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By Julian Goldsmith, 19 December 2007 12:09

NEWS

It hasn't exactly been a bumper year for conventional retail - soaring debt, an increasingly depressed housing market and a weak dollar all contributed to less-than-record returns for many brands.

In the face of all that economic gloom however, many retail and leisure organisations lit the green light on innovative technology programmes.

And while most retailers saw a slow-down, the irresistible Tesco continued to drive sales, while online retail quietly but steadily grew in the background.

2007 also saw a number of influential retail-sector CIOs bid their respective organisations farewell.

Here are the top 10 retail stories for the year:

1. BBC iPlayer has landed
Auntie's on-demand TV service was released for public download in July in beta form. The decision to only release the software to XP users caused uproar among non-Windows users.

A petition to make the BBC release the software to other platforms was launched on the 10 Downing Street website and attracted over 12,500 signatories.

2. McDonald's: 'Do you want free wi-fi with that?'
The fast food chain committed to rolling out free wireless internet connectivity across its 1,200 outlets in what observers saw as a move to try and attract more customers away from trendy coffee bars.

However, a spokesman for the company denied it was a response to the success of brands such as Starbucks, saying it was to provide an asset for the country - how generous.

3. Interview: Tesco CIO Colin Cobain
In what proved to be one of the last interviews before his resignation, Cobain outlined the leading grocer's strategy on global IT systems, green IT and tracking in the supply chain.

Cobain predicted that technology in retail would remain in the background and gizmos in the hands of customers would stay a fantasy.

4. Betfair betting engine goes supersonic
The online betting exchange won CNET Networks UK Business and Technology Project of the Year award for this piece of R&D.

The business relies on being able to process a phenomenal amount of transactions every second and has worked out a way to achieve 100,000 transactions per second.

5. London 2012 embraces web 2.0 and green IT
The organisers pledged to make the event the most environmentally friendly Olympic Games ever, although no specific IT programmes have been laid out yet.

According to the organising committee's new media head, it will also make full use of interactive web services and social networking to help spectators and fans get the most out of the Games.

6. Tesco aims to cut data-centre carbon footprint
Still on the green tip, Tesco promised to cut the carbon footprint of its data centres and stores by 2020.

Vetting IT hardware's green credentials could be part of the process, as could seeking ways to increase the average ambient temperature in data centres.

7. Mobile phone payments set to rocket by 2011
Soon there won't be many things you can't do with a mobile phone. According to research house Juniper, 50 million consumers will be paying for goods through an electronic wallet in their phones by the next decade.

Electronic vouchers that can also be stored on their handsets will encourage shoppers to leave their cash cards in their pockets.

8. Online retailers up their game
2007 was the year many retail websites got a much needed facelift, with many retailers seeing product detail pages as the ones most in need of improvement.

Customer reviews and photographic images were two of the improvements most cited in this piece of research from Forrester.

9. Torex Retail looks to the future
The retail software heavyweight ran into difficulties earlier this year and was bought out by private equity. The new management team has made a priority of consulting with existing customers to reassure them that it's business as usual.

Customers were pleasantly surprised by Torex's candour and new attitude to communication.

10. Marks sparks IT revamp
IBM scooped up a multimillion-pound contract to upgrade M&S's in-store systems. The revamp includes an integrated stock and sales application that should improve stock availability.