Retail sales continue to decline, thanks to the recession and many traditional, independent shopkeepers are struggling.

That said, internet sales have grown by 25 per cent year on year in the last quarter, so there is something to be said for getting online, in tough times.

The problem is that most independent retailers lack the time, resources and know-how when it comes to getting an ecommerce website set up.

In the Isle of Man there are some examples of success.

Moore's Traditional Curers continue to do well with manxkippers.com and Croft Island Sea Farer and Post A Rose both have great ecommerce sites.
TheBestOf and isleofman.com both offer excellent services to help small companies to at least have a web presence, but for the most part, it's pretty difficult to 'shop local' online.

But now help is at hand thanks to a partnership between the Isle of Man Department of Trade and Industry and a leading European provider of ecommerce systems, Venda.

The idea is that retailers can get a state-of-the-art ebusiness website with a minimum of cost and hassle and no need for IT skills or knowledge.

It works for products, not services, and the DTI will link all the sites through a shopping directory, so that they are easy to find via search.

It will considerably reduce the costs usually associated with building and running a website.

Most retailers are not very knowledgeable about IT and the web and can wind up spending tens of thousands of pounds with specialist web designers.

Doing a website on the cheap brings the risk of having a badly designed site that doesn't work and no one can find.

'The retail sector is increasingly affected by the internet, both for direct sales and also for consumers to research products before visiting their selected shops,' said David Cretney, DTI minister.

'DTI is keen to help local independent retailers to make full use of the internet to protect and grow their businesses, both through local and, for some, international sales.'

A lot of top brands including the BBC, Superdrug and DeBeers depend on Venda as their ecommerce platform.

It comes with full SEO and online marketing features and is fully supported so retailers can focus on sales rather than on running a website.

One smaller retailer, UK-based Joanna's Jewells, quickly saw the benefits of using Venda for its site romanijewellry.com.

Proprietor Joanna Houstoun is an independent retailer selling jewellery, handmade for Romani in the Middle East.

She imports the jewellery which is set with authentic Roman Glass manufactured by the ancient Romans from 200 BC.

It's specialist stuff.

Even though she is not a techie, Joanna wanted to create a new point of sale for a UK-wide customer base and needed a website that she could manage herself so she could frequently update stock information on the fly.

'Up until now, word of mouth has been my best marketing tool and my network is enlarging.

'Unfortunately, I no longer have the time to travel to hold private sales,' explained Joanna Houstoun.

'As I already have a customer base, it was essential for me to give them the opportunity to buy online and update and change the selection of designs on a regular basis.

'My online shop was incredibly easy to set-up using Venda. I had only used the internet to browse and for email, but this solution enabled me to build my own online shop from scratch.

'Now all my customers can view and buy my jewellery from anywhere, and I can update my range and content easily so I never have to depend on a third party again.'

The Venda platform delivered a new online store for existing customers to purchase online and greatly reduced the need for requirement for one to one appointments. And romanijewellery.com extended awareness of the product line to a much wider market.

Joanna Houstoun said: 'I have already started to see an increase in revenue and the number of people who can see our selection of jewellery is far more than I could ever have achieved before I built my own online shop.'

The DTI says that this new offer will not only help Island retailers get online, but will also generate a considerable amount of work for supporting service providers, such as web and branding design, web services, online marketing, copywriting and photography. (And hopefully online PR!)

My view is that this initiative is win/win/win. Retailers will get a cost-effective, easy to maintain online shop window, local people can shop local more easily, and those further afield can get access to products in the Isle of Man.


>> Sherrilynne Starkie is the managing partner of Strive Public Relations, a strategic communications consultancy serving the Isle of Man. Visit her business blog, www.strivepr.com/notes or follow her on twitter.com/sherrilynne