Debenhams has reported a robust trading performance for the third quarter of its financial year, with multichannel services hailed as the main catalyst for sales improvement. Online, in-store ordering,
and mobile sales were up by 77% (excluding VAT) over the previous year for the 43 week period.

The department store group’s interim management statement, released on June 30, shows that Debenhams’ iPhone app has recently passed the 500,000 download mark, and has already recorded its first £1m in sales. The recently launched Nokia and Android apps are also proving popular, while the retailer says its Beauty Club app has been embraced by existing customers and new adopters alike.

Sofa giant DFS has appointed affilinet as its affiliate marketing network of choice and together they have started working on a call-tracking programme that will help shape future marketing activities. The deal will see affilinet help to better integrate online and offline marketing to maximise sales and ROI from digital marketing channels.

What is the problem in adding an opt-in mechanism for users when using cookie based website analytics systems? John Harrison of Maxsi says the problem is that website analytics systems measure activity and user interaction on the website. For the information to be of use it needs to be reasonably accurate. If, however, it is only activated when a user consents to its use then it is not measuring website activity, it is in fact measuring website activity only of those who consent to opt in. This is not the same.

Only half of web users in an extensive usability survey of fashion etail sites, said they could complete simple navigation and browsing tasks successfully. The specific task of locating a defined product had a success rate of only 49%, for example. These are the worrying findings of the first e-Performance Observatory report compiled by user specialist YUSEO, and presented this week to IMRG members in London. YUSEO tested the usability of nine online fashion retailers operating in the UK: Marks & Spencer, NewLook, TopShop, BooHoo, Mango, Promod, Zara, H & M and ASOS in research work that took place between May 26 and June 15 this year.

As many as 10,000 jobs are now at risk across the British retail sector as Thorntons announced the closure of up to 180 stores on Tuesday, threatening around 1,000 jobs. This follows news that department store chain TJ Hughes, which employs around 4,000 staff across its 57 shops, has filed an intention to appoint an administrator. A host of other retail chains have hit the buffers or announced down-sizing plans in recent weeks.

The world of e-books has been stirred up by J K Rowling’s latest venture – online portal and shop Pottermore.com – which goes live in October. Book retailers have reportedly hit out at J K Rowling’s decision to sell the Harry Potter e-books directly through the site. According to The Bookseller, Pottermore has responded to retailers’ frustrations over being unable to sell the Harry Potter e-books, saying the idea was to “ensure ease of availability across all reading devices”.

New figures from the British Retail Consortium (BRC) suggest cautious customers, increasingly reluctant to spend money they haven’t got, are turning from credit cards to cash and debit cards to better manage their finances.

The findings show the proportion of transactions using credit cards fell by 12.9% in a year while the proportion involving debit cards rose by 15.8%. Cash was involved in a smaller proportion of transactions than a year earlier but used for a greater proportion of overall retail spending as the average amount spent in each cash transaction increased by 13% to £12.93.

Quick query resolution is the most important factor for European consumers when interacting with a company or brand, according to the 2011 Global Contact Center Consumer Preference Report, published by Avaya.
The enterprise communications services specialist, found that 42% of consumers globally ranked speed of query resolution as the most important factor when rating an ideal customer service experience. Europe wide, the figures were broken down as UK 41%, Germany 48%, and France 44%.

Chinese businessman Ning Li is to launch a second arm to his online furniture business, Made.com, according to the Independent. Mr Ling’s new site will be called Made.biz, which will help business customers find office furniture at wholesale prices.

In a long-awaited company first, Ocado has delivered pre-tax profitability in its first half, of £0.2m compared to a loss of £6.7m in the same period last year. As well as revealing encouraging interim results, with net sales up 20.1% to £276.6m in the 24 weeks to May 15, the online grocer says it will begin selling a food range supplied from French giant Carrefour from 14 July this year.

Habitat will now be sold in Homebase concessions and online, following the acquisition of the brand from its administrators by the Home Retail Group. Its new parent says it will develop its ecommerce potential.

John Lewis is now selling abroad. The launch of European deliveries came as the retailer enjoyed its best online week of the year so far, though sister Waitrose saw its internet sales fall.

Shopping habits have changed enormously in the digital age says Tarlok Teji, retail analyst at Manchester Business School, who examines whether retailers have adapted sufficiently.

Electricals group Dixons Retail Group showed customers were favouring its multichannel services over its pureplay ecommerce ones as it released its full-year results. The company said it was focusing on customer service to emerge from the ‘current climate’ ahead of the competition.

Adding an extra Facebook fan boosts retail website visits, a study by Experian Hitwise has found. Publication came as the company launched its new Fan Acquisition and Analysis service.

Retailers are being urged to prepare for the ‘tablet revolution’, as new research shows that online shopping via tablet devices is set to rocket in popularity. A study by Shopzilla reveals that 6% of shoppers already own a tablet and a 20% more are considering purchasing one

Proving that you can build networks in store, Selfridges has recruited mobile billing company Oxygen8 to build a mobile messaging network throughout its flagship stores so that consumers can text to donate to the retailer’s Project Ocean Charity campaign

Netbiscuits, a leading cloud software service for cross-platform mobile sites and apps, is to offer retailers PayPal Mobile Express Checkout, the online payment service’s two-click mobile payment system for the mobile Web, as standard, giving retailers a built in payment channel for transactional m-websites

It’s who you know and what they think that’s more likely to influence shopping choices than what the retailer tells you. That’s one finding of a new study commissioned by social commerce company Reevoo, which looks at just how shoppers decide to make a purchase.

PTK Centertel, an Orange group affiliate, is to exploit an already wide acceptance of contactless payments in Poland with the deployment of a mobile NFC programme across the country to join Orange’s NFC trials already underway in the UK and France