It wasn’t all about lost jobs and failing businesses last year. A new study reveals 835,494 new businesses were registered in the 12 months to January 2021, with the online retail sector the main beneficiary. 

E-tail took another socially positive step forward Thursday to improve its somewhat tarnished image with eBay announcing it’s planning to invest millions of pounds in creating jobs and opportunities in the UK.

Shopper can expect an “animated, interesting and welcoming” return when retail restrictions are lifted next month. That’s the upbeat promise from London retail property giant Shaftesbury Thursday. 

Online retail group N Brown said Thursday that its chairman Matt Davies is stepping down from his post at the end of next month in order to “spend more time on his other business activities”.

Primark will have lost around £1.1 billion worth of sales due to lockdowns and other restrictions in the 27 weeks up to the end of this month, the value retailer said on Thursday.

Prepare for the footfall surge. With the 12 April date set for the long-awaited reopening of non-essential retail in England, UK stores can expected a 47.9% week-on-week leap in footfall, according to Springboard data.

Consumers have shifted to e-shopping in the past year, but when stores reopen, they'll be glad to get back to physical shopping. Yet digital habits are ingrained for consumers globally and social commerce is on the rise.

​John Lewis’s buying director of fashion is set to stand down after many years at the firm. But it seems the move isn't linked to the retailer’s general restructuring. Christine Kasoulis will leave to focus on her MBA. 

Increasingly under-fire e-commerce retailers are making a stand. ASOS, Boohoo, The Hut Group, Ocado, AO World and Gymshark have launched The UK Digital Business Association (UKDBA).

​European consumers are embracing ‘shoppertainment’, a new study of of more than 14,000 of them shows. And live-streaming commerce is a key part of this.

​There’s speculation that there could be more store closures ahead for Frasers Group as the giant retail operation has announced a major impairment charge against its stores as a result of lockdowns.

As the UK prime minister laid out his cautious ‘one-way road to freedom’ strategy to get the English economy reopened by May, the British Retail Consortium (BRC) warned the plan could be too late for many businesses.

Battersea Power Station, the major development that includes a new shopping centre on the edge of central London, has announced some key roles as the retail part of the site gears up for its opening.

Facebook has unveiled new shopping features in the UK and Canada with the appearance of its ‘Shop’ bookmark that gives users the ability to browse virtual storefronts.

​H&M will open its first new-look store in the UK at Basingstoke’s Festival Place in early summer, with the mall saying the giant shop will “offer a very different interior look and feel to other H&M stores.

​With the government unwilling to allow non-essential shops to reopen very quickly, UK consumers are voting with their feet and continuing to drift back to physical shopping, even though most stores are closed.