• In 2007, UK shoppers spent £46.6bn online¹.
• This represented a 50% rise from the previous year.
• While bricks and mortar stores fear a downturn in profits, online retailing continues to rise.
• In March 2008, active internet users in the UK were estimated at over 41 million, or 67.3% of the population².

We’re living in a new retail environment. An environment where shoppers expect to be able to sit at their desks, surf around for a good price, and then, with a few clicks of their mouse, seal the deal.

All good news for the consumer, of course. Never before have we had so much choice, so much convenience. But for the retailer, especially small business holders, it can present a daunting prospect.

Because you’ve got your business to run. Perhaps you have customers to deal with face to face before you can even begin to think about those who come to you online.

To compete viably in the internet generation, you don’t just need a website. You need a good website. A website that keeps people coming back, that fosters loyalty, that makes it so simple to buy that it’s a delight to use.

That sort of website doesn’t build itself. Nor is it a one-off job that you can pay a contractor to do for you, and then forget about. The internet moves fast, and sites date more quickly than you might imagine.

These days, people often talk about ‘Web 2.0’. Think about it this way: the first wave of the internet allowed people to publish and share documents. This second wave sees people waking up to the possibilities of networking, interacting, sharing opinions and efforts.

It’s reflected all over the web, from the user reviews on Amazon that help you to decide whether to purchase one brand of toaster over another, to Facebook, where businesses set up pages that allow their customers to interact with them.

It’s a revolution that’s led to an increasingly transparent retail environment. Customers expect to be able to research your brand online, and to communicate their desires with you. Those businesses who don’t rise to the challenge run the risk of, at best, failing to reach their potential; at worst, failing full stop.

And you can bet that whether or not you have your own online presence, your customers will be talking about you online – in forums, on blogs, in places that will pop up when your customers type your brand name into Google.

That being the case, the only viable business strategy in the internet age is to wade in. Find out what your customers are saying. Reply to them. Address their concerns; give them more than they expect. Present an approachable face; tell customers who you are, how your products are made, why they should feel safe shopping with you.

Of course, this type of positive online presence takes time and effort – time and effort that many businesses can’t afford. That’s where Managed Internet Marketing comes in.

Managed Internet Marketing allows you to look at the various steps necessary to maximise your online presence, and to delegate the missing parts to a third party.

So, if you do not yet have a website, you can work in consultation with Managed Internet specialists who will:

• Identify a web address that matches your business, is available, and that your customers will remember, then register it for you
• Create a brand identity and a website design for your business
• Research what your users need out of a website and build it to conform to the best practices in usability.

And if you do have a website, but have no time to upkeep it, you may wish to choose from services such as:

• Optimising every page of the site so that it displays high in results for Google and other search engines, for the search terms you identify
• Engaging with your customers through the use of social networking channels such as blogs, Facebook pages, Twitter, YouTube, and other emerging platforms
• Assessing your site for usability and paths taken, then advising on tweaks that can be made to ensure that more customers reach your checkout
• Collecting your customers’ email addresses and sending them regular marketing emails that keep your business in their minds and increase loyalty with special offers or news
• Setting up – and maintaining - Google Adwords accounts which will bring new, qualified traffic to your website at low cost
• Ensuring that your site meets all requirements for accessibility according to both the law, and best practice.

Working with a good Managed Internet Marketing service can work out to be extremely cost-effective. It’s an area where a small outlay sees a great return on investment.

To read about the services that Managed Internet Marketing can provide in much more depth, download Notting Hill Internet Services’ white paper, What can Managed Internet Marketing do for your business?

Here you’ll read, in detail, about the various methods of ensuring that your website is working to its full potential, and bringing you the trade you need. You’ll also see how the relationship between you and your chosen Managed Internet Marketing service functions.


¹ Figures from the Interactive Media in Retail Group, http://www.imrg.org/, a membership community for the e-retail industry.
² Data from http://www.internetworldstats.com/europa.htm, an International website featuring up to date world internet usage, population statistics and internet market research data, for over 233 individual countries and world regions.