GBP 77 bln missed revenue for SMEs without mobile-optimised websites

According to a survey conducted by Impact Research for hibu, a provider of digital marketing solutions and websites, 45% of UK SMEs do not have a website, yet believe their annual revenue could rise by 5.4% if they had a website that was optimised for mobile transactions, equating to an average of GBP 11,155 extra turnover annually. A further 45% of UK SMEs have a website that is not optimised for mobile. These businesses believe their annual revenues could rise by 3.5% if their website was optimised for mobile transactions, equating to an average of GBP 23,793 extra turnover annually.

The research also found that SMEs recognise the importance of mobile optimisation, and know its value is growing. Respondents predicted that mobile online transactions will have the greatest percentage annual growth across all sales channels in 2014, exceeding GBP 29 billion - a 1050% increase over 2013. In the UK, access to the Internet using a mobile phone more than doubled between 2010 and 2013, from 24% to 53%.

Whilst SME decision-makers recognise that mobile is growing, few are taking immediate action. Only 10% of those surveyed currently have mobile-optimised websites, and of those that do not, only 13% plan to get one in the next 12-18 months.