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Changes at the top for Shop Direct, Dixons, Argos, Tobar
It’s been quite a week for some of the sector’s top executives. Shop Direct Group’s chief executive Mark Newton-Jones announced he is stepping down from the role after eight years with the business, though he will stay with the company until 2013 to ensure a smooth handover. At Dixons Retail, chief executive John Browett is quitting to join Apple as senior vice president of retail, effective April. While former Best Buy executive John Walden has been named as the new managing director at Argos. At Tobar, which was acquired out of administration last month, chief operating officer Simon Palmer takes over as chief executive, replacing Lyle Finlay. 

Kiddicare ramps up retail 
Morrisons-owned Kiddicare.com, the baby products superstore, has agreed to buy ten former Best Buy stores from Carphone Warehouse. Kiddicare plans to invest around £15 million to convert the stores, extending Kiddicare’s bricks-and-mortar reach beyond its flagship store in Peterborough and creating around 700 jobs across the UK in the process. 

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TV Shopping Conference 2012 unveils more speakers
Richard Burrell director for European market development at QVC; Ideal Shopping Direct’s head of TV Marc Allen; Eric Pomphrey head of broadcast at Rocks & Co; Andy Sloan chief executive of All Response Media and Darren Frost head of Argos TV have all been confirmed as speakers at the TV Shopping 2012 Conference, held at the Lancaster London hotel on 27th March 2012. Sloan will be joined during his session by one of All Response’s clients to help put into context the concepts of short-form and long-form TV shopping opportunities. To book your place, call 01271 866112 or email info@ecmod.com.  And don’t forget to ask about our special “buy two get one free” ticket deal, saving you £295 + vat.  

PetPlanet.co.uk invests in facilities and team
Online pet supplies retailer PetPlanet.co.uk is investing in additional infrastructure and personnel to see it through its next stage of growth. Martin McGreskin, formerly Amazon.co.uk’s inbound and outbound operations manager, joins as director of operations. It has also secured a new 26,500 square-foot premises in Livingston, which in addition to becoming PetPlanet’s warehouse, will also serve as the new headquarters for parent company M8 Group’s commercial operations.

European Commission drafts new EU data protection laws
The European Commission has drafted an update to the EU data protection laws that introduces a single set of rules on data protection, valid across the EU. The move, says the Commission, could save businesses around €2.3 billion a year in administrative costs. For more information on the reforms, visit catalog-biz.com.

Profits fall at H&M and Amazon
Fashion retailer H&M has seen net profits fall 15 percent from 18.68 billion Swedish kronor to 15.82 billion kronor (£1.49 billion), even though sales increased by 8 percent in the year to 30th November 2011. Despite the fall in profits, the company is still going ahead with expansion plans. Expansion plans were partly the reason for a decline in profits at Amazon.com, which saw full year net sales to 31st December grow 41 percent to $48.08 billion, but operating income decrease 39 percent to $862 million, compared with $1.41 billion in 2010.

VOTE NOW and be in with a chance of winning tickets to the ECMOD Awards
The ECMOD Awards and Direct Commerce magazine have partnered to facilitate an additional category called the Direct Commerce Readers' Award for the most inspiring business in the catalogue and online retail sector. It’s free to nominate up to three companies you feel really stand out from the rest and as a thank-you for voting, you’ll enter a prize draw to win two tickets to the prestigious ECMOD Awards evening on 27th March at the Lancaster London. Click here to make your vote count.




Jacobson buys Dolcis
The Jacobson Group, which owns the Gola, Ravel and Lonsdale brands, has bought shoe retailer Dolcis out of administration. It is understood that Jacobson plans to develop the former Barratts Priceless brand into an online retailer with some concessions. 

Ocado reports lift in sales and profits 
Gross sales at online grocer Ocado have increased 16.6 percent to £642.8 million in the year ended 27th November. EBITDA was also up from £22 million to £27.9 million, with the company delivering an operating profit of £1.1 million, compared with a £5.4 million loss in 2010.
 
Office reports merry Christmas, appoints Leighton as nonexec
Office, the Silverfleet Capital-backed shoe retailer, saw like-for-like sales grow 26 percent in the five weeks to 31st December. Delivering the news, the retailer also announced the appointment of Allan Leighton, a former chief executive of Asda, ex-chairman of Royal Mail and former finance director and managing director of young fashion brand Jane Norman, as a nonexecutive director.
 
Gamestop closes doors on UK retail
American video-games retailer Gamestop has closed its four remaining shops in Northern Ireland after the firm decided to focus on its digital operations in the UK. According to reports, Gamestop’s UK website will be operated from the company’s Dublin office. It will retain a bricks-and-mortar presence in the Republic of Ireland.
 



Top tips to taking advantage of Valentine’s Day online
With Christmas a distant memory and Valentine’s Day 2012 fast approaching, online competition is fiercer than ever. Now is the time to ensure online retailers are making the most of their websites and in turn, maximising those conversion rates. Rule number one is to ramp up your marketing, but it’s not necessarily how much you spend but where you spend it. Read more here…