• by Jack Loechner , Staff Writer @mp_research, October 5, 2003

Interland, Inc. released the results of its nationwide 2003 Holiday E-commerce Survey which revealed the integral role an online presence serves, with 78 percent of small businesses interviewed indicating their company benefits from having a Web site.

Of those surveyed, 51 percent agreed with the statement that their Web site primarily provides company credibility, 33 percent said their Web site is their most powerful marketing tool, and 28 percent said they rely heavily on their Web site to make sales goals. Respondents also agreed that having a Web site provided a critical building block for developing products they sell (21 percent) and helped lower costs (19 percent).

Joel Kocher, chairman and CEO of Interland, said "This study shows that small and medium-sized businesses already on the Internet are finding it to be a true business tool, with 56 percent of those surveyed being able to attribute some portion of their annual sales to their online presence."

Of the group, 46 percent said that some portion of their holiday sales would be conducted online.

• 22 percent report that their online holiday sales will account for more than 50 percent of their annual 2003 sales,
• 11 percent say online holiday sales will account for 26 to 50 percent of total 2003 sales,
• 17 percent say online holiday sales will account for 11 to 25 percent of annual sales, and
• 50 percent say online sales will account for up to 10 percent of annual sales.

Other interesting data points from the study show that:

• 68 percent of small and medium-sized businesses with a Web site use e-mail on a regular basis to communicate with customers
• 21 percent plan to offer online coupons or special promotions to online customers within the next year.
• 38 percent say their business is not likely to do business with a company that does not have a Web site
• Of those that do sell products or services online today, 45 percent sell from one to five products online and 40 percent sell 21 or more products.

Kim T. Gordon, president of National Marketing Federation Inc., said "The good news for small business owners is that multi-channel shoppers actually spend more than those who shop through a single channel alone."