ETAIL SPECIAL: Sales man.(Michael Ross)

When it comes to online retail, there's no success without failure. That's the belief of Michael Ross, founder of Figleaves.com and now ecommerce advisor to Icelandic retail behemoth Baugur. For him, the only way to build a successful etail operation is to make a few painful mistakes along the way.

"You just have to try things, all the time," he says. "Try and try and try. If you try something and it doesn't work, just wait six months and do it again, or slightly differently. Most good online retailers have tried everything, from on-pack promotions to magazine inserts to banner ads. It's incredibly hard to make judgements on what will and won't work unless you give things a go."

The IMRG last month said that, by the end of May, ecommerce would hit the #100bn mark. Getting to that figure has been an arduous task - just ask Boo.com - and in heading one of the leading success stories through the period, Ross has very much been there and done that.

"It's an entrepreneurial spirit online," he says. …