12.4% of the shops in Britain are empty reported the Daily Telegraph this morning. Liz Peace chief executive of the British Property Federation speaking at their retail summit was quoted as saying “The fact of the matter is that more Brits do a lot more shopping over the web so we are seeing a fundamental reshaping of the high streets.”
Well there we have it, even the retail property sector is accepting more shopping is going over the web and let’s face it if you are setting up a retail business today how would you go about it? The cost of fitting out a shop in a main high street is vastly more expensive than renting storage for your goods and setting up a very good web site.
We always consider that convenience will make people buy on the web but of course we all enjoy walking around the shops and looking at goods that are available, comparing prices etc. Once that shopping experience starts to become a hassle for example more closed shops making the high street untidy and less attractive and a reduction in the number of options and goods available we will see second serge of shoppers moving to the web as it is a more enjoyable shopping experience as well as being more convenient.
Don’t miss out on this amazing online selling opportunity. Getting started now or improving your offering on the net will pay dividends in the months and years ahead.
Contact or call 0845 958 234 for more information on how 2UK can help you improve your online marketing and web site offering.
Take a look at this great charity web site. The concept is a mix of charitable giving and messages to loved ones who survived Cancer or who didn’t. You can also add your leaf to the growing tree with a donation to the BC Cancer Foundation. I very rarely get stopped in my tracks when looking at a website. But the restful atmosphere the designer has created mixed with a tree full of personal and mainly emotional messages compelled me to share this feeling with you.
Well here I am sitting in front of my fire on a miserable Sunday afternoon, snow shovel thankfully hanging back in the garden shed. To warm up my day I have been reading the Sunday Times Small Business section which today is reporting on a number of small businesses that have increased sales by large percentages due to revamping or just making a few changes to their web sites. I will not try to repeat the full article but here are a few extracts:
Jamie Wallace is quoted as having increased his online confectionery sales by 50% simply by changing his web site from a homemade site to a slicker retail site. Jamie is quoted as saying ”The appearance of the site was amateur and messy. It looks sharper now with more welcoming web pages and the site is more internationally focused”
Will Sussman saw bookings rise overnight for his ski chalet booking service just by revamping his web site. He is quoted as saying “I made silly mistakes on the original web site” he goes on to explain how his design and colour choices were not the best. After the revamp he is quoted as saying “In less than a week I had phone calls from customers saying they were booking because they love the web site”
The article in the Sunday Times goes on to report comments from a digital agency who have looked at these examples and confirm that the changes made confirm the importance of the virtual shop front. They go on to say “understanding your site traffic is a good way to begin to identify simple improvements”. They recommend using web site analysis tools to work out where traffic to the site is coming from and what is deterring people from adding products to their shopping basket.
Tabittha Potts who sells eco friendly children’s wear and toy retailer is reported to have grown here website traffic to over 3,500 hits per month since launching in 2009.
All of these contributors have different methods of promoting their sites including using vouchers on Twitter, Google and Facebook to increase traffic to your site.
All of this may seem highly expensive and time consuming. In fact it can be if not done in the best way. 2UK has all the tools and expertise at its disposal and would be able to not only recommend the best marketing campaign for your business but would also develop it and run it on your behalf leaving you free to cope with the increase in trade.
Why not get 2UK to give you a free consultation on how using all the tools and methods mentioned above and many more besides could help grow your online sales and business.
Contact for free consultation and discover how cost effective one of our marketing campaigns can be.
I am certain you will be surprised how easy it is to grow your business on the web with minimum effort.
Bbrrr has the thaw finally come and will we now see an end to this cold and icy weather? The snow may be melting but the statistics keep changing. The worst weather for 15 years then it was 20 years and the latest I have heard we are now over 30 years. I have still not seen the stats for the number of days lost at work due to the very bad weather. Perhaps we never will as the statisticians are still trapped at home unable to drive to the station or into the office.
We can laugh and poke fun at the chaos that ensues when we get even a small amount of snow but I think we will all agree this year it has been severe at least by British weather standards. Many people have worked hard to keep our infrastructures and open and running and millions more have travelled into work spending twice and 3 times as long getting to and from the office. The cost to business and industry has been astronomic and I await these figures that will no doubt hit the press over the next few months.
