Tip of the iceberg?

I have to admit that shopping online is a pretty good way of saving money. Just think of all the discounts you can pick, free delivery and the ability to browse just about every known product from the comfort of you arsechair.  It looks like many of you out there feel the same if a recent report is anything to go by.

A report by Verdict Research shows UK shoppers spent about £14.7 billion in 2007 - a growth rate roughly 10 times that of the UK retail market. The figure is predicted to hit £44.9 billion by 2012.

But we still need physical stores. Most of like to get out and sample the goods even if we then go home and order online.

Interestingly, it would appear men make up the larger percentage of net shoppers, often buying higher value products. Hmm, don’t let your woman find this out or you’ll never again have cause to complain about the 50 pairs of shoes she owns.

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…again.

It looks like Google is starting to pick up after a recent drop in the number of clicks on ads. The push for higher quality ad experiences may have contributed to some slippage in their volume of ad clicks in recent months. Google believes a more devoted approach to ad quality will lead to better conversions for advertisers + big, juicey profits for the seach engine giant.

The view of adclicks in the search industry was provided by measurement company comScore. A recent comScore report raised concerns about Google’s stock price - looks like those concerned have now been sunk, doesn’t it?

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Sneaky fag breaks crippling big biz!

Ok, it’s not really that simple but little things compounded add up to big losses, according to a report just published. The current trend towards banning ersonal internet use in the workplace could be costing British businesses up to 4 billion every year. Apparently, the bans lead to a decline in staff productivity.

The eport by PopCap Games, proves that, far from distracting employees from their work, taking a 10-minute online break during the course of the working day erves to reduce stress while sharpening and refocusing the mind.

Around 7 in 10 companies have banned access to social networking sites with more considering banning personal internet access altogether (now I am worried!) But companies would do well to note that banning e-breaks could actually hurt and morale.

150k package plus all the browsing you want!

If only! It seems that popular social sites, news, dating, gaming and shopping sites has resulted in 57% of workers shunning the traditional tea-break in favour of an office e-break in a bid to unwind during the 9-5. Unfortunately, many companies don’t accept employees personal use of the internet during working hours - but the 5 minutes to have a tea break is fine! Hmm. No comment.

All I can say to big business is “It’s your loss” - literally.

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The economy is not dead!

Is the world economy going down the pan? Some say ‘yes’, some say ‘no’. US Online sales seem to be bucking the trend with a year over year growth of 15%. The figures from comScore show a significant rise in the April figures after a slow March (9%). Online sales in North America have, on average, seen double digit growth for every month over the past year (Jan - 12% to 28% in August).

“We hope that April will emerge as the beginning of a turnaround in the consumer economy, and that spending will accelerate as we move through the year and as the impact of the government’s tax rebate programme begins to be felt.” said Gian Fulgoni, chairman of comScore.

Online shopping in the US accounted for $32.8bn in revenue in the first quarter of 2008 although this was down from $42bn spent during Q4 of 2007.

Looks like it might be worth setting up an online store in America!

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Or, so they say.

For £23.99 per month you’ll get BT Broadband for your home and a smartphone thrown into the deal. We’re not talking crappy, cheapo phones either. You’ll receive a choice of HTC handsets: S620 or S710. Not bad eh? The handsets will automatically connect to a Wi-Fi hotspot when in range. Your internet access will also allow you to make cheap calls through BT Broadband Talk.

There is a downside: data usage is limited to 10Mb when out of rang of WiFi. Otherwise, it’s unlimited. If you need to use more than 10Mb you will be charged £1.50 per Mb.

Prices start at £23.99 per month for the first three months and £29.99 thereafter on a 50 call minutes and 50 text plan. A minimum contract period of 18 months applies.

Not the cheapest in the world but there’s a nice handset giveaway.

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Life after Microsoft.

Even thought the Microsoft deal is off (for now) Yahoo are still pushing forward. On Tuesday, Yahoo and McAfee announced a partnership that will see risky websites flagged in search results. McAfee’s SiteAdvisor will place a red warning against sites allowing users to avoid risky sites. Sites that host spyware, adware, virus ridden content or sites that link to other risky sites will be flagged.

