1 Brighton’s Retailers Open their Doors To E-commerce

Author: EROL Press Office
14th June, 2006

The Hub 100

Brighton’s Retailers Open their Doors To ECommerce
Written by Editor, Monday, 12 June 2006

Declining sales on the High Street has been a regular news item over the past twelve months, whilst e-commerce and consumer spending online is enjoying huge growth. In Brighton & Hove, the network of independent shops in the Lanes rely heavily on the city’s ability to attract tourists into Brighton and recent figures suggest some may be struggling. David Lepper, MP for Brighton Pavilion, has recently been championing the Sustainable Communities Bill in Parliament which hopes to aid sustainable local business. With the retail sector such a large part of the Brighton & Hove economy, what opportunities do retailers in the city have to build their business?

Step forward Hove-based Dreamteam Design Ltd, who have been monitoring Brighton’s retail community needs over the past six months. Their e-commerce software EROL (Electronic Retail OnLine) is aimed directly at SME retail businesses and could provide just the answer local retailers need. They joined forces with Stuart Wilkie, Chair of the Brighton Lanes Business Network, and organised a free evening event called ‘Everything You Need to Know About Selling Online” at the Mint Restaurant, aimed at providing retail business-owners with information on every aspect of e-commerce.

Malcolm Duffitt, Managing Director of Dreamteam Design Ltd, delivered the main content of the evening in outlining every aspect of e-commerce from the different software available to taking payments, and was later joined by Malcolm Prescott of Pure Potions, a Sussex-based online retailer who shared his real-world experiences of e-commerce.

Asked for their reactions to the evening, one retailer said: “All the information presented tonight came across as honest, and that this is something that is both accessible and achievable; the evening has made me realise that setting up an e-commerce website could be easier than I thought!”

Malcolm Duffitt states: “We had watched various attempts at providing information about e-commerce to local retailers by ways of seminars and conferences that invariably turn into a sales pitch. We already know that local retailers are at different stages of e-commerce - whether still thinking about it, or whether they already have an online store - and therefore every retail business has slightly different requirements. We educate our customers on a daily basis, not only about the merits of ecommerce but in how best to approach selling online for their own, unique business. We are also members of Brighton’s Hub 100, an organisation that helps stimulate and grow local business and by organising this seminar it was an altruistic opportunity to share our ten years’ experience of e-commerce with Brighton’s retailers which we hope gives retail-owners the information they need from which to make an informed decision about how e-commerce best suits their needs.”

MP David Lepper attended the evening, and Margaret Hodge, the Minister of State for Industry in the Regions, Department of Trade & Industry sent a statement to the Lanes Business Network encouraging those present at the event to ‘learn from those who have already taken the plunge and to pick up best practice’ in order to ‘make the most of the opportunity’ presented by e-commerce.

Dreamteam Design believe that the success of the evening has further raised awareness to local retailers in the city, presenting the idea that e-commerce is not only accessible but that there is a significant opportunity to build up their business via both retail and etail.

The next step in Dreamteam Design’s crusade to help local retailers is to engage with regional government support agencies like Sussex Enterprise to help fund retailers’ e-commerce initiatives so there is no barrier to entry in helping the region’s retailers build sustainable local businesses.

http://www.thehub100.com/

http://www.dreamteam.co.uk

Entry Filed under: EROL News