Outdated technology is preventing small businesses cashing in on the £5bn Christmas online shopping surge, an IT firm has claimed.
According to web hosting company, Fasthosts, average traffic on commercial websites is set to double in the lead-up to Christmas, with half of UK adults spending an average of £208 each online.
However, with broadband connections providing ever-faster connections to their online stores, cash-ready consumers are no longer prepared to stick with poorly performing websites.
Fasthosts claims that the web infrastructure of many smaller online retailers is already creaking under the pressure of increased internet traffic. It says that companies running their websites in-house on single servers are ill-prepared to cope with the massive surges expected, and, in the case of website failure, many could find their customers switching to larger competitors.
"As online competition increases, it amazes me that so many SMEs are
willing to chance their Christmas sales,” commented Stephen Holford, director of product marketing, Fasthosts. ”Ensuring that your website is supported by the correct infrastructure is vital to provide a quality buying experience"
The web company recommends businesses outsource their hosting to take advantages of facilities such as multiple internet connectivity, load balancing to protect against any single web server failure, fully-redundant power supplies and 24/7 technical support, even over the bank holidays, to catch those Boxing Day bargain hunters.
© Crimson Business Ltd. 2006
