PriceCheck's inaugural Tech & E-Commerce Awards showcased pioneering new entrants and visionary e-commerce innovators, seeing Takealot.com scoop the coveted Overall Winner award, in addition to Best Customer Service and the People's Choice Award. Zando received two awards for Best Shopping Experience (Mobile and Overall), and Aisha Pandor of SweepSouth won Best Black Tech/E-Commerce Entrepreneur and Best Female Tech/E-Commerce Entrepreneur. Lauren Hartzenberg reports.

Central Square has officially opened at Menlyn Maine in Pretoria, South Africa's first green, mixed-use city precinct, which achieved a Green Star SA Custom Mixed Use rating from the GBCSA. The 30,000sqm development houses over 50 retailers, restaurants and entertainment experiences, many of which share its sustainability ethos.

Memeburn reached out to Andrew Smith, co-founder and CEO of Yuppiechef for his side of the e-commerce site's trademark dispute with Yuppie Gadgets, another SA online establishment. And in international news, Amazon.com rolled out its 'Handmade' offering of hand-crafted products sold directly by artisans across Europe. It was first launched last year in the US as a direct challenge to Etsy, an e-commerce platform devoted to personally crafted and vintage items, and is now available in some 40 countries.

All this and so much more. Don't forget to visit our #InnovationMonth special section for the latest in game-changing ideas in your industry.

Jessica Tennant, Retail Editor (@Biz_Retail)
Comment online in our ed's column archive. Go mobile with apps and m.bizcommunity.com. Engage with us on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and Google+. Subscribe to YouTube and via RSS. Send all your retail news and event invitations to retailnews@bizcommunity.com, exclusive opinion pieces to contributors-retail@bizcommunity.com and international news to internationalnews@bizcommunity.com. Read "How to contribute to Biz, from op-ed pieces to news".