It is no fun running your own business, having struggled to the office only to find a large percentage of your staff are not in due to the weather. Under the circumstances it is not possible to deduct pay or make them take holiday as you will know in the vast majority of cases your staff will make every effort to attend and take many risks on icy and snow covered roads and pathways to get to work and support you and your company.
It doesn’t have to be like this however . 2UK have a client who decided last year to provide his staff with laptop computers so in the event of Swine Flu breaking out big time in London he could get his staff to work from home avoiding exposing them to the flue bugs on public transport and in the event one contracts the bug spreading it around the office. Thankfully so far he has not needed to use this emergency procedure for a Swine Flu epidemic but of course once the snow hit us he was able to keep all his staff working from home using their laptops keeping the company fully operational and losing very little in the way of revenue and loss of man/women hours. Although it is very hard to put figures to this exercise it is obvious that if the office had been half or three quarters empty this company would have lost business and would have suffered a financial loss far greater than the cost of supplying laptops and wifi connections to their staff.
2UK has provide many solutions to companies for home and remote working using desk based or laptop computers. The cost can be relatively low and enables both owners and senior managers to access all parts of the company’s computer systems and other staff to access just the parts of the system they need to carry out their daily working tasks. We can also advise and assist in setting up mobile communications that include email and web browsing through handhelds like Blackberry’s and iPhones.
If you would like a free consultation on how 2UK could improve your communications, remote and home working solutions contact
Enjoy the thaw and let’s hope we are not all digging ourselves out of snow drifts again this time next week.
I have just been reading an article in the Telegraph this morning reporting that many of the big retailers will be starting their ONLINE Christmas sales on Christmas Eve. This makes sense according to the article as will give them a head start on the retailers opening their doors on the high street on Boxing day. It is expected that over 4 million people will make purchases on the internet on Christmas Day alone. This compare to 4.5million who will attend a church service on Christmas day.
These figures show that the internet is becoming more and more powerful and is the first choice of many for making their purchases. This market will continue to grow and 2UK is only too aware of how much business small companies are missing out on by not marketing thei web sites correctly. Did you have a plan for your web site this Christmas? Did you change your offering on Christmas eve or put up sale items to clear some of that surplus stock? It is unlikely that many even want to consider doing this after the last minute rush and trying to balance providing a service for customers whilst planning their own well deserved Christmas break after the busiest time of the year.
2UK can help plan these types of campaigns well in advance and be ready and waiting to upload your special offers, seasonal discounts and sales items at pre agreed times. Next year you could be closing your business and locking the premises as 2UK are uploading and monitoring your seasonal offers late on Christmas Eve to take advantage of this shopping bonanza that will only continue to grow in years to come.
For more information on how 2UK can help you plan a marketing campaign for next Christmas or at any time in the year contact We will be delighted to review your site and suggest ways to promote your offers so you can be eating your Christmas lunch whilst others are shopping at your online store.
Have a lovely break and Merry Christmas from all of us at 2UK
We found this great article and Video on (http://adwords.google.com) we thought it may help anybody looking to write great Adverts for their pay-per-click campaign:
As a basic rule, use clear, well-written, and specific ad text that highlights the differentiating characteristics of your product or service. Below are some more specific tips to help you create compelling ad text.
Well all the hype is over the Christmas decorations are back in the loft for another year and credit card bills are about to fall through most peoples front doors assuming the postman can get through the snow.
Before Christmas we were reporting articles and comments from large and small companies predicting the growth in internet sales. Today it has been reported that Visa saw an increase of 37% in use of their cards online over the Christmas period. This is put down partly to the bad weather restricting shoppers from travelling to the high street. This figure should however not be written off as a one off event. Once a shopper has changed their habits and finds out how easy it is to purchase their Christmas gifts and supplies online they will want to continue regardless of the weather.
Year on Year we are seeing reports and figures backing the massive growth in online sales. It is something that we should ignore at our peril. Shoppers online will shop at the most attractive web sites that are well presented and easy to navigate.
2UK are happy to give a free consultation on how to improve your existing site, add an online store or simply how to get on the bandwagon by developing your first web site.
