Ideal Shopping Direct has acquired online
knitting supplies retailer Deramores for an
undisclosed sum. The move is part of Ideal’s strategy of
acquiring and developing niche hobby online business to increase
its multichannel reach. Deramores co-founder and managing director
Steve Hollis will remain with the business and Dermores will be
operated as a standalone eCommerce business within the Ideal
Shopping Direct group. This is Ideal’s second deal since going
private last year, following its acquisition of createtoday in
February.
Google has announced it is phasing out Product
Search and bringing an end to free listings, transitioning the
service to a purely commercial model. In a blog, Google Shopping’s vice president of
product management Sameer Samat, said, “We believe that
having a commercial relationship with merchants will encourage
them to keep their product information fresh and up to date.
Higher quality data-whether it’s accurate prices, the latest
offers or product availability-should mean better shopping
results for users, which in turn should create higher quality
traffic for merchants.” Commenting on the news Seamus
Whittingham, managing director EMEA at ChannelAdvisor, says, this
is “probably going to be the biggest shake-up of the way
retailers use search since the launch of Google Adwords”.
He adds, “Google Product Search (GPS) currently drives
about $650 million in annual sales in the United States and about
$1.3 billion globally. With GPS no longer available, those free
sales are going to disappear unless retailers decide to pay.
While these changes will only be effective in the USA initially
if successful we would expect them to be rolled out to other
regions sooner rather than later.”
Furniture retailer/catalogue Dwell is planning
to open up to 60 new stores in the “not-too-distant
future” says managing director Aamir Ahmad. “Despite
the current climate we’re feeling really positive and pushing on
with our expansion–there are lots of areas of the country we
haven’t yet covered and it’s our aim to be available everywhere
within a relatively short space of time,” he told
Direct Commerce. His vision is to open 40
“larger” high street stores, complemented by a
further 20 boutique outlets in suburban areas.
Online retailer Littlewoods.com has partnered
with its celebrity “brand ambassador” Laurence
Llewelyn-Bowen to broadcast a live and interactive TV format to
customers for the first time via Facebook. Next Wednesday, 13th
June, the online department store will air the one-hour-long
broadcast of Littlewoods Live via its Facebook page and on
mobile. Hosted by Llewelyn-Bowen the interactive format features
the celebrity designer’s new autumn/winter 12 collection for
Littlewoods.com. The broadcast will also include four advert
breaks, which will feature a variety of products from across the
Littlewoods.com home and living and electrical ranges.
Dot.talent, which specialises in commercialising branded content
within social media channels, was commissioned to produce the
format.
Charles Tyrwhitt plans to open stores in
Chicago, Boston, Atlanta and Houston over the next couple of
years as it “taps demand in America’s biggest business
cities”, reports the Telegraph.
Style-Passport.com, a London based online
fashion store specialising in holiday wear, has secured
investment from the government-backed Angel CoFund alongside
syndicates of business angels. The round included a £185,000
investment from members of the Envestors private investor
network, with a further £225,000 provided by the Angel
CoFund. The remainder was provided by private individuals.
Camera retailer Cecil Jacobs has fallen into
administration. PKF was appointed administrator of the
Leicester-based company, which operates 19 Jacobs stores as well
as a website, and which employs 154 staff. The administrator is
currently operating the business and seeking a buyer for it as a
going concern.
Postal carrier Deutsche Post DHL has been
ordered by the German financial authorities to pay €516
million (£417.5 million) in back taxes covering 1998 to 2010
to settle a dispute. Deutsche Post says it has been preparing for
the settlement and has reserves of cash in place.
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