Does My Business Need a Website

This article coincides with my article titled The Benefits of Having a Website. The topic of this one covers statistical analysis of why your business should be online, particularly from an e-commerce and informational perspective.

Whether your business caters to the consumer (B2C – Business to Consumer) or to other businesses (B2B – Business to Business) you need to consider the trends, demographics and statistics of how the internet is used and by whom. If you are to target your internet marketing, determine your return on investment or even to decide when or even if you should make the move to go online, the facts and figures to follow should make those decisions easier for you.

Internet Usage Statistics

As one measure of the impact of the internet, we have repeatedly asked online Americans whether or not the internet has improved various aspects of their life. Over time, internet users have become more likely to note big improvements in their ability to shop and the way they pursue their hobbies and interests. A majority of internet users also consistently report that the internet helps them to do their job and improves the way the get information about health care. Some key findings are listed below:

• The share of online Americans who say the internet has greatly improved their
  ability to shop has doubled—from 16% to 32%—since March 2001.
• The share of online Americans who say the internet has greatly improved the way they pursue hobbies and interests has grown to 33%, up from 20% in March 2001.
• The share of online Americans who say the internet has greatly improved their
  ability to do their job has grown to 35%, up from 24% in March 2001.

Growth and Acceptance

When you consider the growth of internet use in the United States and Canada, along with the population penetration, the question to be asked is, how can your business afford to not be online? Even if your business is only a brochure site, your presence is there to be found. If you are a full e-commerce site, the potential for sales is great with the growth in online sales growing at a phenomenal rate, this is not something to be unaware of, or to continue to ignore.

The acceptance of using the internet for daily activities has grown significantly beyond a research or entertainment tool. Where shopping, banking and other financial activities were once shunned as being insecure or only for those on the cutting edge, they are now being embraced by more and more of the common internet user.

Search Engine Use

The percentage of internet users who use search engines on a typical day has been steadily rising from about one-third of all users in 2002, to a new high of just under onehalf (49%). With this increase, the number of those using a search engine on a typical day is pulling ever closer to the 60% of internet users who use email, arguably the internet’s all-time killer app, on a typical day.

Those who are using search engines on an average day are more likely to be socially upscale, with at least some college education and incomes over $50,000 per year. They are more likely to be internet users with at least six years of online experience and to have their homes wired for fast internet connections. Younger internet users are more likely than older users to search on a typical day. Men are more likely than women to search on a typical day.

Pew Internet Research

Online Shopping

American internet users have embraced online shopping because they say it is convenient and a time-saver.

• Two-thirds (66%) of online Americans say they have purchased a product online, such as a book, toy, music, or clothing. Attitudes and perceptions play a key role in whether online users choose to purchase products online.
• 78% of internet users either agree (53%) or agree strongly (25%) with the proposition that shopping online is convenient for them.
• 68% of internet users either agree (47%) or agree strongly (21%) with the notion that online shopping saves them time.
• More than half of internet users encounter frustrations and other frictions in the course of online shopping.
• 43% of internet users have been frustrated by the lack of information they encounter while using the internet to find out about or buy goods or services.
• 32% have been confused by information they have found online during their shopping or research.

The big picture: Shopping on the internet has become commonplace among internet users for a number of different activities connected to researching and doing transactions online.

Almost all internet users (93%) have at one time or another done something related to ecommerce. That is, they have used the internet to research products and services, make purchases, book travel, trade stocks, or participate in auctions. On any given day, more than a quarter of internet users (26%) are doing something online related to e-commerce.

• 81% of internet users have used the internet to do research about a product they are thinking about buying, with 20% doing this on the typical day.
• 66% of online users have purchased a product online, such as books, music, or clothing, with 6% saying they do this on the typical day.
• 64% have bought or made a travel reservation online, such as an airline ticket, hotel room, or rental car, with 4% doing so on the average day.
  26% have participated in an online auction, with 3% doing this on the average day.

The above statistics come from the Pew Internet & American Life Project - February 2008

High-Speed Internet?

According to Pew Internet Research, some 55% of adult Americans now have broadband internet connections at home, up from 47% who had high-speed access at home last year at this time. From March 2006 to March 2007, home broadband adoption grew from 42% of Americans to 47%.

With growth in broadband at home, now just 10% of Americans have dial-up internet connections at home.

What does this mean to me? It means that more and more people are utilizing the internet at home, and that with the adoption of high speed internet, they are consuming more data, and are performing more tasks. This is of great benefit to all businesses who are online!

But I Am So Small...

...So you might say, as the owner of a small business. Keep in mind that we live in a Global market. Shoppers today expect to have everything available to them. Nothing is out of reach. You have a specialized product? A niche market? The internet is a perfect forum for these situations. Your "local" area becomes expanded to the entire country, conceivably the world.

Consider the cost of expansion. What does it cost to build a new store? To open a new location? To advertise to new markets? To build a first-class E-Commerce website with built-in inventory management, shipping control, that is customized to match your company's image will run you between $3,000 - $10,000+ depending upon the size of your site and what you want involved. Integrating your E-Commerce site with Froogle (Google's search engine for saleable products) is free, and is highly utilized by internet shoppers.

Sure it is an investment, but a worthwhile one.

What Does This Mean to My Business ?

Considering the above information in relation to what you are trying to sell, it only makes sense that you tap into the market that is the Internet. People are buying. More people are buying every year.

The numbers for research are even higher. Consider how often individuals use the internet to find information, to research products and services, look up reviews, find others' opinions, compare prices.

These are all services that you as a business can offer. By adding these services you become a subject matter expert, a resource that potential customers will return to again and again, and will eventually buy from when they are ready. Why? Because you are the one who has provided them the information that has helped them to make the decision to buy!

I ask the same question that I asked at the beginning of this article, how can your business afford to not be online?

Contact Us today to get started! Click Here

Merlee Bos
Merlee Designs™
Your website IS your first impression™ ...
http://www.merleedesigns.com

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