the Travis Perkins group, which also owns Tile Giant and ToolStation, has seen the value of its online sales increase by 70% in the last year, following improvements to its online service offer, and a focus on getting large items such as cement, timber and paving slabs to customers quickly.

The growth in online shopping coupled with developments in technology is changing the way retailers can reach new audiences and further develop the connection they have with long standing brand advocates. Phillip Rooke CMO of Spreadshirt explains how print-on-demand technology can help retailers of all sizes offer their full inventory of designs and content and connect it with quality clothing their customers will love to wear.

Online retail in both the US and Western Europe will continue on a double-digit growth trajectory over the next five years, according to two new forecasts released today by Forrester Research. Both US and European online retail will grow at a 10 percent compound annual growth rate (CAGR) from 2010 to 2015, reaching $279bn and €134bn, respectively, in 2015.