Britain’s second largest retailer remains bullish as profit forecasts exceed expectations.

Debenhams announced yesterday that its yearly pre-tax profit would likely rise by 20m per cent. The increase comes on the back of designer range performance and online sales.

The company predicted that it would hit the £150 million profit mark, with the recent trends of store expansion and discounting helping to fuel coffers by £3 million over what analysts had previously forecast. However, at stores that had been open to the public for at least one year, overall sales were flat compared with the previous 12 months.

Despite the unsteady consumer environment, which has seen the public sector suffer widespread job cuts, material costs rise and austerity measures hinder spending, Debenhams has been able to produce the upbeat estimate which covers the year until 28 August. Deputy chief executive for Debenhams, Michael Sharp, said the store was well placed to cope with what has been a challenging storm. Mr Sharp said the impending VAT rise was an obvious concern for all retailers, but that his company’s commitment to offering the right products at right prices had served them well in times of financial hardship. Mr Sharp also acknowledged that online sales had seen a significant rise, with many customers trending towards the time and money saving alternative.

With 160 stores across Britain and Ireland, Debenhams is the UK’s second largest sales retailer behind John Lewis, and also features stores in Denmark and over 60 franchised outlets overseas.

Sainsbury’s has bucked the economic trend away from spending on new technology.

Investment in technology in the retail industry is set to be stagnant in the UK for the foreseeable future, as most high street stores and supermarket chains brace themselves for another economic downturn.

The austerity budget and impending VAT rise has seen widespread speculation that the industry could be confronted with a period of loss, leading to financial outlays for development of existing technology to be capped as most leading companies say that they have no IT overhauls planned. In some cases, computer systems are up to 20 years as old but are kept on as long as they do the job.

According to a report published last week by Martec International, a leading retail sector consultancy specialist, Tesco is the retailer that seems most content with its incumbent IT system. Their latest upgrade was in 2007 while the yearly spend on IT investment is £200 million. Rival Sainsbury’s spends around £220m per year on IT according to the Martec study, which also reported that UK’s leading supermarket chain is planning on updating its store, e-commerce and supply chain systems next year. The in-house system used by staff, installed first in 1995, will be upgraded the following year.

While Frances Riseley, practice manager at Martec, said that many retailers were hesitant to reveal their IT plans for fear of rivals being alerted to their developments, his group’s survey did establish that 19 per cent of the 142 British retailers polled said the reason for not revealing any details was that they were either being finalised or had not been considered.

Leading fashion retailers H&M and Zara will both go live online in September.

From next month, shoppers who are based outside of the London store range will be able to buy their favourite outfits via the internet as the clothing providers attempt to buck the increasingly dour trends hitting the high street.

Zara, which is owned by the Spanish company Inditex, will launch its new website simultaneously across the UK, Spain, France, Portugal and Italy on September 2, and while they have previously offered a range of homewares online, the revamped website will mark the debut of fashion lines that have in the past been only available in-store. H&M will launch its new online venture a fortnight later, offering men’s, women’s and children’s clothing in addition to their own range of homeware.

The current gloom facing that has beset consumer confidence in the UK and across Europe has led several major retailers to warn that widespread cuts in public sector spending will have a knock-on effect for individual customers. The recent austerity budget from Chancellor George Osborne had created increased worry across the UK over employment and wage prospects, leading to a tightening of the purse strings.

Both Marks & Spencer and Next have warned that consumer spending is likely to be constrained in the coming months as the new coalition government’s emergency budget combines with the rise of VAT at the end of the year to keep customers out of high street shops.

Leading high street fashion retailer French Connection has expanded its digital market.

The popular fashion label has announced the activation of a new online service that allows customers to rate its products.

Utilising the social commerce platform Bazaarvoice, French Connection hopes that by encouraging consumers to go online and rate their offerings, customers will be able to share their shopping experiences with their peers to enable the public to make better-informed decisions, while the initiative will also have the added benefit of a likely reduction in the number of returns.

The retailer can also keep abreast of what its customers are saying and tailor their services accordingly, such as using descriptions from reviewers to shape their own presentation and description. The move is the first of several new marketing strategies from French Connection, which is also looking at the addition of an online video sharing service for customers to model items in addition to other digital engagement such as a soon to be released mini-series that will feature on You Tube.

The digital revolution is part of the present ‘The man and the woman’ advertising campaign that will use a series of short films to showcase the forthcoming autumn collection, where viewers can click on the featured items to purchase online. The move is all part of a greater push to bring in-store facilities to in-home, as many customers do not have the time or opportunity to spend hours trying on sizes and models in fitting rooms to make their decision.

The hottest fashion accessory this summer is undoubtedly the chic new Apple iPad. Now, thanks to the kind folks at Carrentals.co.uk, you could soon be enjoying the summer season in style with the launch of the new ‘Carrentals Video Challenge’.

To be in with a chance to take home the latest must-have in technology, the 16GB Apple iPad, or even shopping vouchers from John Lewis for runners-up, you will need to source your own car-related video which will make the team of judges at carrentals laugh. This will need to be posted on YouTube, before you send an email to the dedicated website at the Carrentals.co.uk YouTube page which uses ‘Carrentals Video Challenge’ in its subject line.

It’s free to enter so get filming, and make sure you submit your entry before the September 30 deadline, with the winner to be announced on October 14. The complete terms and conditions can be found at carrentals.co.uk/video-comp.

Carrentals supremo Gareth Robinson says: “We know what an important role video plays on the Internet these days, which is why we wanted to bring together a selection of the best car-related clips for people to watch all in one place. The videos can be on anything relating to cars, but have to make the Carrentals judges laugh and they must be legal, safe and comply with all terms and conditions for the entrant to be in with a chance of winning an iPad.”