Simply put, the internet has a strong impact on our lives. After all, we use it for socializing, researching, and working. It has even presented itself as a platform where we can use it to buy different products and services. Now, there’s a complete generation of adults who are well aware of the internet and know nothing about how life operated without it. In simple words, retailers cannot stay offline, otherwise, they will lose valuable customers easily. E-commerce websites empower customers to acquire a unique user experience of shopping online. So if you want to start an ecommerce business, the basic idea will be, begin with, a stellar-looking website. You can either choose to build one yourself or hire a web developer. Here, we will shed light on how you can build a good e-commerce website:

• Consider the E-Commerce Platform

There are three different kinds of e-commerce platforms, open-source, SaaS, and headless commerce. Starting with the first one, open-source allows you to code freely without paying. This means it is free to install and can easily be customized according to your needs. However, it entails having advanced knowledge of coding to work on it. On the other hand, Software as a Service is a platform that allows you to create a website by investing your money. Lastly, headless commerce provides you with a shopping cart and an additional layer of ecommerce sites for references. There are also tons of companies that allow you to create your website in a number of clicks. Check out Shopify, wordpress or Wix. Depending on how complex you want your website to be, any of these are really good options. Some platforms focus only on e-commerce and they will probably be the easiest to manage your online store. If you want something that is only for e-commerce, then check out Bigcommerce or Shopify.

• Website Performance

If your website takes too long to load or fails to load for first-time visitors, they won’t bother coming to your platform again. Now that there are hundreds of ecommerce websites out there, choosing the right one can be very daunting for the customer. However, a positive website experience is beneficial for ensuring the customer makes their purchase. Secondly, your website should have the capacity to cater to the current traffic needs. You would not want a situation where your website crashes because too many people visited your website and your hosting package was not large enough.

• Website Should be Optimized For Mobile

There’s no running away from the fact that a large number of online shoppers look for products and services from their phones. So if your website fails to load on their mobiles or is too slow, you will eventually lose a lot of customers. Look for different ways your website can be operated from mobile without any obstacles. Don’t forget to offer secure payment modes to the clients. Not having a safer method for money transfer will plant doubts in customers’ minds.

• Create an Interesting Domain Name

Always choose a domain name that resonates with your customers. Simply put, it shouldn’t be that hard to spell or type. Because there is an abundance of ecommerce websites out there, a typical customer won’t get into the hassle of learning a tough domain name. Avoid generic names that have already been taken and try to stand out to the clients with something unique. Look for a brandable name that can easily be recognized by the customers. Not to forget, your domain name will be a representation of your brand in the international market, so you need to be wise enough when choosing one.

It’s that time of year, when Business Link Magazine invites the region’s business leaders to offer up their predictions for the year ahead.  It has become something of a tradition, given that we’ve been doing this now for over 30 years. Here we speak to Donald Ward, Operations Director at Midlands-based metal recycling and waste management specialist, WARD. We can’t escape the fact that COVID will continue to play its part in bringing ongoing uncertainty to business and present further trading challenges at a local, regional and national level. However, Midlands businesses have shown incredible resilience and are becoming increasingly used to adapting to uncertainty. Adaptation will also be a key theme to progress the sustainability agenda. To deliver on the COP 26 outcomes and shift to a circular economy focus, adaptation, mitigation, finance and collaboration will be essential to reduce carbon emissions. We need to deliver investment in climate goals and encourage working together to achieve real impact and change. As a business, we are well on the way with our sustainability road map to 2030, the Ward Way. Since 2019 we have already realised a 28% carbon reduction across our operations and as part of the Pledge to Net Zero we have evidence-based targets to achieve around energy efficiency, delivering social value, developing economic and environmental sustainability in the year ahead. Unfortunately, the first half of 2022 is likely to present more tough trading conditions. Realistically, there will be ongoing issues with logistics and shipments, which we expect for at least another six months. However, we are finding alternative ways to move materials and have made provision for this in our plans for 2022, such as moving to rail. We’ve also been looking ahead and have invested in and secured the plant and equipment we need to support our plans for the growth of our bulk metal recycling operations in 2023 and beyond. This will be a year where the wellbeing of all staff both physical and mental is even more paramount to beating the daily issues we face from the changing world. We should have a greater sense of empathy and compassion, stay connected, be aware of and be kind to each other both inside and outside of work.

