Heather R. Morgan / TNS Would you like to know how you can increase your online sales without spending a ton of money on advertising? There’s a lot of ways you can drive sales, but some methods are more powerful than others. Even with social media, email marketing is still the number one channel for driving sales, accounting for …

  Hanau / DPA The world’s oldest carousel, a plaything for a prince, has been restored to working order after many years of painstaking work to fix its wooden horses. Prince Wilhelm IX of Hessen-Kassel wanted a merry-go-round like those seen at fun-fairs and it was completed for him in 1780 in Wilhelmsbad Park in Hanau, now a town on …

  Relaxnews The world’s first holographic intelligent mannequin has gone on display in the UK as part of a fashion exhibition taking place during London Technology Week. The 3D virtual mannequin, designed by Headworks, features a holographic head atop a physical body. It is one of many inventions on show at the Fashion Tech Installation event to demonstrate the growing …

  Relaxnews Although YouTube has allowed live video streaming from a computer since 2011, users will now be able to broadcast live footage from a smartphone, a function already available from social networks Facebook (via Facebook Live) and Twitter (via Periscope). Smartphone users will now be able to stream live video directly via the YouTube mobile app for Android and …

  Relaxnews Facebook has made its latest move against competitor Snapchat, capitalising on the popularity of its ‘selfie’ filters and launching a similar offering of the same as it continues to enhance its Live platform. The new Facebook photo filters have been made possible by a firm called MSQRD (pronounced masquerade) that specialises in video selfies, which Facebook acquired in …

  AFP Hyper-wired South Korea is considering legislation that would ban bosses from bothering their staff at home, after growing complaints about the country’s already onerous work-life imbalance. A bill prohibiting managers from badgering staff at home was submitted to parliament, sponsored by 12 lawmakers from the main opposition Minjoo party. “As more firms use social media or mobile messengers …

  AFP The Little England look has suddenly become fashionable. Cricket jumpers, brogues, boating blazers and even neo-Morris men popped up on the recent Paris catwalk. Nor is fashion’s new-found anglophilia confined to the upper classes. Sweatpants, parkas, tartan and charity shop suits were everywhere as next year’s spring-summer menswear shows hit the runways. In what could be interpreted as …

  AFP A Qatari investment fund, already owner of the Italian Valentino label, will take over French luxury fashion house Balmain, which has become a favourite of film stars, the advisor for the acquisition announced. “After completing this transaction, Mayhoola for Investments will hold 100 percent of Balmain’s capital,” Bucephale Finance, specialists in mergers and acquisitions, said in a statement …

  AFP Top trends from the Milan menswear Spring-Summer 2017 fashion shows, which concluded recently: LET’S PARTY The future of exclusively menswear catwalk shows is in doubt but the cult of the ‘see and be seen party’ is alive and well. Highlights this time included Dsquared2 duo Dean and Dan Caten’s bash in their own Ceresio restaurant, which boasts spectacular …

  Tokyo / Bloomberg Japanese companies, which have embarked on a $210 billion global acquisition spree over the past three years, are getting a surprise bargain out of Brexit. The yen soared to the highest in more than two years, boosting local firms’ purchasing power for deals abroad and potentially saving them hundreds of millions of dollars on purchases they’ve …