By Nick Kington

The second quarterly online sales survey conducted by ecommerce specialist Actinic (www.actinic.co.uk) has highlighted an 18% increase in revenue in the three months to 30 September 2010 when compared to 2009, but e-retailers are having to work hard in a challenging and competitive environment in the run-up to the crucial Christmas period.

In this Actinic survey of over 200 small and medium businesses selling online, on average the quantity of orders processed by each e-tailer increased 13% during the third quarter when compared to the same period the previous year.

Respondents reported their average shopping cart value increasing slightly by 4% during the period from £73.81 in the third quarter 2009 to £76.81 in 2010.

John Boyes, managing director of http://www.track-shack.com commented, “Our Q3 turnover has increased in excess of 20% when compared to last year’s figures which we put down to simply holding more stock of the products our customers want. In our niche market customers would traditionally wait ages between placing an order and receiving the goods. We have recently started “The People’s Engine” survey which provides an invaluable insight into future demand. This allows us to work with suppliers to develop new product and stock up on what our customers actually want.”

Rob Mobberley, director and CEO of www.performancemotorcare.com has seen revenues increase by 28% for the third quarter compared to the same period last year, with the order volume increasing 19% and average order value increasing by over 7%. Rob said, “The focus for us is maintaining a high level of customer service to encourage repeat orders. We have used social media, including Twitter and Facebook to engage with our customers giving advice and guidance on our car care products and have also introduced customer reviews and feedback so website visitors can make more informed purchases.”

Nick Kington, managing director at Actinic adds, “These growth figures indicate that online sellers in the SME sector are faring well against poor high street sales. With consumer confidence decreasing in September as reported by the Nationwide Building Society it is very encouraging to see e-tailers are still reporting double digit year on year growth. On the run up to Christmas online merchants are looking well placed to capitalise from consumers shopping around to get the best deals.”

About the author

Nick Kington is managing director of Actinic, having joined the company in 2001 as marketing director. Nick has over 20 years marketing and business development experience in the information technology industry. He started his career in product management roles with Olivetti and Dell Computers before moving into the software sector with Software Publishing Corporation (Harvard Graphics) and Sage Software.

About Actinic

Founded in 1996, Actinic (www.actinic.co.uk) is a British company specialising in helping small and medium retailers trade, both online and offline, using its ecommerce and electronic point of sale (EPOS) packages. Actinic offers ecommerce products for web designers and self-builders, including both web-based and desktop solutions. The range includes Actinic Enterprise, Actinic Business, Actinic Catalog, Actinic Express and Actinic Designer.