Top Story

• Farfetch wins $20 million in funding led by Condé Nast
  Magazine publisher Condé Nast International led a $20 million investment round in Farfetch.com, an e-commerce site for global high-end boutiques. The company plans to use the funds to expand in key international markets including the U.S., Germany, Eastern Europe and Scandinavia, said founder and CEO José Neves. Women's Wear Daily (subscription required) (3/4)     

Free White Paper: Ecommerce and Sales Tax Legislation The definition of "nexus" between states is confusing & ecommerce retailers often assume they don't have to collect and remit sales tax unless they have a physical presence. This unwittingly increases the risk of tax audits and associated penalties. In our new whitepaper, we will show how your business will be affected by new sales tax legislation and what you can do to be ready. Read it now!

Online Retail Trends

• Tesco to launch e-book, music sites
  Tesco has hired former executives from Facebook and EMI to launch e-book and music e-commerce sites to operate alongside Blinkbox, the movie site the retailer acquired in 2011 in an effort to compete with Amazon. "I don’t think you compete head on against Amazon. I think you compete around Amazon and leverage the strengths you have," said Blinkbox founder and CEO Michael Comish. The Telegraph (London) (tiered subscription model) (3/4)     

• Secret menu items drive online chatter for quickservice chains
  Secret menu items at quickservice chains help make in-the-know customers feel special and make it more likely those fans will take pictures of their food to post on social media, writes Chris Morran. The hunt for those special items can also get fans talking about their experiences looking for secret dishes, he adds. The Consumerist (3/1)     

New Media & Technology

• Gartner: Mobile-app business sees continued growth
  The mobile-application business is expected to achieve revenues of $25 billion in 2013, a 62% increase compared with last year, Gartner says. The industry has changed in recent years as online app markets have tightened their rules to prevent scams, although developers are still trying to figure out the most profitable models to pursue. The Wall Street Journal (3/3)     

Hot Topics

Top five news stories selected by Shop.org SmartBrief readers in the past week.

• Zappos surveys customers on m-commerce habits (eMarketer)

• Amazon moves ahead with social Q-and-A (Multichannel Merchant)

• Gap's social media outreach puts mobile first (Mobile Marketer)

• Other e-tailers are catching up to Amazon in customer satisfaction (MediaPost Communications)

• Is content-inspired e-commerce the future of television? (Advertising Age (tiered subscription model))

• Results based on number of times each story was clicked by readers.

Companies in the News

• Google still rules America's mobile Web, data show
  Hitwise data show Google.com remains the top-ranked mobile site in the U.S., capturing 17.3% of the U.S. mobile audience for the week ending Feb. 23. Google properties account for five of the country's top 10 mobile sites, attracting almost a quarter of the top 10 sites' total audience. MediaPost Communications/Online Media Daily (3/1)     

• Amazon adds TV spots to show off new styles
  Amazon has launched its first-ever TV commercials to promote the online retailer's fashion offerings. "Because we know our customers are everywhere, consuming media across the board — online, media, print, TV or even two or three at once — we want to be where they are," said Amazon Fashion president Cathy Beaudoin. Women's Wear Daily (free content) (3/4)     

• Other News

• Peapod to add more pickup points this year
  Retailing Today (3/1)     

Interactive Advertising

• Yelp takes the plunge into mobile display advertising
  Yelp is to begin selling display ads on its mobile application in a bid to create a revenue stream to go with its promoted-listings service. InterContinental Hotels Group, Taco Bell and Miller Lite will be the first advertisers to use the service, which will be opened to all advertisers next month. Advertising Age (tiered subscription model) (3/1)     

Legislative & Regulatory

• Minn. merchants push for collection of online sales tax
  Minnesota auto-parts retailer Larry Lucast blames tax-free online shopping for an increase in showrooming, which ultimately drove him to close his doors last month. Gov. Mark Dayton is proposing that online retailers be required to collect sales tax, and state officials are joining a growing roster of retailers, including Amazon, that support the federal Marketplace Fairness Act. Star Tribune (Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minn.) (3/3)     

Shop.org Spotlight

• Online Merchandising Workshop: Call for speakers ends March 15
  From optimizing website design to improving the customer experience, the Shop.org Online Merchandising Workshop, July 15 to 17 in Huntington Beach, Calif., is known for providing actionable takeaways for digital retailers. Send in fresh ideas for session content and you could be the next to share your industry insights and successes with your peers. Proposals accepted through March 15. Learn more.     

• Shop.org SmartStat: March 5, 2013
  Of the online retailers surveyed, 45% said online sales grew by more than 25% for FY 2012 relative to FY 2011. Source: 2013 Shop.org State of Retailing Online Report.     

• The Walgreens path to omnichannel success
  From redesigned flagship stores to enhanced fulfillment options such as same-day delivery, Walgreens has diligently repositioned the 112-year-old company to be a model 21st-century retailer. During Retail’s BIG Show, Walgreens' vice president of e-commerce shared a glimpse of the company’s omnichannel evolution and how investments both online and offline have helped meet the demands of the digital age. Read more. Shop.org Blog (2/6)     

SmartQuote

The man who insists upon seeing with perfect clearness before he decides, never decides. Accept life, and you must accept regret." --Henri Frédéric Amiel, Swiss philosopher, poet and critic