E-commerce stats: £10bn spent online in January and February. The UK’s shoppers spent £4.9bn online last month, 20% more than in the same period in 2010, bringing the total spend so far this year to £10bn. This figure comes from the most recent IMRG/Capgemini e-Retail Index. I have a round up of these figures, as well as some recent stats from our E-commerce Statistics document… Read the full article here.
IMRG Capgemini e-Retail Sales Index: February
2011 takes off with soaring online travel spend
Read the full article here.
Cold snap rounds off an impressive 2010 with a record high. The latest figures from the IMRG Capgemini e-Retail Sales Index reveal that shoppers in the UK spent a total of £6.8 billion online during December, equivalent to £111 per person. Sales were up by 7% on November and by 25% on December 2009, with the Index value reaching a record high. Read the full article here.
UK online sales up 12.3% in January compared to the previous year. Online and mail order sales growth fell back in January after picking up in November and December last year, according to the latest BRC–KPMG Retail Sales Monitor. Sales in this category were 12.3% higher than a year ago, less than the 18% recorded in December. Read the full article here.
Online retailers saw an increase in fraud last year. The UK’s online retailers experienced a rise in the number of bad orders last year, with an average of 1.9% of orders turning out to be fraudulent. Read the full article here.
This joint venture will create a European group providing E-Commerce systems to the start-up and SME markets with a customer portfolio approaching 20,000 e-tailers. This union strengthens the group’s position in the E-Commerce market in the UK, France, Spain and Italy. The group also takes the lead as the foremost E-Commerce solution provider with over 11 million orders processed through Sellerdeck and Oxatis retailers combined, representing more than £1 billion of online sales per annum.
The joint venture will be represented in the UK by the formation of a new business division called Sellerdeck Online. This division will provide a full range of web-based E-Commerce solutions offerings to the UK market, based on the Oxatis platform.
The launch of Sellerdeck Online will complement the existing Sellerdeck desktop products (Catalog, Business and Enterprise) by providing an alternative SaaS-based E-Commerce application with a number of advanced capabilities not found in the current Sellerdeck range such as eBay, Amazon and Facebook integration. At the same time, Sellerdeck will continue development of the existing desktop E-Commerce software products range with version 11 due for release this summer.
Chris Barling, CEO and founder of Sellerdeck, says: “Sellerdeck has a large customer portfolio and extensive experience in the UK market. The combination of that experience and the expertise Oxatis possesses in the SaaS environment will help us to complement and strengthen the overall choice for both business customers and partners. There is clearly a strong synergy between Sellerdeck and Oxatis and we are looking forward to joining forces to make a real difference in the UK market.”
Marc Schillaci, CEO and founder of Oxatis, declares, “We are very happy to announce this alliance with Sellerdeck. It is an interesting and challenging market opportunity for us, and taking on this challenge will help us accelerate our European development and solidify our position as a European leader.“
Contact:
Simon Armstrong, marketing manager, Sellerdeck Online. 0845 129 4800
About Sellerdeck:
Established in 1996, Sellerdeck is a long-time player in the UK E-Commerce market and offers a complete range of E-Commerce solutions dedicated to start-ups and SMEs.
About Oxatis:
Oxatis was established in July 2001 in Marseille, France and is a European leader in SaaS E-Commerce solutions. Oxatis is also present in Spain and Italy with over 6,500 confirmed customers.
In addition, the latest Sellerdeck survey of small and medium businesses selling online shows the quantity of orders processed by each e-tailer increased by 12% on average in the first quarter over the same period in 2010. Notably respondents also reported their average shopping cart value decreasing by over 3% during the period from £71.17 in the first quarter 2010 to £68.82 in the first quarter 2011, indicating shoppers are becoming more restrained in their spending.
If the two sets of figures are compared by month from 2010 to 2011 a very different picture emerges. January was very strong with a 20% increase in sales and 17% increase in orders processed, in contrast to February and March which both saw only a 4% increase in sales and 10% growth in the number of orders.
Nick Kington, managing director at Sellerdeck comments, “The quarter started very strongly, perhaps as a bounce back following the difficulties experienced due to the weather in December 2010. However in February and March there were signs that consumers might be starting to rein in their spending. With the government cutbacks starting in earnest and the possibility of an increase in interest rates the outlook for the second quarter of 2011 is looking less optimistic. But internet shopping still seems to be more resilient than the high street given that the British Retail Consortium reported a 1.9% decrease in sales this March.”
Provided by Sellerdeck’s own experts, the three SEO services are as follows:
Following inspection of the website by the consultant, a phone consultation establishes a baseline for where the store ranks currently, what is having a positive effect on the site and what areas need attention. The consultant will also explain how SEO works and give advice on good and bad ways of optimising pages.
The SEO report will explain in detail which web pages are having a negative effect on ranking and how to fix them. The report will also suggest keywords to improve your SEO and other ideas for improving performance on search engines and targeting specific customer types.
The monthly service includes a report that has a full SEO review and recommendations; gives fresh keyword suggestions; highlights what search phrases are most widely used, with a summary of your site’s rankings against these (and how competitors fare too), which also helps with your linking strategy. As well as telling you the latest SEO news and how it could affect your store, the service includes access to the SEO technical support team via a dedicated email address.
Phil Rothwell, marketing director for Sellerdeck explains, “Contrary to popular belief, SEO isn’t a dark art, it’s a skill you can learn and apply, which generates results you can measure.
“Sellerdeck SEO Services not only identify the keywords retailers need to optimise their sites for, they also provide a framework our retailers can use for building good SEO practice into their businesses. The services also include advice on enhancing your online reputation and, optionally, help with editing content and refining page designs.
