Movers and shakers news in the ecommerce world is that lingerie e-tailer has been bought for £11.5 million by home shopping group N Brown. This could be a very smart move for N Brown Group, which already owns brands JD Williams, Jacamo, High & Mighty, Simply Be, Oxendales and such as High & Mighty, Simply Be and Marisota as many more people sign on-line to do their shopping.

Figleaves, which launched in 1998, attracts 1.2 million on-line visitors each month and is set for a turnover of £23 million in the year to the end of June. The e-tailer sells more than 100 brands of lingerie and delivers to more than 100 countries including the US.

N Brown’s CEO Alan White is reported as saying: “The Figleaves purchase… demonstrates our commitment to continue to expand the ecommerce proportion of our business.”

WebCreationUK offer e-commerce website design and fashion web design services.

Any e-commerce owners will be delighted to hear about another on-line business success. New Look’s recent on-line growth has seen it become the third-biggest e-commerce fashion retailer in the UK, moving up from fifth place in 2009.

New Look reported that it benefited from 1.3 million on-line orders in the last financial year. The e-retail site gets two million hits every week, which is awesome.

The budget fashion retailer – with 1,108 stores worldwide – will be pleased with an underlying operating profit growth of17.7% to £163 million for the year to 27 March 2010. Total sales were up 10.7%, reaching £1.45 billion.

It’s clear that even in tough economic times – and when high street stores are suffering financially – that many on-line stores are surviving well.

Could it be that romantic shoppers were the reason for boosted on-line sales in February? Certainly last month’s figures have helped to improve the slight downturn on January’s figures.

Sales from e-commerce sites were by 13% compared to February 2009, according to latest figures from the IMRG Capgemini e-Retail Sales Index.
An estimated £4.1 billion was spent on-line in the month compared to £3.6 billion in 2009.

This sales increase comes after a decline of 4% in January 2010, most likely a seasonal fall-off after the big Christmas spends.

Taking a closer look at Valentine’s sales on-line the report reveals a shift in the buying choice. The gifts sector – including flowers and hampers – fell by a third in the week before Valentine’s Day while sales of lingerie and beauty products grew by 30% and 25% respectively.

Chris Webster, vice president of retail consulting and technology at  Capgemini is reported as saying:
“It is reassuring to see that romance hasn’t been lost in the recession, and shoppers clearly haven’t lost the love for on-line retail.

“The growth of less traditional sectors in February paints an optimistic picture of consumers picking themselves up following the doom and gloom of the last couple of years. Despite on-line retail’s maturity, it is still showing strong growth levels of 13%.”