Digital Marketing Blog

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

Lillywhites makes a mess of online retail

I foolishly took a trip into central London on Saturday, to try and find a new cricket bat at Lillywhites. As I’ve been abroad for the past few years and only recently returned to the UK, I didn’t know that the store had undergone some severe changes.

Suffice to say it is not a rewarding experience - particularly for anyone looking for sporting equipment rather than clothing, and for anyone with a pram. It's so full you can hardly get down the aisles, and the one lift it has doesn't go to all floors...

Anyway, this unhappiness could have been avoided, of course, if Lillywhites had its own website and I’d been able to check its selection beforehand.

by Richard Maven 09 January 2007 12:43pm 4 comments

Second Life to hand over metaverse software

Developers will get the opportunity to create their own hosted versions of Second Life after its maker Linden Lab announced plans to take the 3D virtual world open-source.

The San Francisco company last night released a version of the software used to access the environment that can be modified by its users under a GNU Public Licence. This means the many SL denizens who have already tinkered with the client through scripts can now help keep SL popular if its population spikes from recent media adulation wane this year.

by Robert Andrews 09 January 2007 12:16pm 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

MyBlogLog enhances Yahoo!'s social strategy

Yahoo! is buying web community service MyBlogLog for over $10m, Forbes reports .

Launched in 2005 by Cloudspace, a group of five dispersed across the US, MyBlogLog allows users to carry a badge of themselves around the web that is added to sites for fellow browsers to see when they visit.

by Robert Andrews 09 January 2007 10:41am 1 comment

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

Viewers call the Super Bowl ad shots

Chevrolet and Doritos will buck the trend during the commercial breaks for the Super Bowl on February 4, airing advertisements produced or influenced by their customers.

by Robert Andrews 08 January 2007 12:36pm 0 comments

Google embeds ads in videos

Google has begun placing advertisements inside clips on its Google Video upload site.

The video of a recent episode of the Charlie Rose show, a programme from the PBS network, is among the first to feature embedded ads that interrupt the clip being watched.

by Robert Andrews 08 January 2007 11:20am 0 comments

Connected questions from LinkedIn pros

LinkedIn, the web network for professional reputations, has launched a new question-and-answer service for its registered business folk.

Following the successful Yahoo! Answers model, LinkedIn Answers allows users to post a question using their member identity and to share it with the whole community or just their closest contacts.

by Robert Andrews 05 January 2007 13:41pm 0 comments