Poor Broadband Harms Small Buisnesses
According to a recent survey, nearly 1/5th of small enterprises in Ireland do not have an online presence. Many of these businesses don’t even have a website, as their use of online resources is limited due to poor broadband.
The Digital Health Index was performed by Ignite Research by the request of the IE Domain Registry, who manages Ireland’s official internet address.
They explored the online presence of about 500 small businesses and found that those who had no website or social media accounts had fallen significantly in the last nine months. The study showed that there were slightly more organizations that were able to sell online compared to those that did have a website, but sales remain low for both.
Of those companies who do not use the web, many stated that they do not plan to use it to promote their business in the future. For others, the main hindrance to their online presence is poor broadband. This has a direct affect on online sales as the Digital Health Index found that very few of these companies would be able to process sales online.
In another survey for consumers, the study found that many 21st century consumers prefer to support businesses when they can interact with the company online, either through social media or online shopping.
Currently, Facebook and Twitter are the most popular platforms for small businesses.
