With the recession hitting the high street hard and fast, you’d think that Small and Medium sized businesses (SMEs) are rushing to embrace the web, but apparently not. I’ve recently been travelling around the UK presenting to small and medium sized businesses and it’s dawned on me that while there’s a clear need for businesses to take up the web in the big way – there’s still a huge gap to be filled.
Take this report we recently published for example – it shows that while 80% of SMEs have a website only 3% use it to interact with their customers. Furthermore, only 18% of SMEs see online as crucial to their marketing strategy.
It brings us back to the point that while the web is moving beyond Web 2.0 and into Web 3.0, many SMEs are still struggling to grasp Web 1.0 – i.e. utilising their current web presence effectively. It also begs the question as to whether the reason for this is down to lack of knowledge, lack of time or pure lack of understanding on how to make the most of what Web 2.0 and what the web in general has to offer.
When journalist Helen Loveless of the Daily Mail recently covered the Voice of SME report, she quoted Stephen Alambritis, chief spokesman for the Federation of Small Businesses “in a tough economic climate, experts believe it is increasingly important that small firms look to the Internet to help sustain and expand their business.”
Alambritis isn’t the only one sending this message out, another recent article in Business Wire reported businesses that do not embrace the online revolution are up to 30% more likely to fail.
What SMEs are missing is the fact that the value of online retail shopping has risen from £46.6bn in 2007 to £53.2bn in 2008 (Source: Business Wire), and that, at a time when the number of high street retailers shutting shop is ever increasing – which means that the money is online. Plus, the cost of running a business online is far more cost-effective than on the high street but this too has escaped the majority.
The recession is also having a major impact on consumers, who are going online to find bargains, chat and browse the web. The result is that a large proportion of SMEs are losing out in terms of revenue simply because they aren’t embracing the opportunities online holds for them.
Our report showed that while 60% of businesses are not selling their wares online, more than two thirds (69%) shop online at least once a month. This is interesting – because it shows that when it comes down to it, it’s all about attitude and perception.
As people and individuals, we are open-minded about what we can do online – so activities like shopping, chatting, blogging, video are all easy enough to do. Yet when you turn tables and we come to using the same mediums for business – we start to see risk and become wary.
It’s not just money that online has to offer small businesses. It’s about building an identity that lasts, making connections that help businesses to expand not just locally but globally. It’s about being able to offer good customer service at little or no cost and most importantly, it’s about establishing a relationship with your customer like never before.
Consumers are becoming more clued up and powerful when it comes to buying. It’s no longer just about the product, trust is a key element that can sway the buying decision and online offers SMEs a channel to build trust and make relevant lasting relationships.
What’s more, channels like BT Tradespace allow budding entrepreneurs to get online quickly and easily and run with just an idea they have – something they wouldn’t have been able to do before – and that’s the power of the medium.
But whichever way the debate goes, with current forecasts predicting that by 2011 32m UK consumers will be shopping online (Source: Forrester,UK eCommerce Forecast 2006-2011, March 2007) there’s no question over which way the money and the consumers are headed – online.
Question is, are you content with your web presence being just a link or do you want it to be a lifeline?
Want to make more of the web? Here are a few ideas:
• Sell online quickly and easily
• Create or join a community and provide 24/7 customer service
• Blog about yourself, your business, your industry, even your partners and create a buzz around your business.
• Attend some of our events to meet like-minded people who can help grow your business.
• Change the focus from you – to your customer by getting them to tell you what they want on your Tradespace.
• Never stop looking for more opportunities – we’re always pushing them at you!
