Growth In e-Commerce Sales

E-commerce accounted for 19% of sales represented in the Annual Business Survey (ABS) total turnover in 2011. It has increased from 18% in 2010. Sales from websites represented 5% of total turnover compared with 4.6% in 2010. Other information in the ONS statistical bulletin says that 93% of businesses had broadband Internet and 81% had a website. Of the businesses with broadband 5.8% had a broadband connection of 100Mbps or more and 34% of the larger businesses had high speed broadband. Members of staff were provided with a portable device of some kind in 56% of cases be it a portable computer, smartphone or personal digital assistant (PDA). The survey is conducted annually to show the importance and values of e-commerce and the use of ICT by businesses in Britain.

Producer Output Price Rises In September

The output prices of home sales of manufactured products increased by 2.5% in the year to September 2012 compared with an increase of 2.3% last month according to a statistical bulleting from the ONS. Between August and September the index for output rose by 0.5%, the same as between July and August. Input prices however fell b y 1.2% in the year to September 2012 compared with a fall of 1.1% last month. Input prices also fell between August and September by 0.2% compared with a rise of 1.9% between July and August. The largest changes in output prices were in tobacco and alcohol with an 8.7% increase, petroleum products 3.4%, computer, electrical and optical with 2.9% and other manufactured goods with a 2.8% change. The largest changes in input price were in imported metals with a -12.8% percentage change and home food materials with a change of 10.1%. Fuel increased by 7.4% and crude oil fell by 2.3%. Imported chemicals and imported parts and equipment also fell by 3.6% and 3% respectively.

Internet Access Has Reached 80% Households

In 2012 we saw Internet access increase again to reach 80% of British households. The 21m homes represent an increase of 3% on the 19m households with Internet access in 2011. The number has increased by 7.1m since comparable records began in 2006. The most common reason given by the 5.2m households that do not have access to the Internet was 'we do not need it'. A key point was that in 2012, 67% of British adults use a computer every day.

1% Fall In Production

Production fell by 1% over the year to April 2012 according to figures on the Index of Production from the ONS. Manufacturing fell by 0.3%. Production remained unchanged over the month March to April but manufacturing fell 0.7% over that period.

In more detail, the electricity, gas, steam & air conditioning sector rose by 13.6%, mining & quarrying fell by 5.7% which together with the fall in manufacturing offset the gains slightly. The water and waste management sector was unchanged. The food sector also fell by 5.7% over the year, chemical products fell by 0.9%.

Some sectors grew, electrical equipment grew by 16.5%, transport equipment by 8.8%, machinery and equipment by 6.4% and computer, electronic and optical by 6.2% over the year. The computing sector also saw the biggest growth over the month with an increase of 8.1% while pharmaceuticals fell by 6%.

Fall Of 0.2% In GDP

The preliminary estimates of GDP published by the ONS show that GDP fell by 0.2% in the first quarter of 2012. Output fell in the production and construction indistries by 0.4% and 3% respectively but services grew by 0.1% following a decrease of 0.1% in the previous quarter. A closer analysis shows that the decreases in the production industries were driven by mining and quarrying and manufacturing. An increase in retail and food and beverage services contributed to the 0.1% increase in the distribution, hotels and restaurants sector and computer programming, consultancy and related services and motion picture, video and television production also made a significant contribution to the increase of 0.4% in transport, storage and communication. Financial services made the biggest contribution to the 0.1% decrease in business services and finance and health and sports activities, amusement and recreation made the biggest contribution to the 0.2% increase in government and other services. Agriculture, forestry and fishing fell by 1.9%.

Internet Users Increase To 82.9%

The number of people in UK who have ever used the Internet increased to 41.62m adults in Q3 2011, equivalent to 82.9% of the adult population. The remainder were the 8.43m adults or 16.8% of the population who have never used the Internet.

Socio-economic and demographic characteristics are linked to Internet use. Age, disability, location and earnings are example characteristics of Internet users. The never using the Internet include the over 65s, the disabled and the widowed.

The largest proportion of users according to age were the youngest aged 16-24 at 98.6%. The over 75s group decreased in its number of non-users from 76.3% to 72.4%. There were 4.25m disabled adults who had never used the Internet (over half of the total non-users).

As regards earnings the proportion of Internet non-users declines with successive weekly pay bands. Those on less than £200/week had the most non-users at 8.3%. There were no Internet non-users among those paid over £1,000/week.

Business Research And Development

Total research and development expenditure in cash terms in business in 2009 totalled £15.6bn, that is a fall of 2.5% on 2008. The ONS sub-divides business R & D into civil and defence spending. Civil R & D expenditure decreased by 1.4% to £13.7bn and defence expenditure decreased by 10.2% to £1.9bn. In real terms total expenditure decreased by 4.1% to £15.6bn within which civil expenditure decreased by 3% to £13.7bn.

The product group with the highest R & D performance was pharmaceuticals at £4.4bn or 28.4% of all spending. Other significant product groups included aerospace (£1.5bn), computers (£1.5bn), motor vehicles and parts (£1.1bn) and telecommunications (£1.1bn). The region with the highest performance in terms of expenditure was the East of England (24.9%), the South East (23%) and the North West (13.1%) and the lowest in England was the North East (2%) and in the UK N. Ireland (1.9%). In terms of employment, the South East was highest employing the most people in R & D with 35,000, the East of England employed 30,000. The North East, Wales and N. Ireland employed the least at 4,000 each.

Product News 3

Here’s an opportunity to browse some offerings from Webgains. Hardcloud is inspired by music, skate and surf culture. They strive to bring the best online selection of clothing and accessories from a fresh new perspective. The web site is easy to use and provides excellent customer service. Brand they stock include Animal, Hurley, Volcom, Billabong Roxy, Vans, DC, Nixon, Etnies and Reef. There is a unique store specialising in men's clothing, GelaSkins and designer toys. Urban Retro also stock T-shirts and other clothing for men from a variety of brands. They have the biggest range of GelaSkins in the UK. They are specialists in designer vinyl toys, plush toys and licensed toys from Sesame Street and Super Mario among others. They sell a full range of lifestyle and home products including posters, art prints, mugs and magazines. Standard delivery is free on orders over £40.

You can browse and buy exclusive brands such as Kenneth Cole and Linea to fashion renowned brands such as Diesel, Hugo Boss and Armani, online at House of Fraser. As one of Britain’s leading premium department stores, House of Fraser has thousands of products, ranging from designer clothes for women, men and children to luxurious homeware and electicals.

Venture Sport is of the largest retailers of outdoor equipment and clothing. It sells over 97 leading brands of the best quality outdoor wear, equipment and clothing. Well-known brands include Craghoppers, Berghaus, Brasher and Vaude. They are all in the warehouse ready to go. They say 98% of orders are sent within 24 hours.

If you are planning a holiday as many people do at this time of year, Dales Holiday Cottages have over 600 cottages available to book online throughout the Yorkshire Dales, North Yorkshire Moors, Yorkshire Coast and Wolds, the Derbyshire Dales, Northumbria, the Northern Dales, the Lake District, Cumbria and Eden Valley, the Scottish Borders and the Highlands of Scotland.

Online accomodation specialist HotelConnect offers hotels, cheap and cheerful bargain accomodation for breaks and holidays in cities in Europe and the USA.

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