SMEs must fight for online and mobile customers

Small businesses are at risk of being left behind as consumers embrace mobiles and tablets, says advertising and marketing company hibu.

Research commissioned by hibu shows that 37% of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) do not have a website and of those that do, satisfaction levels are low, with only 35% of SMEs feeling content.

By contrast, according to the Office for National Statistics, 67% of adults in the UK research products and services online, and the same proportion had bought goods and services via the internet in the last year.

The picture is similar when it comes to mobile; 80% of SMEs with a website say it is not optimised for viewing on mobiles or tablets – an ongoing issue discussed by a number of industry experts, including GfK’s Oliver Robinson, who argues that mobile advertising hasn’t kept up with technology.

51% of adults in the UK access the internet via mobile and 85% of UK smartphone users have searched for local information, with 81% of those actively taking action as a result. The message for SMEs is to not be left behind and to make the right investments to maintain local consumer engagement.

Richard Hanscott, Chief Executive Officer of hibu in the UK, said: “In business, you need to be where your customers are. Increasingly, customers are online and using smartphones and tablets to find and purchase products locally. Historically, SMEs have not had access to the necessary tools to target those customers.

“They are also time-poor, lacking in IT resource and some are even a little scared of the online and mobile worlds – that’s a huge wasted opportunity.”