Press Releases
Merely a third of Hungarian small businesses have web presence
Budapest, September 8, 2015 14:00
While e-commerce volumes grow by 20 percent each year, a significant number of Hungarian businesses do not even have a website. Most entrepreneurs are not aware that by now internet presence requires only a small investment, and quickly increases revenues, as well as may help cut costs, too, thus offer quick return.
While all studies show that an increasing part of commerce takes place over the internet, and more and more people seek information on the net, before making a purchase, calling a repair person or finding a service provider, most Hungarian entrepreneurs use the internet only for private purposes and not as a business tool. Though they could achieve more by establishing a website, the smallest Hungarian businesses do not seem to invest into their web presence.
„Even though small businesses see the added value of websites, they do not know the size of the required investment and how to start building a web presence. According to the latest findings of Bell Research 1 , 65% of Hungarian businesses do not have websites, which reflects what we experience among our own clients. The difference is clearly visible between micro businesses and companies with more than 10 employees. Currently, there are approximately 150,000 SMBs that are not present on the internet. Their revenues could also simply and quickly grow with the support of a good website,” says Magyar Telekom’s CCO SMB, Péter Lakatos.
The data of Bell Research show that the smaller a business is, the more likely it is that it does not have a website. It is especially interesting in light of the fact that most probably the owner of the business regularly turns to the internet when trying to locate a specialist or service provider, or striving to make a quicker, cheaper purchase for his or her private purposes. Though many entrepreneurs make business over smart phones and regularly use mobile net, most of them do not make any effort to establish an internet presence for their businesses. According to the data less than 20% of the 4800 medium businesses fail to have a web presence, while among the 211,000 small businesses, the corresponding figure is higher than 70%. All in all, less than 35% of Hungarian businesses have websites, while in the European Union, 64 percent do.
„I don’t know how much it would cost, that is why I don’t start building a site.” That is the explanation offered by most of the entrepreneurs asked about why they refuse to try. There are fewer who do not make an attempt to establish an internet presence for the reason that they are not sure that they could build a site at all, even though today’s solutions would enable them to create good websites or even webshops.
Less than ten percent of the businesses addressed by the study run webshops. According to the surveys, webshops are unpopular, as most people find their development expensive and overly complicated. Though, internet presence is not the privilege of small businesses anymore, but is rather inevitable in the life of any small business. That is a fact proven by the Hungarian retail statistics. In 2014, total volumes grew by five percent, and the value of online purchases increased by 22 percent. Even when making a traditional purchase, many customers check the available products and services, as well as compare prices on the internet first.
To those businesses that plan to make their debut on the internet in the near future, Magyar Telekom now offers a simple-to-use
service. Businesses can establish their web presence by a few clicks, using Telekom’s Webkönnyen application launched in September.
If they follow the instructions, available in Hungarian, they can quickly and simply create professional websites, combine,
arrange or rearrange trendy, thematic templates categorized by industries, and even change the design of their websites later
in a matter of moments, with no graphic designer or IT programmer skills required, and in a very cost effective manner.
The Webkönnyen solution provides full-scope online presence to micro, small and medium businesses. The service is available
for a monthly fee, not even loyalty commitment is required. More information and a free-of-charge demo version are accessible
on the
www.telekom.hu/webkonnyen page.