Graham Charlton

High street retailers make gains online

High street retailers that have developed a strong online presence received a major payback this Christmas, according to traffic figures from Hitwise.

The measurement group's Heather Hopkins has published a review of her pre-Christmas online retail predictions, including some useful information on traffic to UK retail sites over the festive period.

by Graham Charlton 12 January 2007 08:43am 1 comment

StubHub sold to eBay for $310 million

Online auction giant eBay has acquired StubHub, an internet tickets marketplace, which deals in tickets for sports and entertainment events. The deal is worth $310 million.

Launched in 2000 and based in San Francisco, StubHub's site managed $400m (£206m) in ticket sales site last year, earning a profit of around $10m (£5m). The secondary ticket market in the US is estimated to have a turnover of $10bn per year.

by Graham Charlton 11 January 2007 13:10pm 1 comment

Jobs unveils Apple's iPhone

Accompanied by rapturous applause from Apple's legions of fans, many of whom queued for hours to see him, Steve Jobs unveiled the eagerly awaited iPhone at the Macworld Expo in San Francisco last night.

The new gadget from Apple certainly looks impressive, and will come in 4GB and 8GB versions, costing $499 or $599. It includes a touchscreen with virtual keyboard, a 2 megapixel camera, is WIFI enabled, as well as containing all the functions of an iPod.

by Graham Charlton 10 January 2007 13:29pm 2 comments

Sainsbury's in new online voucher mishap

Sainsbury’s has blocked the majority of voucher codes on its website, after mischievous customers found they could get massive discounts through a loophole in its coupon campaign.

The supermarket clearly hasn’t learned the lessons provided recently by toy retailer Hamleys, whose warehouses were almost stripped bare by discount-hungry consumers in the week before Christmas.

by Graham Charlton 10 January 2007 09:59am 0 comments

M&S online sales up 70%

Marks & Spencer announced its Christmas trading figures today, with like for like sales up by 5.6%, including a 70% increase in online earnings.

The move represents another success story for the etail sector in the 2006 Christmas season, with online sales rising dramatically compared with 2005. More and more shoppers have wisely chosen to avoid the stress and hassle of high street shopping in favour of buying online.

by Graham Charlton 09 January 2007 16:10pm 0 comments

Offline holiday shoppers paying over the odds

A new study from Holiday Which? has found that people who book their holidays through a high street travel agent are paying over the odds when compared to the deals available online.

The group investigated four tour operators, First Choice, MyTravel Group, Thomas Cook, and Thomson, basing its research on a two-week holiday for two adults and one child in Majorca.

by Graham Charlton 09 January 2007 13:48pm 0 comments

Gates: IPTV to be added to next Xbox

Microsoft boss Bill Gates has outlined his vision for the next 'digital decade', announcing plans to add IPTV services to the next version of the Xbox.

Speaking at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, Gates announced that Microsoft will combine the Xbox 360 gaming device with the Microsoft TV IPTV Edition software platform, which he says should be available by the end of 2007.

by Graham Charlton 08 January 2007 15:39pm 0 comments

One in three UK companies flout spam laws

A new study published claims that 31% of the UK's top companies are failing to comply with EU directives on Privacy and Electronic Communications.

Under the terms of the EU directive, companies must only send emails to non-customers if they have actively opted in to receive them - when entering a competition, for example.

by Graham Charlton 09 January 2007 11:08am 0 comments

MIVA drops Yahoo! for Google

Search marketing company MIVA yesterday announced that it has chosen to end its partnership with Yahoo! in favour of Google.

Yahoo! had been providing search advertising for MIVA since 2001 but this will end as of January 27, when MIVA will begin a new two year deal with Google.

by Graham Charlton 05 January 2007 13:38pm 0 comments

Christmas UK online sales up 50% - IMRG

Online retailers have had a more successful Christmas than their high street counterparts, with IMRG reporting that high street sales are down , and online sales up by between 40 and 50% compared to 2005.

Larger internet retailers like Tesco and Amazon seem to have enjoyed a particularly successful Christmas period, with both setting records for online sales.

by Graham Charlton 05 January 2007 11:53am 0 comments