The East Midlands’ unemployment rate has fallen to its lowest point on record, new figures show. It was 3.5% for the period between September and November last year, compared to a 4.1% national average. This is the lowest level since the Office for National Statistics (ONS) began publishing regional labour market figures in April 2015, and represented the smallest proportion of the workforce being unemployed since the three months to December 2019, when the rate was 3.6%. It also marked a significant drop on the previous reporting period for August to October 2021, when the region’s unemployment rate was on par with the UK average at 4.2%. East Midlands Chamber Chief Executive, Scott Knowles, said: “This is fantastic news for the region’s labour market and sends a clear signal that the East Midlands is open for business. “It reflects our own research that indicates our region’s firms are creating jobs to meet strong demand following the effects of the pandemic. The Chamber’s latest Quarterly Economic Survey (QES) for Q4 2021 showed two-thirds of companies attempted to recruit, while a net 35% expect to increase their headcount in the first three months of 2022. “We are represented by a very diverse economy in the East Midlands but there have been some standout sectors to celebrate in recent times, such as the logistics industry that has been a major driver of job creation during the pandemic, which has accelerated pre-existing online shopping trends.” Tightening labour pool presents acute challenge for businesses While the East Midlands has one of the lowest unemployment rates for over-16s in the UK, the economic inactivity rate for people aged 16 to 64 rose from 21.02% to 22% in the most recent reporting period. UK job vacancies also soared to a record high of 1.24 million between October and December – 462,000 higher compared with the three months before the pandemic. Scott added: “Despite the positive trajectory in unemployment, businesses are still encountering major recruitment challenges in a super competitive jobs market. “The 0.8% increase in the economic inactivity rate represents a rise in the number of people who have opted out of employment, whether it’s for studying, caring or to take early retirement – with the latter being a noticeable trend during the pandemic. “This means the labour pool is tightening at a time when companies are desperately trying to fill roles to cope with demand, which will enable them to continue growing and creating more jobs for local people. “Many companies in traditional industries such as manufacturing and construction often tell us about the difficulties in replacing an ageing workforce with younger talent, and the latest QES showed that eight in 10 of those that attempted recruitment struggled to find people with the right skills. “As we await publication of the Government’s delayed Levelling Up White Paper, the wider context behind the latest ONS data illustrates the need for policymakers to understand how we can pull the right levers in order to support the local economy’s requirements.”

