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The internet is worth £100bn annually to the UK economy, comprising 7.2% of the gross domestic product, which is expected to reach 10% within five years, according to a survey commissioned by Google. The share is also likely to grow to 10% by 2015, putting the internet’s contribution on a par with the financial sector. [Read more]

Social networks are sending nearly 13% more traffic to online retailers this year than in 2009. A new Hitwise report shows that social networking sites accounted for 11.6% of all UK Internet visits during September, representing a year on year growth of 4.3%. Facebook accounts for 55% of all visits to social networking sites, making [Read more]

John Lewis‘s website has overtaken those of competitors Marks & Spencer and WHSmith to take top spot in Webcredible’s latest ranking of the top 20 high street retailers according to usability. The 2010 Online Usability Report from user experience consultancy Webcredible gave John Lewis 91% for usability, up from 81% in 2009. Webcredible evaluates the [Read more]

Experian/IMRG have just published the list of top online retailers for August 2010. To quote James Roper: “As retail competition intensifies in the online space it is evident that the e-retail market leaders, both pureplay and multi-channel, continue to flourish online with the top 10 showing very little movement since the last quarter. Despite significant [Read more]

Here’s a few quotes which provide the drift: – The ability to achieve truly dramatic improvements in conversion rates still requires a shift in “conventional” thinking. Design teams need to understand that while the goal may be conversion, the practice must be persuasion. – Conversion is all about “the click.” We all understand the macro-level [Read more]

Sensible, but short, article on the cross-over between email marketing and social media. I think “do it” is the best summary: * Archiving email newsletters online and posting links to them on Twitter, Facebook, or LinkedIn can extend the reach of that communication * Including links from blog posts or YouTube videos in an email [Read more]

Testing tiny text ads for superior performance is similar in some ways to testing landing pages. Anyone can play. A small elite “test to win.” Useful 7 approaches to success from Traffik, summarised here: 1. Focus on your core message. 2. Love and honor your winning headline. 3. Real words, please 4. Test significant contrasts [Read more]

Here’s a summary, but you can read the full piece on e-consultancy. Mobile commerce and smartphones * Just 21% of the consumers surveyed had smartphones, but 81% of these consumers had used their mobiles to help them shop, compared to just 15% of non-smartphone users. * The most common way smartphone owners use their devices [Read more]

{1} Go Into Your Cave {2} It’s Okay to Be King {3} Transcend Orthodoxy {4} Just Say No {5} Serve Your Customer. No, Really {6} Everything Is Marketing {7} Kill the Past {8} Turn Feedback Into Inspiration {9} Don’t Invent, Reinvent {10} Play by Your Own Clock