A seller of all things environmentally friendly, Ethical
Superstore will launch a new marketplace to allow
ethical businesses and charities to sell their wares to the
public next month.
OneGoodMarket will open on 15th December and
according to an article in NE Business, the venture will be
“particularly useful for shopping on a more local
level”. It will also allow Ethical Superstore to expand to
offer more than 100,000 products without taking up extra space at
its warehouse.
Arcadia, the retail group owned by Sir Philip
Green that operates high-street stores TopShop,
Evans and Burton amongst
others, announced a group operating profit rise of 10.4 percent
to £279.6 million in the year ended 28th August. Pretax
profit is also up, 6.4 percent to £213.2 million. In the UK,
like-for-like sales rose a modest 1.3 percent to £2.78
billion. TopShop and TopMan
were the standout performers during the year, both reporting
record sales and profits.
Automotive accessories retailer Halfords said
that its online sales now account for 9 percent of total retail
business after strong growth during the first half of the year.
Overall revenue at the company rose 7.3 percent to £456.3
million, with pretax profit up 12.8 percent to £68.7
million.
Google has launched its apparel website
Boutiques.com in the US. The site, billed by its
creator as a “new way to shop for fashion”, allows
visitors to search and browse clothes, shoes and accessories, see
fashion picks from bloggers, designers and celebrities, and
click-through to retailers’ websites to purchase goods. Google
says it is currently accepting applications from merchants
wishing to list their products and that in most cases merchants
are charged for the privilege.
Among the first UK retailers to feature on Boutiques.com is
New Look, but because it targets US consumers,
all prices on the site are currently in dollars.
Books, DVDs, homewares and now… movies?
Amazon.com has partnered with Warner Bros to
create Amazon Studios. According to the Independent, Amazon is running a competition
inviting filmmakers and screenwriters to submit films and scripts
for consideration. The article says that if an original project
is produced by Amazon Studios, the rights payment will be
$200,000. If it earns more than $60 million at the box office,
its creators will earn $400,000.
Net-a-Porter‘s sister website,
TheOutnet.com, which sells designer fashion at
discounted prices, unveils its new-look website today and will
launch a mobile version of its site on 30th November.
The Ecologist profiles organic cosmetics firm
Lush.
Ben Gordon, chief executive of Mothercare, is
scrutinised by the Independent.
British consumers are expected to spend £537 million online
next Monday as the Christmas shopping season kicks off in
earnest. According to the Guardian, total online spending on 29th
November, aka Manic Monday, will be 29 percent higher than last
year.
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