UK high street missing online opportunities

New research suggests that while the vast majority of UK retailers are active online, too many are still failing to take advantage of the financial returns the web has to offer.

According to a report sponsored by NetSuite Inc, 80% of retailers questioned have some form of online presence, but 53% don’t generate any turnover from their e-commerce operations. Furthermore, the rise of social media has yet to be fully realised in the UK retail sector, according to the report’s findings, despite the amount of consumers now using blogs and services such as Twitter and Facebook to make purchasing decisions and to feedback on what they buy.

Only one in five retailers seriously employ social media to tell people about their business, while less than one in three UK retailers properly monitor what customers are saying about them on social media sites.

Roman Bukary, head of industries marketing for NetSuite, comments, “Over the last ten years, e-commerce has changed the face of retail and gets more and more popular every year. The fact that so few high street retailers are truly taking advantage of the Internet to engage with consumers in a dialogue, gauge feedback, enhance sales and increase geographical reach could be a worry. As people’s shopping habits continue to migrate to the web, the risk is that high street retailers could be left behind.”