E-Commerce

British retailers will be giving over more of their marketing budgets to mobile this year and luxury retailer Harrods is no exception. In a bid to give the brand a greater global presence, Harrods.com will be launched along with a fully transactional mobile website. Many of the store's rivals, including John Lewis and Debenhams, already have transactional mobile websites and apps.

Laura Ashley, the English lifestyle brand, has opened its e-commerce website to U.S. customers, featuring popular licensed products and coveted U.K. fabrics, wallpapers and accessories.

Googe has created Google Catalogs, a free app for tablet devices that enables you to browse all of your favorite catalogs and interact with new layers of rich-media content. The Google Catalogs app features digital versions of catalogs across many popular categories, including fashion and apparel, beauty, jewelry, home, kids and gifts.

Wal-Mart is transferring management of its e-commerce business to store-level leadership in developed countries and said that two online executives are leaving the company.

Wal-Mart is planning to launch several new projects this holiday season based on the technology it acquired from the social media startup Kosmix back in April. Kosmix’s platform previously powered multiple services, including a Twitter search site called TweetBeat, a health vertical called RightHealth and a homepage where users could search the web by topic.

The big relaunch of Target’s digital platform isn’t due until later this fall, but that didn’t deter the company from offering plenty of ways to interact electronically with the brand for back-to-school shopping.

As of Aug. 29, Wal-Mart will close the Music Downloads digital music store that it's operated since 2004, exiting a market that is dominated by Apple and iTunes. However, the company is still a player in the competitive video streaming market.

Scentiments.com's Founder and CEO Howard Wyner took time at the eTail 2011 conference in Boston to discuss how retailers can leverage customer service to engage consumers and drive repeat sales.

The popularity of flash-sale websites with limited time and inventory offerings has grown exponentially over the past two years. Online shoppers’ love for the thrill of snagging designer clothing, home décor, travel and even wine has caused visits to the category to increase 368 percent in July 2011 as compared to the same month two years ago and 109 percent one year ago. 

The long-term profitability of participating in daily-deal promotions remains an open question for local businesses, even as services like Groupon remain popular and more businesses jump on board with deal offers.