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How Small Businesses Use the Internet
Posted by Jim Hammill
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How Small Businesses Use the Internet October 19, 2003 03:57AM |
Registered: 17 years ago Posts: 751 |
<HTML>Whilst this is not strictly a detailing subject, thouhgt some of you with web sites might find this useful.
How Small Businesses Use the Internet
Barbara DePompa Reimers
Gallup Poll Shows Small Businesses Use Internet to improve customer service, marketing and communications
Increasingly, small businesses are relying on the Internet as a valuable customer service and communications tool, according to an annual Internet usage survey conducted by the Gallup Organization, for Verizon Information Services.
The Third Annual Small Business Internet Survey consisted of a random telephone poll of 500 companies in the U.S. with 50 or fewer employees. Released late in 2001, the survey revealed that while the overall number of small businesses with a Web presence (37%) is up only six percent from 1999, 66% of businesses with a Web site rank the Internet as rucial to their businesses, rating it a seven or higher on a scale of one to ten.
"Our small business clients tell us having a Web site is growing in importance because many of their competitors and customers are online," says Donald Wilson, president and CEO of the Association of Small Business Development Centers (ASBDC), an organization dedicated to strengthening small business through business management education.
Gallup conducted the poll for Dallas-based Verizon, which produces and markets SuperPages.com, the online directory and shopping resource. Verizon commissions this annual survey to "help small businesses find their specific recipe for Internet success," says Patrick Marshall, group vice president of marketing for Verizon Information Services.'
According to the survey, small businesses are using the Internet as a customer relations and marketing tool. More than half of small businesses with a Web site exchange email with customers daily. Another 48% exchange email with customers several times a day - a 60% increase over the prior year. In fact, on a scale of one to ten, small businesses with a
Web site in 2001 rate email communication at 8.0 - the most important online feature for their business in the next twelve months. And one in five small businesses with a Web site distributes an email newsletter.
"Small businesses who invest in their Internet presence - with a relevant and useful Web site, frequent communication with customers via email, and new online features that make customers lives easier - find their efforts yield profitable results," says Marshall.
In the 2001 survey, 49% of small businesses purchased good or services from other businesses via the Internet in the last three months, a jump from 36% in 1999, demonstrating that use of the Internet to "do business" is on the rise. And of small businesses with a Web site, 70% are using the Internet for business-to-business purchases.
Gaining Sophistication
As small businesses gain more experience in using the Internet to meet business and customer needs, their reasons for creating Web sites have also evolved. While in 1999, the main reason 25% of small businesses cited to build a Web site was to sell or market products and services via the Internet.
In the most recent survey, 36% of respondents said advertising/promotion and communications were key reasons to build a Web presence. Only 9% cited the need to sell or market products online as their primary reason for building a Web site.
Also interestingly, more service-oriented businesses are getting online today than any other industry segment. The number of companies in financial, real estate and insurance with a Web site has increased by 160 percent since 1999.
Future Investments
Small businesses with Web sites are also seeing a return on their investment. Fifty-seven percent say their Web site has paid for itself in increased business, or at least broken even. Also, sales generated from a Web site, as a percent of total sales, increased by 23 percent in 2001. And almost 60% of small businesses with a Web site expect the amount of
business generated from their Web sites will increase in 2002.
As small businesses realize the value of the Internet, they plan to invest more in their Internet presence. More than half of the small businesses with a Web site plan changes to their site and or online offerings in the next 12 months. More than 60% are planning to alter their Web site's design. Almost 60% also say they would like to add to the list of products and services they currently offer on the Web. And 52% said they would like to advertise their sites in 2002.
Barbara DePompa Reimers is the TechWeb Small Biz editor.</HTML>
How Small Businesses Use the Internet
Barbara DePompa Reimers
Gallup Poll Shows Small Businesses Use Internet to improve customer service, marketing and communications
Increasingly, small businesses are relying on the Internet as a valuable customer service and communications tool, according to an annual Internet usage survey conducted by the Gallup Organization, for Verizon Information Services.
The Third Annual Small Business Internet Survey consisted of a random telephone poll of 500 companies in the U.S. with 50 or fewer employees. Released late in 2001, the survey revealed that while the overall number of small businesses with a Web presence (37%) is up only six percent from 1999, 66% of businesses with a Web site rank the Internet as rucial to their businesses, rating it a seven or higher on a scale of one to ten.
"Our small business clients tell us having a Web site is growing in importance because many of their competitors and customers are online," says Donald Wilson, president and CEO of the Association of Small Business Development Centers (ASBDC), an organization dedicated to strengthening small business through business management education.
Gallup conducted the poll for Dallas-based Verizon, which produces and markets SuperPages.com, the online directory and shopping resource. Verizon commissions this annual survey to "help small businesses find their specific recipe for Internet success," says Patrick Marshall, group vice president of marketing for Verizon Information Services.'
According to the survey, small businesses are using the Internet as a customer relations and marketing tool. More than half of small businesses with a Web site exchange email with customers daily. Another 48% exchange email with customers several times a day - a 60% increase over the prior year. In fact, on a scale of one to ten, small businesses with a
Web site in 2001 rate email communication at 8.0 - the most important online feature for their business in the next twelve months. And one in five small businesses with a Web site distributes an email newsletter.
"Small businesses who invest in their Internet presence - with a relevant and useful Web site, frequent communication with customers via email, and new online features that make customers lives easier - find their efforts yield profitable results," says Marshall.
In the 2001 survey, 49% of small businesses purchased good or services from other businesses via the Internet in the last three months, a jump from 36% in 1999, demonstrating that use of the Internet to "do business" is on the rise. And of small businesses with a Web site, 70% are using the Internet for business-to-business purchases.
Gaining Sophistication
As small businesses gain more experience in using the Internet to meet business and customer needs, their reasons for creating Web sites have also evolved. While in 1999, the main reason 25% of small businesses cited to build a Web site was to sell or market products and services via the Internet.
In the most recent survey, 36% of respondents said advertising/promotion and communications were key reasons to build a Web presence. Only 9% cited the need to sell or market products online as their primary reason for building a Web site.
Also interestingly, more service-oriented businesses are getting online today than any other industry segment. The number of companies in financial, real estate and insurance with a Web site has increased by 160 percent since 1999.
Future Investments
Small businesses with Web sites are also seeing a return on their investment. Fifty-seven percent say their Web site has paid for itself in increased business, or at least broken even. Also, sales generated from a Web site, as a percent of total sales, increased by 23 percent in 2001. And almost 60% of small businesses with a Web site expect the amount of
business generated from their Web sites will increase in 2002.
As small businesses realize the value of the Internet, they plan to invest more in their Internet presence. More than half of the small businesses with a Web site plan changes to their site and or online offerings in the next 12 months. More than 60% are planning to alter their Web site's design. Almost 60% also say they would like to add to the list of products and services they currently offer on the Web. And 52% said they would like to advertise their sites in 2002.
Barbara DePompa Reimers is the TechWeb Small Biz editor.</HTML>
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