Affinity Internet, a web services provider for small businesses, announced the results of the 2005 Affinity eCommerce Survey Tuesday. The company says the survey was designed to measure how shifts in e-commerce trends will impact small businesses this holiday season.

"The nationwide e-commerce survey not only confirmed what consumer surveys have predicted — that increasing energy costs and the effects from natural disasters will drive more people online to do their shopping this holiday season — but supported claims that this shift in e-commerce is expected to directly impact small businesses," the company stated in a written release.

An Affinity spokesperson told ECommerce-Guide.com, "The advent of tools like highly-localized search, combined with this increase in online shopping, has truly empowered small businesses to reach customers and expand their businesses in ways they never could. The survey gives great insight into how small businesses are preparing to take advantage of this increase in online shopping this holiday season."

In an effort to identify online holiday sales predictions and gain greater insight into online marketing trends, Affinity conducted the survey of business owners with a Web presence and says it received over 2,700 responses. The survey consisted of strategic questions dealing with online sales activity, sales expectations for the holiday season and the most effective marketing and advertising strategies for businesses operating on the Web.

Charts courtesy of Affinity Internet.

"The results not only revealed exactly how businesses expect to be impacted by this shift in e-commerce trends, but identified what strategies would be most effective in maximizing the sales opportunity presented by this influx of online shopping," said Affinity.

Affinity says some businesses have already begun to feel the effects of increased online shopping. Of those surveyed, 44 percent have seen an increase in online sales over the past year. When asked about sales expectations for the upcoming holiday season, a large majority of small business owners felt that the overall growth of e-commerce will continue throughout the holiday season and that a continued increase in sales is expected through web sites. Survey results also discovered:

• 70 percent expect that overall e-commerce sales this holiday season will be better than last year,
• 69 percent expect to see an increase in Web site traffic this holiday season, and
• 54 percent expect that their businesses e-commerce holiday sales will be better than last year, with 73 percent expecting at least a 10 percent or more increase.

"The purpose of the Affinity eCommerce survey is to gain the insight and information needed to create tools and services that help our small business customers take their businesses to the next level," said John Enright, vice president of marketing, Affinity Internet. "This holiday season brings with it the promise of increased online shopping, and with advents like search engine optimization and local search, small business stand to disproportionately benefit."

As a part of the survey business owners were asked what marketing and advertising strategies they felt were most effective in drawing people to their site and increasing sales revenue. Respondents rated the importance of online marketing higher than any other form of paid advertising, including radio, print, direct mail, and even the Yellow Pages, with 45 percent of respondents giving it a five on a scale of one to five, and 89 percent rating it at least a three.

Despite the fact that customers are spending 17 percent more of their marketing budgets online this year versus last year, according to the survey, several issues continue to prevent them from fully utilizing this vital advertising tool. Topping the list were cost of purchasing ads (31 percent), not knowing how to create online campaigns (18 percent), too time intensive (16 percent) and difficulty tracking results (11 percent).

"While the survey revealed that businesses are beginning to understand the true benefits of marketing and online advertising, it also showed that there are many misconceptions," said Jim Collins, president, Affinity Internet. "The business community needs to be educated about online marketing; the creation, deployment and management."

Conducted in September, the 2005 Affinity eCommerce Survey was an invitation-only, online survey conducted among a sample of Affinity ValueWeb customers. Of the 2,725 participants, Affinity said 77 percent of those who responded have between one and 10 employees, and 11 percent have between 11 and 25 employees. More information about the survey can be found at www.affinity.com.

Devin Comiskey is the Managing Editor of ECommerce-Guide.