Research shows that smaller businesses are still overlooking the growing need to be accessible to mobile users. At the same time, large enterprises are snapping up neglected mobile customers .
The research shows that 37% of small and medium sized businesses (SMEs) do not have a website and 80 per cent of the businesses that do have one have not improved it for viewing on mobiles.
In addition, satisfaction levels with current websites are low: only 35% of SMEs with a website reported they are satisfied with it. By contrast, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS), 67% of adults in Great Britain research services and products online, and the same percentage had bought goods and services through the internet in the last year.
The picture is similar when it comes to mobile. 88 per cent of SMEs with a website say it is not modified for viewing on tablets or mobiles.
This is despite the fact that 51 per cent of adults in Great Britain access the internet via mobile, 85 per cent of UK smartphone users have searched for local information and 81 per cent of these took action as a result. Last year, mobile accounted for 12 per cent of e-commerce sales (£7.5bn) – and sales via mobile doubled between Q1 and Q4.
Looking forward, it is projected that the UK online retail market will grow by 110 per cent in the next decade, reaching £123bn by 2020.
These figures come from digital services providers hibu plc formerly Yell Group plc, who have warned that smaller businesses are allowing large businesses to win the battle for online and mobile customers.
Chief Executive Officer of hibu, Richard Hanscott, said: “In business, you need to be where your customers are. Increasingly, customers are online and using smartphones and tablets to find and purchase products locally. Historically, SMEs have not had access to the necessary tools to target those customers.
“They are also time-poor, lacking in IT resource and some are even a little scared of the online and mobile worlds – that’s a huge wasted opportunity.”
hibu announced the launch of a new online store to help SMEs fight back against large businesses in the fight for mobile customers.
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