A multichannel initiative from Sainsbury’s to help consumers save money on food bills saw 1m website hits and delivered a 20% lift to the products featured. Overall, however, the supermarket said first quarter like-for-like sales were up by a modest 1.9%, excluding fuel, with online sales up by more than 20%.

Best Buy UK co-owner Carphone Warehouse says it is considering its next steps for its multichannel business after losses at the consumer electronics chain widened sharply during the year.

Marks & Spencer has launched a Facebook store to tie in with this Sunday’s Father’s Day. The retailer has more than 300,000 Facebook fans and the new store allows shoppers to view products before clicking through to the M&S site to checkout.

Leading music and lifestyle brand, Hed Kandi has rolled out an online mobile ticketing solution across its European operations that allows the company to sell advanced e-tickets and mobile tickets via its Hed Kandi Ibiza app, website and facebook page. The solution has been delivered by Ticketscript

Former Tesco boss Sir Terry Leahy has taken a 10% stake in ecommerce delivery management specialist MetaPack alongside other investors. The company says it will use the money to speed up its international development.

South West UK regional shopping centre, The Mall at Cribbs Causeway has launched a free App, which gives customers instant access to the latest offers and promotions operating in the centre’s stores, and serves as a handheld directory of shops, eateries and facilities

UK fashion retailer Republic, has joined the throng of retailers going mobile with the launch of a mobile optimised website that, in its own words, “creates a rich and unique shopping experience for consumers whether they are at home, on the go or in a Republic store”

New report from Developer Economics shows that 67% of developers are currently using Android and 59% using Apple’s iOS as the Google-backed operating system steams ahead of the iPhone in terms of useage and handset numbers

With more and more consumers using mobile to shop, mobile search is becoming a crucial part of the marketing and discovery process – but it needs careful handling if you are to exploit it to the full. Mark Blenkinsop is head of search at Pod1 offers some advice

IMRG has announced that its eCommerce Awards for Excellence 2011 are now open. Retailers and other e-businesses have until July 22 to put themselves forward for the 16 different titles.

Online marketplace Notonthehighstreet.com has claimed a UK first with the launch of group gifting. The new social commerce tool allows friends and family to contribute to gifts.

The taste for impulse-buying has not diminished, despite the age of austerity. But shoppers are more likely to make an unplanned purchase if it’s a bargain. Online, however, they’re becoming less likely to act on impulse.

Online sales now account for 10.2% of Majestic Wine’s total turnover. The company today unveiled a 26.6% rise in pre-tax profits and a 10.3% growth in sales.

Tesco shoppers will soon be able to collect their online grocery orders at the store, one a series of new multichannel innovations unveiled by its new chief executive Philip Clarke when he addressed the British Retail Consortium’s annual retail symposium. In his speech he also put the emphasis on the importance of stores to the future of retail.

A third of sales at Argos were over the internet in the first quarter of its financial year. However, a ‘volatile’ trading environment saw sales fall by almost 10%.

Traditional database marketing and segmentation is dead. Modern marketers are gradually becoming more concerned with how engaged they are with customers and prospects. But there’s still a way to go, explains Tim Roe of RedEye.

Ian Jindal, InternetRetailing’s Editor in Chief, takes a personal look at the MSc in InternetRetailing: who it’s for, why you should consider it and assessing the benefits. With an open evening on 14 June and the deadline for applications set as 18 July, now is the time to consider career and personal development.

Ecommerce sales were up but total sales and profits down at women’s fashion retailer New Look in its latest full-year results. It said the figures were ‘disappointing’ and that upwardly-mobile prices had undermined competitiveness.

Display ads, helped by the growing popularity of video, mobile and social promotions, were the fastest-growing part of the European advertising market in 2010. Video saw 90% growth last year in the UK alone.

European consumer rights proposals that would have seen retailers forced to bear the cost of online returns worth €40 or more have failed to clear the European Council. Further measures affecting online retail are expected to win the backing of the Council this week, with ratification expected by July.