News roundup–16th April 2009


News roundup–16th April 2009

Dance-music brand Ministry of Sound has relaunched its
website, two months after it was forced offline following the
collapse of download supplier Trinity Street. Ministry of
Sound built and maintains the new site in-house, and Music Ally says the latest incarnation
comes “complete with eCommerce features, blogs, and
editorial content, and a nicer design”.

Fashion etailer ASOS is beta-testing its ASOS Life
online community. It promoted the soft launch exclusively on
Twitter: “We know you love ASOS, and it’s because of that that we
wanted to let you guys see our community first… to get your
opinions on what we’ve done so far and to help us shape future
versions.” The site offers blogs, forums, groups, and other
social-networking features.

At least one direct marketer is hiring: Wensum
Rainbow, which sells uniforms via its Rainbow Direct
and Beechtree catalogues recently created 26 jobs,
reports Derbyshire’s Evening Telegraph. The company is the
result of the merger late last year of Rainbow
Corporatewear and Wensum.

The bad news: Like-for-like retail sales fell in March, for
the ninth month out of 10, reports The Independent. The somewhat better news:
The decline, at 1.2 per cent, was less than expected.

The Centre for Economics and Business Research (CEBR)
announced on Tuesday that the December cut in VAT will generate
an additional £8 million-£9 million in retail sales.
But Verdict Consulting argues that the CEBR is wrong and that
steep high-street discounts in December and January, not the VAT
reduction was responsible for the rise in sales for those
months.

The National Trust has launched an online bookstore, at
www.NationalTrustBooks.co.uk.

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