Online beauty retailer Birchbox has opened its first store in New York City's SoHo. With over 400,000 active subscribers, Birchbox's store aims transpose its online success to the real world by combining the best elements of both online and offline retail experiences.

According to research firm eMarketer, mobile sales will make up 27% of e-commerce sales in the UK in 2014 – compared to 19% in the US. And with sales on mobile devices set to increase by almost 65% in 2014, why are Brits so comfortable with shopping on their smartphones?

Only 0.6% of online shopping is driven by social media, compared to e-mail, which drives 27%. Can Facebook’s Buy button, integrated into newsfeeds, encourage people to spend more when they're on social media? And are retailers really welcome on such a personal platform?

Is Instagram becoming the new shopping centre? It seems so, since one of the biggest names in fashion publishing –Vogue– is making its Instagram feed 'shoppable'. But canVoguetranslate its 1.9 million followers and reputation as a taste-maker into significant sales?