A recent survey by UK hosting company "Easily" has produced
some interesting findings. Of 1500 participants 88% gave a resounding
thumbs down to businesses that use "HOTMAIL" "YAHOO"
"AOL" etc. for their business email address. At Kilxmart we
have always encouraged our clients to use "domain based" email
addresses i.e. name@yourdomain.com but that figure of 88% has surprised
even us. Well done the consumer!
Online sales grow 22% to record $2.67 billion last week, comScore
reports
Story from Internet Retailer:
Online sales for the week ending Dec. 12 reached $2.67 billion, an
increase of 22% compared to $2.19 billion during the same week last
year, comScore Networks Inc. reports. It is the highest number ever
reported by comScore for online weekly sales.
Online sales exceeded $400 million each day between Dec. 6 and Dec.
10, comScore reports. Before this year, online retail sales had crossed
the $400 million mark only once before, Dec. 9, 2003.
Online buying habits have changed dramatically in the last five years,
a survey has found.
Of 2,000 web-using Britons interviewed a whopping 94% had bought something
online, the survey found. This compares to just 37% five years ago.
Half of those interviewed believed that 40% or more of their purchases
would be done online in five years time.
The figures suggest that online retailers will prosper during the run-up
to Christmas.
The research reveals that many consumers are surprised at the speed
with which they have taken to online shopping.
Almost three-quarters, 74%, of those questioned said they used the
net much more now than they thought they would.
Many said there was still more they could do online and expected to
use the net to do more shopping and organising in the future.
SURVEY FINDINGS
94% have bought online compared to 37% five years ago
67% surprised by how much they use the internet now
Nearly half think that 40% of purchases will be online in five years
time
74% say internet usage has soared
85% buy more often now than five years ago
96% believe the internet has made it easier to buy goods and services
Christmas frenzy
James Roper, chief executive of the Interactive Media in Retail Group,
said the results broadly tallied with research his organisation had
done.
Mr Roper said that there were around 18 million UK adults, 45% of the
total, who have bought something online. About 12 million of these people
were regular internet shoppers.
Those that do buy online, he said, had healthy budgets.
"On average they spend about £100 a month, although this
rises to £400 at Christmas," he said.
Research firm Forrester predicts that this Christmas European online
spending will exceed that in the US for the first time.
The frenzy around Christmas online shopping has already begun and internet
buying is becoming the norm outside of the festive season as well.
IMRG predicts that one third of shopping will be done online over the
next two years.
Buying a piece of the moon
Broadband will be an important factor in this.
"We expect half of all home to have broadband in the next two
years and having broadband means people shop online," said Mr Roper.
Both IMRG and the YouGov survey agree that consumer confidence in online
shopping has greatly improved.
The survey was commissioned by Direct Line to coincide with the fifth
anniversary of directline.com.
"Direct Line has seen massive increases in online traffic - as
much as 75% from 2002 to 2003 which reflects attitudes highlighted in
our research," said Justin Skinner, e-commerce spokesperson for
the company.
96% believed that the internet had made it easier to find and buy goods
and services.
The convenience of online shopping has led people to make some unusual
purchases, the survey found.
These include an acre of land on the moon, two kilograms of worms and
a vampire killing kit.
The research was conducted by internet polling organisation YouGov
on behalf of insurance company Direct Line.
Microsoft Is Set to Unveil its Internet Search Service
By ROBERT A. GUTH
Staff Reporter of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
Microsoft Corp. on Thursday will start its long-awaited Internet search
service, adding fresh competition to Google Inc.
The Redmond, Wash. software maker on Thursday will open to the public
its service for searching the Internet after eighteen months of development.
The company is trying to tap into the lucrative business now dominated
by Google of combining Internet search and advertising.
A Microsoft spokeswoman reached today declined to comment on the service.
Microsoft, which has been testing the service on a limited basis since
June, has said it will start the public version of the service by year-end.
The company is also working on technology for searching for data on
personal computers that will likely debut sometime later this year.
Microsoft enters an increasingly crowded field of players. In the past
two years, Yahoo Inc., the No. 2 search provider to Google, has revamped
its service through $2 billion of acquisitions of search-related specialists.
Microsoft currently licenses Yahoo's search engine for use on its Web
sites. It also has a contract to receive search-related advertising
from Yahoo. That contract expires next year.
Executives at Microsoft's MSN online group, which is building the search
service, have previously said the company is trying to build a service
that better tailors results to searchers' queries than current services
do.
Internet search companies are currently scrambling to increase the
relevance of results to users. They have launched special "local"
sites that help consumers to find goods and services in their own neighborhoods.
Some now let users record their searches and Web sites they visit and
search only within them. Their latest push involves software that searches
e-mails and files on PC hard drives. Google last month released as a
test version of its technology for searching PCs.
Microsoft brings a big wallet and a track record of coming from behind
in areas that it deems critical. The company belatedly recognized the
importance of the Internet and ultimately steamrolled Netscape Communications
in Web browser software.
Scott Kessler, and analyst at Standard & Poor's in New York, says
Microsoft's move into search is significant, but that it's "well
behind Google and Yahoo in terms of consumer perceptions about search.
It's going to be an uphill battle for them."
A next-generation wireless broadband network is being created in Kent
which will provide high-speed wireless services to residential and business
punters in the South East of England. Trials are due to start in January
ahead of a full commercial launch by the middle of next year.
Telabria - a privately-held company based in Kent - says the decision
to build the UK's first WiMAX network will "fundamentally change
the structure of broadband networks" by providing a wireless alternative
to fixed line communications.
With a population of more than one and a half million people covering
1,442 square miles, Telabria intends to deliver wireless broadband services
combining voice, video and data to towns and built-up areas as well
as to Kent's more rural regions.
By Tim Richardson Broadband is the bee's knees, according to business bosses in Britain.
More than eight in ten directors admit that investing in broadband
has helped boost productivity while two thirds identified a direct link
between high-speed net access and increased profits.
By Jan Libbenga
With the installation of the first base station in the Park Inn-Hotel
at Alexanderplatz, Berlin now has DSL-to-go, a new service for road
warriors who need broadband access wherever they are, without changing
the provider and without reconfiguring the settings of their computer
or PDA. DSL-to-go is developed by Airdata, a Stuttgart company that
will offer wireless DSL in 30 metropolitan areas in Germany. And no,
it isn't Wi-Fi. The company uses exclusive frequencies in the 2.6 GHz
band for its 3G TDD (local loop) technology, which exceeds the range
of today’s WLAN hotspots.
Klixmart become suppliers of Internet Hosting, Broadband and Telephony
services.
We are pleased to anounce that Klixmart are now
suppliers of Hosting, Broadband and Telephony services. We can
now offer special bundled packages of Broadband, Hosting, Cheap calls,
0870 numbers and many other Telephony Solutions as well as any of these
services on a stand alone basis.
The new Klixmart website is here. Feel free to browse our site and
keep coming back as we will be adding new content regularly. You can
add us to your favourites or tell a friend from the right hand menu.
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