Cash in on the Christmas rush

New research from the Interactive Media in Retail Group (IMRG) has predicted that consumers will spend £5 billion online this Christmas, a rise of 40% on the amount spent online in November and December last year.

(PRWEB) November 27, 2005 -- New research from the Interactive Media in Retail Group (IMRG) has predicted that consumers will spend £5 billion online this Christmas, a rise of 40% on the amount spent online in November and December last year.

This is an increase reflected by the North East Regional Portal (TNERP) which has seen the growth of its online shopping mall, n-e-shopping.com, take the region by storm.

An example of this online success is CDx Ltd, a medical product testing company based in Sunderland. The company launched a a revolutionary talking blood glucose meter for visually impaired diabetics, via the shopping mall and took over £4,500 in trading in the first month alone.

Recent additions to the shopping mall include Ross's Pickles, Best Kept Secrets, Mfuko, Rezonate, and Chevstar Records, and many more in the pipeline.

As part of its regional eBusiness programmer, The North East Regional Portal can now provide retailers with an online shop on the Internet-based Shopping Mall, completely free of any set-up charges.

Norma Foster, TNERP chief executive, says: “the new statistics demonstrate how important it is for retailers to have an online presence, and by setting up now means that they can be up and running in time for the Christmas rush.

“The purpose of the mall is to allow merchants to sell goods online at low risk and low outlay. They get a website created by our design team with full e-commerce facilities to trade online without any up-front investment or risk. We handle all the administration work and financial transactions and make payments to merchants within 10 working days.

“In addition, merchants don't need any technical skills or a current website, as we provide all training support for free.”

She continues: “A major benefit of promoting their products via the shopping mall is the high levels of visitors that the Regional Portal already attracts.

The Portal receives over 80,000 visits each month and our content is also published by Google news, exposing our shopping mall to a worldwide audience.”

All businesses in the region can also have a free entry in the Portal’s online directory.

Norma explains: ”This service aims to push n-e-life.com traffic towards a business’s main website, and complement your online presence and activities. The directory is easy to set up, simply visit www.n-e-life.com/forbusiness and select Free Mini Website from the menu.”

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