Small businesses are missing out on opportunities for e-tailing by neglecting their websites.

A new survey of small and medium-sized businesses' (SMEs) websites found that 23 per cent had not been updated at all since their launch, while only 8 per cent had any capabilities embedded to facilitate online sales.

That is in spite of government statistics showing that British consumers bought £102 billion of goods and services online in 2005-2006 – and that does not include the potential for marketing to foreign customers.

Jon Beal, managing director of Netflare, the company which carried out the research, said: "It is beyond comprehension that small business owners are ignoring one of the fastest growing sales opportunities there has ever been."

Nevertheless, the survey found that a majority of those polled said that they had websites in order to increase sales.

Mr Beal added: "The UK has the most active online population of any country in Europe with around 21 million of us logging on every day. Some 72 per cent of those are using the Internet to make purchases of goods and services. The fact that small businesses are neglecting this huge and growing marketplace is astonishing."


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