80% say they'd trust a .UK

How was 2010? Nominet, the internet registry for .uk domain
names, constantly update statistics on the online landscape, and
provide a study of the year in their Domain name industry report.
In addition, Google commissioned the global consulting group, BCG,
to help understand the UK market resulting in The Connected
Kingdom: How the Internet Is Transforming the UK. Below are some
highlights we found. Trust and preferences in .uk When users were
asked if they would choose to visit a .uk site over a .com site
when presented with a search result, 80% said that they would click
on the .uk website. This same question has been asked over the past
four years, and the trend shows that consumers are increasingly
reliant on .uk to provide a trusted environment, presenting
relevant and local information. This is particularly significant
for businesses wanting to attract consumers and shows that a .uk
domain name is an important part of their strategy when dealing
with UK consumers. Nominet also asked web visitors about
preferences for .uk sites when browsing or buying products online.
Again a marked preference for .uk over .com is shown in both cases.
For e-commerce though 77% prefer a .uk site which is a step
increase from a year ago. With this preference comes high
expectations. Consumers especially anticipate a .uk site will show
prices in £'s. On the other hand, lower delivery charges from a .uk
versus a .com are not expected by the majority. A nation of
e-shopkeepers? Napoleon's slur looks like a prediction when
considering the digital economy. BCG's investigations showed the UK
has embraced the internet and is now, per capita, the largest
e-commerce market and the second largest online-advertising market
globally. This is borne out in the Nominet data with over 2 million
new registrations of .uk domain names in 2010. In particular, BCG
found that it is small and medium enterprise (SMEs) that are
empowered by the internet. Data from the ONS showed that annual
growth of online sales between 2004 and 2008 was 43% for SMEs
versus 31% for businesses with 1,000+ employees. This is not
limited to 'cloud' computing start ups either. Case studies include
Wiggly Wigglers, selling worms online and UK tights, selling -
you've guessed it - tights alongside the likes of mydeco where you
can design your rooms online in 3-D. Internet to reach 10% of UK
GDP by 2015 Looking to the future, the BCG report forecats that the
the Internet economy is likely to grow to 10% of UK GDP by 2015.
This is significantly faster growth than other sectors of the
economy and does depend on several determining factors. Consumption
is seen as the biggest driver of this growth which depends on
greater penetration of broadband (in line with predictions of the
Economist Intelligence Unit) and that goods and travel purchased
online account for 30% of online consumer's overall purchases
(compared with 23% today). In their final conclusion, BCG consider
the UK to be well positioned in the Internet economy and offer some
encouraging words for business, government and entrepreneurs to
grasp the nettle. All in all, we think this report and the figures
from Nominet are defintiely a spot of good news for all of us as we
head into 2011. Sources:
Nominet: Domain name industry report
2010 and statistics The Boston Consulting Group: The Connected
Kingdom: How the Internet Is Transforming the UK