Britain

Gap has struck a deal with Zalando, Europe's largest dedicated online fashion retailer, to sell its core brand starting next May in the hopes of reaching more consumers, particularly in markets where it has no physical stores. Gap already delivers to 24 European countries from its own website and has more than 200 stores on the continent, but is not present on the ground in key markets such as Germany. Berlin-based Zalando started out selling shoes in 2008 and now ships 1,500 brands to customers in 15 European countries.

In just a few short hours, China will begin celebrating its largest shopping day of the year: Singles Day. Adopted five years ago as an anti-Valentine's Day marketing stunt by Alibaba, the quirky holiday has taken on a life of it's own. Last year, Singles Day brought in a record 35 billion yuan ($5.8 billion U.S.) for Alibaba alone, and a reported 50 billion yuan total. In comparison, Singles Day sold more than twice the gross merchandise volume of all U.S. sales during last year's Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales combined. And now that Alibaba has reported a successful first quarter after going public, analysts are predicting sales for this years Singles Day will be even bigger.

As our world continues to become a much smaller place, the ability to buy goods online from other countries is on the rise. One valuable target group for U.K. online retailers are U.S. customers. We've used our own data to explore the shopping behavior of this particular customer group to help U.K. e-commerce companies maximize the revenue opportunity these shoppers bring.

Specialty jewelry retailer Signet Jewelers said on Wednesday that it would acquire its smaller rival Zale Corporation in a deal that significantly expands its business in the United States. Signet, which is based in Bermuda, operates more than 1,400 stores in the United States under the Kay Jewelers and Jared the Galleria of Jewelry brand names. It also operates about 500 stores in Britain under the brands H.Samuel and Ernest Jones. As part of the deal, Signet has agreed to pay $21 a share in cash for Zale's outstanding shares, or about $690 million. 

Savvy shoppers across Britain are anxious to see if their Asda grocery deliveries will arrive on Friday, after cashing in £50 ($80) vouchers accidentally issued by the supermarket. The Wal-Mart-owned chain launched a deal on Thursday which gave shoppers £50 off online grocery orders. Bargain hunters were quick to take advantage of the offer, adding £50 worth of goods to their basket, paying only for the delivery charge. News of the deal went viral on Twitter — with hashtags including #AsdaGate and #SupermarketSweep becoming popular — and Asda's website crashed as a result of the traffic.