House of Fraser has appointed search marketing company Greenlight and social media agency We Are Social as it looks to double its online sales from £50m in 2010.

Customisation is currently proving a winner for a number of brands, from the Kaiser Chiefs to print-on-demand clothing company Spreadshirt. For both the approach relies in part on the social buzz that can be generated not only around the product but around the way different individuals have customised it.

Not enough European shoppers are using the internet to shops across borders, the European Commission has said. Cross-border shopping is just one area where ‘insufficient progress’ is being made towards the European vision of a digital single market.

Poor online customer experience is costing UK companies the equivalent of £14bn a year, a new study carried out for Tealeaf by Econsultancy has found. The study, Reducing Customer Struggle, found companies were falling short on both multichannel and online services.

Kookai’s new look website, launched first in the UK, is to be rolled out across Europe. Magento Commerce specialist Session Digital is behind the revamp of the site for the French label founded in Paris in 1983.

As more Brits cancel their weekend shopping trips thanks to the rising price of petrol, Bill Mooney, sales director – DataSolutions, at GB Group, considers how retailers can benefit by getting to know their customers online instead.

Online fashion retailer ASOS claimed a place as one of the top five ‘most visited fashion retail websites on the planet’ as it reported a 58% jump in sales and a 41% rise in pre-tax profits before exceptional items. But its share price dipped as it also reported a 23% fall in bottom-line pre-tax profits.

Customers are now finding it easier and cheaper to return unwanted goods that were bought online, a new report from Snow Valley has found. Researchers have noted a ‘dramatic change’ in the number of retailers who will now refund the original delivery store, with some even doing that in store.

Retailers are planning to invest in their websites over the next year, according to new research from Adobe Scene 7. The report found that iPhone and iPad apps were high up the wanted list, while social networking investment was also key.

Kiddicare has moved its affiliate marketing activity to Affiliate Window as it looks to grow its marketing activity with relevant publishers.

The UK’s small retailers can now use iContact’s flagship email and social marketing tool at no cost. The launch of iContact Free Edition comes as the company opens its London office.

Technology companies are being challenged to solve a 21st century retail problem. RichRelevance and Overstock.com have launched the $1m RecLab Prize, on offer to the non-commercial team of researchers that comes up with an answer to the problem of making the best online product recommendations.

Demandware says retailers will benefit from an easy-to-use system and a richer shopping experience through its new Facebook Shop application.

Best Buy has used text analytics software from Clarabridge to learn from and respond to what customers are saying about it. Clarabridge has just launched its UK operation, in West London.

Retailers have been granted a period of grace to comply with new European laws on cookies that come into force today – but have also been reminded they must use the time well.

Digital media helped to drive a rise in revenues and profits at luxury brand Burberry, the company said this week. Turnover was up by 27% while pretax profits grew by 39%.

Is acting as a shopping channel a step too far for Facebook? Stefan Schmidt, director of product strategy at hybris, considers.

Expansion in areas such as grocery, clothing and sports at Amazon.co.uk means demand for more customer service, to be provided at a new contact centre in Edinburgh.

Affiliate marketing network LinkShare says growth in its retail and travel sector clientele helped it to a 34% expansion in the first quarter of the financial year.

Investment in multichannel, from ecommerce to better performing stores, is the route to future growth for JJB Sports, the loss-making retailer said as it announced full-year results.