Over 50% of Companies Online Show Double-digit Growth

Online businesses in the UK are making steady progress despite the unstable economic environment, enjoying growth that is 57 times faster than the economy. According to a report from Barclays, more than 50% of companies operating online have recorded double-digit growth over the past three years.

The Barclays Online Business Outlook 2013 suggests that over the past three years, online companies achieved an average annual improvement of 11.4%, while the country’s economy expanded by just 0.2%. The figures confirm that online businesses have bucked the trend and gained strong momentum despite the volatile market conditions, Sean Duffy, managing director and head of technology, media and telecoms at Barclays, commented. He considers that the next important step will be to maintain this growth level and make the most of new and emerging trends.

The report also found that more than one in six online firms are considering deploying a mobile strategy, which was a key driver behind the successes this year, but still, most companies (60%) are yet to come up with a strategy to capitalise on this medium. Meanwhile, 89% of firms operating online are yet to make their website mobile-friendly. Organisations that have already optimised their sites for mobile or developed apps attributed 27.8% of their revenues to mobile technology. Besides, 34% have seen an increase in the number of users reaching their website via mobile devices since the start of the year compared to the previous year.

When asked about their expectations for the year ahead, about two-thirds said that they were upbeat about their prospects, with just 4% admitting that they were not optimistic about their future performance.