The recent travel mayhem as a result of snow across the UK has brought the topic of travel and – vitally at Christmas-time – delivery to the front of our collective minds in eCommerce. However, in addition to the trials and tribulations experienced in the final mile, the transport metaphor has been a fertile one as Ian Jindal considers the balance of service within multichannel retail.

Visitors to DIY firm Focus’ website can no longer buy online, after the multichannel retailer was put into administration. Almost 4,000 jobs are understood to be at risk after administrators from Ernst & Young were called in yesterday.

Fashion chain and multichannel retailer AllSaints is in new ownership, after Lion Capital and Goode Partners invested in the £200m turnover business.

Email is gaining new life as messaging systems converge through social media, argues John Hayes, business development executive at iContact, who has some suggestions on how retailers can use email and social media effectively.

UK customers of the multichannel electronics retailer Best Buy are very satisfied, according to its parent company Carphone Warehouse. But investors and rival traders alike will be waiting until June for details of how the venture, which has now been trading in the UK for a year, is faring financially.

Fashion retailer Next said a strong online performance had helped it to ‘overperform’ in the opening weeks of its financial year. But the sales boost, thanks in part to Easter, hot weather and the Royal Wedding was unlikely to be repeated later in the year, it said.

Blacks Leisure reported a rise in internet sales, and a fall in its overall losses, as it announced it was hiring a chief executive from the online sector.

M-retailing has passed a significant milestone, if research by InMobi is to be believed, with shopping from a mobile device now proving to be more popular than on PC in the UK – 42% prefer the high street, but 30% choose mobile ahead of 28% choosing the PC

More than 10million UK consumers have bought something at least once through mobile – 23% of consumers surveyed had carried out a transaction on their mobile in the past year, with the average shopper purchasing 4.4 times a month on mobile

According to the inaugural Online Retail Monitor (ORM) report from The British Retail Consortium and Google, total retail-orientated searches are up by 23% in the first quarter of 2011, but the same searches on mobile have risen by 181%

As interest in HTML5 to create more app-like m-websites gathers pace, leading mobile retail site creator Usablenet has rolled out Mobile 2.0, its own HTML5 mobile platform to tap into demand from retailers – driven by their customers – for better mobile web experience

More than three quarters of 18 to 26 year olds would be willing to use mobile banking services and would even consider paying a monthly fee of £5 for the pleasure according to a study out this week

E-books are growing in popularity, with sales rising by four times in 2010 compared to the year before. The Publishers Association says ebook sales rose to £16m in 2010, though as yet this is a fraction of the total books market.

Thorntons sales have fallen online and in stores as sunny weather over hit shoppers’ taste for chocolate.

Mobile accessories company Mobile Fun is to expand further across Europe, with new sites planned for Spain and Holland. It has appointed a head of international to lead the move into new markets.

A fly fishing manufacturer established in 1872 is now selling online, using its network of retail partner to fulfil orders. Hardy’s is working with Shopatron to offer the new ecommerce service.

Glimpse the future of retail by visiting Intel’s Connected Store, to be showcased at the Screenmedia Expo 2011. Internet Retailing’s own Ian Jindal will be among the speakers at the event, to be held in London later this month.

Online shopping reward site Easyfundraising says it has raised more than £2m for good causes since it was launched.