in brief…

The UK IT market will remain strong in the first quarter of 2008, predicts GfK.  In December 2007, almost 50% more laptops were sold than December 2006. This means that for the first time laptop sales are nearing 1 million units per month.
Online shopping reached an all time high in the run up to Christmas, with £15.2 billion spent online in October to December (15% of retail spend), bringing full year UK e-retail sales to £46.6 billion, up 54% on the 2006 record, according to the IMRG Capgemini e-Retail Sales Index.
Independent electrical retailers were placed fourth in the Retail Satisfaction Survey conducted by the magazine Which? among 77 UK retailers, who were judged on convenience, customer service, experience, pricing and product. 
The only electrical retailer ranked higher in the survey was John Lewis, which achieved second place.
The Office of Fair Trading (OFT) could be handed a key role in policing the expansion of the biggest supermarkets when competition regulators publish a long-awaited remedies statement in the final stages of a two-year inquiry into the £120 billion grocery market.