Omicron stalled the growth of consumer-facing businesses in December, as manufacturers benefited from easing supply chain pressure, according to the Lloyds Bank UK Recovery Tracker. Despite headwinds that resulted in an overall slowing of the pace of the UK’s economic recovery, the total number of UK sectors monitored by the Tracker reporting output growth held steady month-on-month – with growth in 10 sectors in both December and November. Activity in the tourism and recreation sector – which includes pubs, hotels, restaurants and leisure facilities – contracted for the first time in nine months in December (43.2) as concern over the Omicron virus variant impacted consumer behaviour. A reading above 50 signals output is rising, while a reading below 50 indicates contraction. UK transportation – which includes airlines, hauliers and rail operators – experienced its first loss in momentum for four months, recording its weakest output growth since August 2021 (54.3). In contrast, three of the manufacturing sectors monitored by the Tracker registered a stronger month-on-month performance in December, supported by strong demand and easing supply chain pressures. This included manufacturers of household products, which saw output growth accelerate to the fastest rate since June 2021 (56.7 in December versus 52.2 in November), manufacturers of technology equipment (60.1 vs. 53.1) and industrial goods (52.2 vs. 50.0). Business capacity issues remain, with staffing a major concern The number of firms reporting an inability to meet demand due to staff or material shortages continued to ease from its peak in September 2021. However, the level  remained elevated relative to the long-term average. In December, the number of firms reporting rising backlogs due to staff or material shortages, was around five times the long term average, compared with September when it was over six times the long term average. According to the Tracker, UK companies were more likely to report capacity challenges stemming from staff shortages than counterparts in the Eurozone. The potential for the availability of qualified candidates to remain tight, and competition for talent to translate into further wage pressures could lead to high inflation in 2022 lasting for longer in the UK than in the Eurozone, even if supply chain pressures continue to ease. All of the fourteen UK sectors monitored by the Tracker reported rising input costs in December, with wages remaining a key driver of costs – particularly for service sector businesses. Overall, UK firms were 4.3 times more likely than the long-run average to report an increase in their wage bills as businesses sought to attract and retain skilled talent, up from 3.8 times in November. At the global level, the UK remained one of the countries with the largest gap between the Tracker’s input and prices indices – signalling more acute pressure on firms’ margins. In December, the gap between the UK indices registered 15.2 index points, the joint-second highest with Italy, as Spain registered 17.2, which is well above the global benchmark of 9.5. This could fuel inflationary risks if businesses look to alleviate margin pressures through future prices rises. Jeavon Lolay, head of economics and market insight at Lloyds Bank Commercial Banking, said: “While consumer-facing businesses, like those in travel and hospitality, unsurprisingly bore the brunt of consumer concern over the Omicron variant in December, the resilience shown in other service sectors and manufacturing helped soften the impact on the economy as a whole. “Further signs of optimism were evident in data showing supply chains slowly recovering and staff numbers rising in all sectors with the exception of tourism and recreation. “However, the cost backdrop remained acute as higher energy prices and wage bills pushed up firms’ expenses. It’s no surprise that an increasing number of firms plan to raise their prices in the year ahead, indicating rising and potentially sustained domestic inflationary pressure.”

New research from Grant Thornton UK LLP’s latest Business Outlook Tracker has revealed that, prior to the implementation of ‘Plan B’ and the return of work from home guidance, hybrid working was being adopted by many mid-market firms in the East Midlands, but some businesses were still facing challenges with its implementation. The survey of mid-sized businesses found that a hybrid working approach, where people split their time between working remotely and in an office, was the most common working practice in early December with 92% of the region’s businesses working this way. Despite more than nine out of ten businesses operating in this manner, 15% said that they were not yet finding it to be effective. The research identified that the main working style challenges for those respondents adopting a hybrid working approach are:

• Managing the work of more junior staff (46%)
• Loss of culture (46%)
• Mental wellbeing (37%)
• The provision of training remotely (37%)
• Having efficient technology (37%)

Hybrid and remote working, as well as the issues it can create, are likely to remain the norm for many businesses even after Boris Johnson scrapped the government’s work from home guidance earlier this week. Sue Knight, partner and practice leader at Grant Thornton UK LLP in the Midlands, said: “Since the pandemic started, many of us have seen a significant shift in our working patterns, with remote and hybrid working becoming the de facto norm. This has been especially evident in the East Midlands, with more than 90% of the region’s businesses adopting this approach. “There have been a lot of benefits that have come with this change for both companies and their employees, such as saving costs on reduced office space and achieving a better work-life balance. However, this transition has not been easy and there have been a number of challenges to overcome – challenges that many are still trying to find the answer to. “Making hybrid working effective takes time and commitment and right now every business is on the same learning curve, trying to find out how to make their people continue to feel connected and supported, wherever they are working. As we move into the New Year, businesses need to stay agile and open to evolving in order to ensure that hybrid working operates as effectively as possible for them, which could take the form of investing in new technology or finding new ways to train, organise and co-ordinate teams.”