I came across an interesting article in the Irish Sunday Independent newspaper a few weeks ago which provided some interesting statistics and facts about the internet in general and the presence and utilisation of the web by small businesses in Ireland.

Here are some general statistics

•Two billion (or one in three) people are using the internet
•800 million people are social networking
•1.4 million emails are exchanged every second
•Three billion YouTube videos are watched daily
•If the internet’s consumption and expenditure was a sector, its weight in GDP would be bigger than agriculture or energy
•UK internet economy worth 7.2% of GDP in 2009 – 10% 2015

Irish People

•77% Irish people online in 2010 (up from 66% in 2009)
•75% of Irish consumers use the internet as primary tool for researching companies and products
•71% of Irish consumers have actually bought online

With all this said it is shocking to consider that of 800 SMEs surveyed by Ipsos MORI on behalf of Google, nearly 40% had no online presence and 97% of commercial SMEs online still only use their website for “brochure” purposes. This effectively means that you can just “look” and not “buy”.

Governments have begun to recognise the importance of the internet to global economic success. Google have taken it upon themselves along with partners Blacknight Hosting Solutions, the Country Enterprise Boards and An Post to launch a national campaign to get businesses online.

Getting Businesses Online has been launched to remove the barriers that are stopping some businesses taking advantage of the internet and allows businesses to easily create a free online, all be it basic, website.

To get beyond the “brochure website”, IIS have developed Intelligent Ecommerce. An easy to use solution designed specifically for SMEs which integrates with SAP Business One ensuring integration with every element of your business, streamlined and efficient processes and the ability for customers to easily make purchases via your website.

Not only that but Intelligent Ecommerce can be used to manage customer relationships, allowing customers to access their account information, log service calls and monitor their status while at the same time providing functionality for sales reps to log and view their customers information whilst on the road.

Contact IIS to find out more today; Businesses of all sizes need to take advantage of the digital ecosystem before they get lost in it.