Why not contact we will be happy to discuss this with you over the phone and arrange a free consultation at your premises at a time to suite you.
A very Happy & Prosperous New year to all our clients and readers from everyone on the 2UK team.
Reuters reported today that one in every five pounds sterling will be spent over the Internet by 2020. By this date sales of online books and electrical equipment will overtake purchases made in stores. These figures come from Retail Researchers who were undertaking a study for EBay. They forecast that by 2020 British online spending will hit £67 billion up from £21 billion in 2009.
At 2UK we work with internet selling and web sites constantly and even we find these figures staggering. We are however prepared to believe them as who would ever imagined we would be achieving £21billion of sales over the Internet in 2009 just a few years ago.
Having looked at the figures you wonder how this will be achieved over 10 years but once you consider the dynamics it is very feasible and also possible that we may get to these numbers much sooner. The reason we say this is over the next 10 years children will be graduating who are all fully educated in the use of computing and mobile technologies. Using the Internet will not just be 2nd nature but will also be a way of life. In addition over that same 10 year period a generation that have now worked on computers for many years will get to retirement age and will continue to use computing and The Internet as they have in their busy working lives but of course they will be retired and will have disposable income, looking to improve their homes, work in their gardens and travel much more. All of this will result in more expenditure and their first port of call will always be The Internet.
These predictions and the way society is going to change its shopping habits are convincing reasons to be online and to have a very good and up to date Web Site.
If you would like more information on how to join in this boom business by setting up your first web site or by upgrading and improving your existing web site contact Richard or Tim at 2UK. They will both be happy to give you a free consultation and advice.
Those of you who read the Telegraph Business section will no doubt have read an article by Rupert Neate on Dec 8 2009 about expected recovery of advertising in 2010.
Rupert quotes from a report from Zenith Optimedia where they predict global advertising expenditure will have dropped 10.2% in 2009. Zenith predict this trend will reverse in 2010. They go on to predict Internet advertising will continue to increase and overtake newspapers as the 2nd largest advertising medium behind TV by 2015.
This news comes as no big surprise to all of us in 2UK as we understand the power of the internet and the trends where people young and old now look to the internet first when they need information, advice or to locate goods and services. Many companies also recognise this is the advertising medium of the future and understand they need a web site.
Having a web site of course is not the end of it. To participate in the internet explosion and to ensure your web site is found and used takes time, effort and skill. Web design and presentation is a moving feast and needs constant maintenance and updating using latest technology and current presentational techniques. You will also need to optimise your site (Search Engine Optimisation or SEO) This should not put off those wishing to take advantage of the vast market the internet can bring to your business. It takes time and effort but the reward for a good web site regularly updated and maintained will outweigh the effort and cost.
For more information on how to build, update and optimise your web site call Richard or Tim on:
The Year 13 Advanced IT Diploma students are currently studying multimedia and web design, producing solutions to a given client specification. Tim Woods, former Collingwood student and Business Development Manager for 2UK Ltd, kindly came in to talk to the class about his work. 2UK, a Windlesham-based company set up by his brother Richard, offers various website services and IT support, and Tim heads up the sales side of the business.
He spoke about the considerations a designer must take into account when proposing a website for a client, such as style of website and what competitors have. The class learned about the importance of keeping a site up-to-date to boost the rankings on Google and other search engines. Tim also showed a number of examples of 2UK’s work for local and overseas clients, including some award-winning sites. He had kindly taken the time to look at the assignment brief the students are working on and made some suggestions about how he would approach meeting the customer’s needs and how to make a product that stands out.
After finishing, Tim had a look around the College, which has changed a lot since he left. He was particularly impressed with the facilities available to the Sixth Form, greatly improved from the days of Ballard.
12.4% of the shops in Britain are empty reported the Daily Telegraph this morning. Liz Peace chief executive of the British Property Federation speaking at their retail summit was quoted as saying “The fact of the matter is that more Brits do a lot more shopping over the web so we are seeing a fundamental reshaping of the high streets.”
take into account when proposing a website for a client, such as style of website and what competitors have. The class learned about the importance of keeping a site up-to-date to boost the rankings on Google and other search engines. Tim also showed a number of examples of 