“The trust that customers have in Sellerdeck has been hard-earned, so it’s been important for us to offer a SEO service that delivers measurable value. By giving customers tools they can use to measure performance, plus the skills and support they need to invest wisely, we make sure our relationships are never put at risk.”
Chris Lacey of London International Paintball Supplies is impressed with the SEO services: “I was absolutely nowhere. My site very rarely appeared on page one for any products. Yet, within six weeks I was appearing on the first page for a couple of my key phrases and after three months I was all over page one for the majority of product pages I had amended. I reckon Sellerdeck’s SEO advice has increased traffic by 30%, and I’m taking around 25% more orders than before – it’s miraculous.”
Costs
All figures + VAT. Sellerdeck also offers tailored SEO services.
Contacts
For more information, contact:
Sellerdeck’s PR: Jane Lee, Dexterity, sellerdeck@dexterity.co.uk, +44 (0)1273 470199
About Sellerdeck
Sellerdeck supplies E-Commerce software and EPOS systems to small and mid-sized companies that want to be in full control of their online business. The company’s desktop application gives merchants control over key components such as hosting, payments, fraud detection and customer feedback without having to rely on third-party, cloud-based solutions.
Established in 1996 as Sellerdeck Software and rebranded in 2012, Sellerdeck is the oldest established E-Commerce developer trading today and has enabled tens of thousands of UK SMEs to make an estimated £11bn in sales over its 17 years.
Twitter @Sellerdeck
Facebook https://www.facebook.com/Sellerdeck
Google+ https://plus.google.com/102442605679015134459
The Insider’s Guide to Ecommerce is a 196-page compendium of E-Commerce knowhow and the product of Chris Barling’s 16 years’ experience in supplying online stores to SMEs in the UK and beyond.
With 440 specific pieces of advice presented in 9 sections and 33 sub-sections, The Insider’s Guide to Ecommerce touches upon almost every aspect of online selling, from how to generate traffic and sell products to managing fraud and processing orders efficiently.
Presented in a ‘top tips’ format, each nugget of information is numbered and presented independently, making it an easy book to consult as and when required.
“This is an indispensable guide for anyone considering starting a business online,” says Dan Matthews, editor of esellermedia.com. “It’s easy to dip in and out, and is a great reference to help you get going.”
Dan Martin, editor of BusinessZone agrees: “What Chris doesn’t know about E-Commerce isn’t worth knowing so this book should be every business owner’s indispensable guide to making a success of selling online.”
Rachel Miller, editor of Marketing Donut adds, “A comprehensive road map for anyone selling online; full of practical advice that will help launch a new E-Commerce business or transform the fortunes of an existing one. A must-read.”
“In this world of self-professed blogging experts, Chris is that rare beast, a true E-Commerce expert,” recommends Mark Newton, E-Commerce consultant at ECats and PC Pro columnist.
Availability
The paperback edition of The Insider’s Guide to Ecommerce (ISBN: 978-0-9575319-0-1) costs £12.99 and is available for purchase online at sellerdeck.co.uk/insider. A Kindle version (ISBN: 978-0-9575319-1-8) will be available soon in the Kindle Store on Amazon for £6.49.
Contacts
Interview requests, review copies and extracts are available from Jane Lee, Dexterity (Sellerdeck’s PR) on
About the author
Chris Barling is a true E-Commerce insider. In 1996 he co-founded Sellerdeck, one of the UK’s first and most successful E-Commerce start-ups. Now called Sellerdeck, the company rode the dot-com wave, growing from a garden shed operation to floatation on the London Stock Exchange in less than four years.
An enthusiastic entrepreneur and business angel, Chris has a passion for helping small businesses take advantage of new technology. He loves to learn his subject matter in depth and is regarded by friends and colleagues as a walking and talking encyclopaedia of E-Commerce.
Recent research* by Sellerdeck (www.sellerdeck.co.uk) found that the top reason given by customers for returning to an online store was a previous good experience, with the second most common reason being promotions, offers and loyalty schemes. These considerations were ranked well ahead of factors such as recommendations from friends and family and positive online reviews, Sellerdeck’s report found.
With this in mind, Sellerdeck advises online retailers to make sure not only that a new customer is impressed by the experience – with a site that is easy to navigate, offers plentiful product information and clear pricing – but to offer them carefully targeted deals after their purchase.
According to figures from the Interactive Media in Retail Group (IMRG), the estimated value of the UK online retail market in 2012 will be £77bn. In the peak Christmas shopping weeks (week commencing 3rd Dec and w/c 10th Dec) £4.6bn will be spent online in the UK.
This means many online retailers will be seeing an influx of brand new customers this festive season – in fact, most should already be seeing a growth in trade, with £6.7bn spent online during October 2012, which represents year-on-year growth of 14%, according to IMRG’s figures.
But for too many merchants, it’ll be the first and the last time that they see that individual customer. This doesn’t have to be the case, though, as every customer that buys something from a site leaves valuable information that a merchant can use to maximise the chances of repeat business.
“The email address that a first-time customer has provided in the run-up to Christmas is worth its weight in gold. A well-focused marketing campaign can work wonders, but don’t spam your customers to death. Keep these offers relevant and simple and don’t be tempted to take a one-size-fits-all approach,” said Phil Rothwell, sales and marketing director for Sellerdeck.
“A customer that has bought a kettle, for example, offer them toasters, food processors, juicers or descaling kits. If they purchased razors, send them a discount voucher on future purchases of blades. Try to get inside their heads and be careful – getting this tactic wrong could consign the marketing emails permanently to the junk folder, or lead to requests to unsubscribe.”
For more information about Sellerdeck, or to set up an interview with Phil Rothwell, please contact:
Ben Camm-Jones
ben@clarity.pr
+44(0) 20 7100 1333
+44(0) 7515 877 621