Welcome news for the e-commerce sector in a recent article we came across, published by http://internetretailing.net/. Here are a few points from the article:

“Online sales last month showed their fastest growth for more than a year last month, according to new figures out this week. UK shoppers spent £6.4bn online in September, 16% more than at the same time last year and 11% more in August, according to the latest IMRG Capgemini e-Retail Sales Index.”

“IMRG’s Tina Spooner said September’s performance meant that UK online sales had grown by 15% in the third quarter of the year. ‘This is the strongest quarterly growth recorded since Q2 last year and is perhaps an indicator that overall consumer confidence is increasing,’ she said. “

“Sales through mobile devices continued to rise quickly, with growth put at 312% in September. The September conversion rate was 1.9%, the highest recorded to date.”

“Capgemini’s Chris Webster said this reflected the wider takeup of smartphones. ‘The upward trend in mobile conversion rate indicates the steady infiltration of smart phones and tablets as a buying device now, which used to be more of a browsing tool in the past,’ he said. ‘Online retailers should wake up to this change and include a smart phone mobile shopping application or mobile web in their multichannel offering platter.’ “

Read the full article here

OK so I will be straight, up until a couple of years ago I had absolutely no idea what a blog was – you may as well have been speaking Swahili to me!
But in this digital era the world revolves around opinion, and people actively look and share topics of conversation and interest.

Not only that, but Blogs are a great way of improving SEO (Search Engine Optimisation). So if you are looking to increase traffic to your website, this could be the answer.

The first fundamental and obvious rule of blog writing is to ensure the blog content is relevant and interesting to your intended audience. Blogging what I had for breakfast is great for my personal Blog that my mum reads but will not go down too well here.

As long as you are creating relevant content here are five top tips for styling your Blog:

1) People use the internet to find advice or resolutions – why not try writing an article such as How To….., Top 5….., Tips

2) Reviews or Recommendations – your own personal opinion on anything, be it a book, product, service, or piece of news

3) Events either in your local area as a way of promotion, or worldwide news, both are great talking points

4) Remember to add links to anything you discuss i.e. websites of items you feature. You could even link to other blogs that relate to your topic

5) Photo’s – everyone like’s something that is pleasing to the eye, so add a picture, and in turn increase traffic to your Blog!

Also remember a Blog does not have to be an essay, in the Blog world short and concise is best!

We found this interesting article talking about how the Diamond Jubilee has boosted online sales. Here’s a short extraction of the article.

e-Retail results in May confirm year-to-date growth projections:

• £6bn spent online during May 2012
• Warmer weather and Jubilee spirit helps online sales jump 13% year-on-year
• Mobile-commerce sees 359% year-on-year growth

The latest figures from the IMRG Capgemini e-Retail Sales Index revealed that British shoppers spent an estimated £6bn (an average of £117 per person) online in May, equating to a 13% growth on the same time last year, and 5% on April. This solid performance marks a return to growth in-line with the last 12 months and matches the 13% growth estimate for the full year.

Click here for the full article on the IMRG website – Diamond Jubilee sparks surge in online sales – Press Releases – IMRG.

We found this article by Jane Wakefield (Technology reporter) on the BBC News website. As ICO (Information Commissioner’s Office) released an updated advice and guidance on changes to the EU cookie law on Friday, this article explains the basics and is an interesting read. Here’s a snippet…

Cookies can be very useful – remembering details so that people don’t have to register to build up a shopping cart of items on a retailer’s site, for example – but they are also increasingly being used to track surfing and help serve up ads based on sites people have visited.

Behavioural advertising, the latest buzz phrase, relies on cookies to enable companies to target advertising based on users’ online activity.

To date, consumers have had little choice about the cookies that track them but new legislation from Europe, due to come into force on 26 May, is forcing websites to be more upfront about what data they store and what cookies do with it.

Under the EU’s ePrivacy directive, sites must provide clear and comprehensive information about the use of cookies, telling people what cookies are there, explaining what they are doing and asking for consent to store them on their computers.

The UK’s Information Commission Office recognised that websites needed time to get their heads around the changes and gave sites a year to comply.

Read the full article here via BBC News – How to make cookies and influence people.

For further reading on privacy and cookies view the ICO website here www.ico.gov.uk

ICO’s blog: updated advice and guidance on changes to the EU cookie law – released 25th May 2012