This offering sees vendors taking aim squarely at web based attacks. For a long time Anti Virus was seen as the silver bullet - which it wasn’t. Building protection directly into your browser gives you an added edge over malware as, in theory, flaws in the OS can be protected by denying web code access to the security holes.

SiteAdvisor is already available for download on Internet Explorer and Firefox and works  in much the same way as other offerings such as AVG. One issue that I currently have is verification time. On average, AVG  takes about 20 seconds to verify/flag a site. Admittedly, this is a fair trade when it comes to protecting your computer but a little more speed would be appreciated. I guess I’ll have to take SiteAdvisor out for a test run.

The joint Yahoo/Macafee service will be available in the US, Canada, the UK, France, Italy, Germany, Australia, New Zealand and Spain.

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I wonder if they’ll give a us 2Gb download limit?

It looks like Virgin are ramping up their assault on BTs broadband services. A trial has run to test 40Gb connections over a 217 mile stretch of existing 10Gb backbone - basically, London to Manchester. The test was designed to examine the viability of enhancing the existing network.

Nortel Networks 40G Adaptive Optical Engine DWDM transponder cards and Juniper Networks T-series routers, with 40Gbit/s interfaces, were used during testing. The trial was run by Virgin Media as a proving ground for the growing requirements of Virgins customers - looks like we’re getting pretty bandwidth hungry!

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But it’s not proportional.

Last year China only had 210 million users (only?). But, as of February, the total hit 221 million which means that China now tops America in the internet population league. Although these figures are huge the total proportion of Internet users in China is lower than global averages: China had 16% at the end of last year whilst the world average was 19%.

Free to browse.

No, not really. China maintains strict rules on internet usage. A complex series of firewall rules and filters allows consumers to see only what the government wants them to see. Add in the huge swathes of human monitors watching surfing habits and it all starts to sound very depressing.

Click here to go to the home page.

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Netsuite, tout suite.

Online business applications provide an excellent way to provide mobile users with data access. Google knows this, hence; Google Apps. Microsoft knows this as well. Just look at their foray into the web based office. The move from fat clients to online offerings seems to be gathering pace. Now BT have joined the party. BT has offered an SaaS solution for some time now: BTBizbox. I have personally used this and all I can say is that it’s ‘ok’. The major annoyance for me was the lack of intergrated email.

Hitching a lift.

Ok, BT have produced a fairly simple and easy to use business tool. It does the job if you’re not too worried about complexity. But what if you need more? That’s where Netsuite comes in. The American company is keen to see more adoption of its SaaS service outside of the US. Europe is seen as a key area of development. The offering will allow business users to utilise ERP, CRM and e-commerce solutions through a one-stop shop. Have I caught your ear yet? In addition, BT are planning a collaborative effort with SugarCRM in the near future. No prices announced, as yet.

Decisions, decisions.

I know that many companies are jumping onto the bandwagon. Hey, if Microsoft are joining the game it must be important, don’t you think?

I’m not an expert in SaaS but I’d say the future is big. It wasn’t long ago that many knowledgeable people were saying there’d be no market for on-demand software. Now it’s worth billions!

On a final note, have a look at BTBizbox, it may just suit your needs as an SME - I know, a shameless plug!

Click here to go to the home page.

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MS Office on the move.

Microsoft Office is being tested on a subscription basis. The Redmond juggernaut is proposing to bundle their Office productivity suite with a range of security packages and free web services. For a fee, of course!

Subsribers will receive Windows Live Mail and Office Live Workspace on top of Windows Live One Care (not sure why everything is ‘Live’, it’s hardly going to be ‘Dead’…well, I hope not!).

The green grass of Albany.

This announcement doesn’t in any way suggest that Microsoft is moving away from its traditional sales model. The project, codenamed Albany, has been designed to target users who don’t want, or need, to buy a perpetual licence for Office. Add in the popularity and flexibility of Google Apps and you can see why Microsoft is eyeing this market space with very keenly.

Click here to go to the home page.

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