SMBs Reaping eCommerce Benefits

This weekend I was reading an interesting report from ISP, Interland relating to how SMBs(small and medium-sized businesses) use the Internet and more specifically eCommerce within their business.

In the survey, 24% of the 1,032 businesses surveyed reported that eCommerce was an active part of their business. 42% of those respondents reported that 25% or more of their revenue was generated directly from their websites.

They used a variety of approaches from self-created and maintained websites to partnerships with eCommerce vendors. Additionally a strong mix of marketing tactics were used to generated revenue including email marketing, PPC, natural search and banner adverting.

SMBs are now becoming more and more aggressive with eCommerce seeing it is a viable channel for generating revenue. This isn't just a reach to the global marketplace either. With online directories and local search services like "Google Local" beginning to become more prevalent, servicing local customers is also part of the strategy.