Next posts better-than-expected sales
Sales at Next were better than expected for the first half of the fiscal year. For the 25 weeks to 18th July, direct sales were up 1.1 percent year-on-year, while total retail sales were up 1.4 percent. As a result, the company has increased its projected profit for the first half of the year by £15 million and for the second half of the year by another £15 million.

Tesco readies fashion website
Supermarket giant Tesco plans to launch a fashion ecommerce site this autumn. It had started selling apparel on its Tesco Direct website during the 2007 holiday season, but it abruptly stopped after just five months, citing a need to “improve the offer”.

International, direct sales shine for Mothercare
First-quarter direct sales at Mothercare, which includes toys cataloguer/retailer Early Learning Centre, rose 17.4 percent. Total sales for the quarter ended 10th July grew 9.4 percent from last year, with underlying UK sales up 5.1 percent. International sales climbed 32.7 percent, with the company opening 30 overseas stores during the quarter.

Drinkstuff heads back to the bar
Drinkstuff.com plans to hew more closely to its company name. The etailer is tweaking its merchandise range away from gifts, home accessories, and novelties and back toward more barware and other drink-related products. It also intends to begin selling alcohol in the near future.

JML adds travel offering
JML Direct quietly expanded its merchandise offering with the spring launch of JML Travel. The direct marketer of housewares and health and beauty products teamed up with travel website WeFly.com to debut www.JML-travel.co.uk in April.

Another bump in the road for Arcandor
The restructuring adviser for Arcandor, the German cataloguer/retailer that received a government bailout earlier this month, quit last week. According to the Financial Times, the adviser “said the management’s plans to revive the company were ‘without foundation’ as there was ‘no support from Arcandor’s main shareholder’”.

Catalogue Exchange, Abacus reach co-op agreement
Following talks with trade organisation Catalogue Exchange, transactional database specialist Abacus agreed to cancel its proposed expansion of the Abacus Home Shopping Alliance to include charities. Abacus and Catalogue Exchange also agreed to work together to allow new catalogue ventures limited access to the data pool; previously prospective database members had to have at least 5,000 names in their house file to participate. To learn more about Catalogue Exchange membership, visit www.catalogueexchange.co.uk.

Supplier Awards entry form is now available for new categories
The entry form for the FOUR new categories for Suppliers to enter in this year's Catalogue Exchange/ECMOD Supplier Awards is now available to download here. The closing date for entries is Monday 7th September. These all-new specialist supplier awards are designed to highlight the incredible contribution that our valued supplier organisations bring to the catalogue & online trading sector.

We hope that client side executives throughout the sector will want to support this celebration by nominating those suppliers who have assisted their businesses throughout the year. Download the client nomination form here. All details must be personally completed by the nominating executive, be dated and signed and be able to be verified.

These sought after Awards will be presented at the official ECMOD HQ Hotel - The Copthorne Tara, Kensington, on 7th October. Tickets for the evening which, whilst not being fully black tie, does ask for smart evening dress are priced at £95 + vat per person or £950 + vat per table of ten for the full evening including dinner. These tickets are on sale now. There will also be tickets available for the evening’s cocktail reception & Awards presentation without dinner at £45 + vat per person. Please contact Sam or Leanne for further information on 0871 855 5545.

What we learned from 150 marketing emails
Fewer than one in 10 emails are personalised. The vast majority feature “sale”, “discount”, or similar words in their subject lines, to the point of tedium. And too many messages are being sent off without first being viewed by a sharp-eyed proofreader. Those are among Catalogue e-business magazine’s findings after analysing a week’s worth of marketing emails. To read more, and see which companies are shamed and praised, visit catalog-biz.blogspot

Cross-Atlantic Insight returns
You wanted it, and now you’ve got it: Catalogue e-business magazine is relaunching Cross-Atlantic Insight, its free fortnightly enewsletter devoted to helping UK marketers expand into the US, Stateside businesses enter the UK, and both UK and US merchants keep abreast of opportunities in Continental Europe. Cross-Atlantic Insight will relaunch on 28th July. Make sure you don’t miss out; Subscribe today!

Coming Up in Catalogue e-business

• August issue: special focus on customer retention and reactivation, plus a guide to deciphering SEO jargon, how to coordinate direct marketing and outbound sales, and more
• September issue: special focus on technology, plus ECMOD Preview supplement, with articles from speakers Amy Africa, Katy Howell, Ernie Schell, and others