Why your small business should be online
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Abstract:
The article details the advantages that small-to-medium brands have by controlling their own online experience. While selling online can be done in any number of channels, from eBay to Amazon to Etsy to TikTok shop, owning and running your own site gives creators and brands the flexibility to control the experiences of their customers and reap the rewards.
Hypothesis:
In the modern era, running a small business demands a solid, eCommerce-first online presence. Local sales, word-of-mouth, even social selling isn't enough.
Required Lab Equipment:
- 1 local business
- 1 killer product line
- 1 website
- 1-6 social channels
- 1 trusted partner
Observations:
- Nearly three quarters of all customers check price and inventory online before they ever set foot in a store and more than half say that digital tools such as downloadable coupons and loyalty programs would encourage them to shop in-store [1]. Your online store is a driver for your high street store.
- The U.K. is a particularly online country, with nearly one-third of sales happening online [2]. This is triple its share a decade ago [3]. Meanwhile, local footfall is declining; retailers should expect more mission-based visits based on prior online research [4]. Your customers are already buying online-if not from you, from someone else.
- One-quarter of U.K. Shoppers buy from retailers abroad at least once per week [5]. Your competition is global, not local.
- The government has made getting U.K. small businesses online a priority [6]. When even the government catches onto a trend, you know it's here to stay.
Experimental results:
We all know the cliché: small businesses are the lifeblood of the economy. But just because it's a cliché doesn't mean it's not true. Over 800K businesses were incorporated in the United Kingdom last year alone [7], bringing creativity, novel ideas, and unique twists to the market and filling niches that the big guys can't or won't bother with and serving the needs of their local communities. But staying in that lane is limiting. An online presence expands your market beyond your local residents and lets you own the experience and harvest the profit.
In 2026, there are more ways to sell your product than ever before. Gone are the days of setting up a folding table or a little shop front, plastering flyers around your local area and calling it a day. Now there's TikTok shop. Etsy. eBay. Amazon. Instagram. And on and on. Many marketplaces exist in the online space, but all of them require giving up control, profit share, or both.
But above all these, there is one channel which provides the maximum benefits for brands and business owners: the OG eCommerce channel: your own website.
Owning and operating your own site gives you the flexibility of owning your own store, vs. selling via a big box retailer. You decide what to sell, how to sell it, what the imagery and look-and-feel should be and the overall experience your customers have with you.
Perhaps more importantly: it lets you keep more of the profit. You don't have to cut the big guys in for their share. They have enough private jets and yachts, they don't really need your contribution as well.
The good news: it's easier than ever to setup your own online shop. Buying a domain, setting up a basic storefront and email, accepting credit cards and even shipping your products is more and more of a turnkey operation.
The bad news: it's just as easy for everyone else, too. And there's so much to know, it can be hard to know where to start beyond setting up the site: social channels, digital marketing, CRM and email capture, logistics, returns and refunds: all are vital to ensuring your online business doesn't just exist but thrives profitably.
The world of selling online is more vital than ever, but also more expansive and confusing than ever. It's easier to get it started but harder to get it right.
Sources of error:
Where most businesses go wrong:
- Over-reliance on marketplaces: they always take a cut and you play by their rules
- Treating the website as a brochure: if you're already online and not selling, you're leaving money on the table
- No email capture: you know you've got a great product, so why not let them know when the next one comes out?
- No repeat purchase strategy: build customers for life not just "I happened to be passing by"
Conclusion:
For local businesses and other SMEs, selling online is not just a nice-to-have but a vital revenue stream to meet your customers where they are keep them away from your competition. But with this importance has come maturity and sprawl: there's more to know than ever and the unknown-unknowns can trip you up before you get out of the gate.
If you're a local business and don't have a revenue-generating website, you're leaving money on the digital table. A quick Quantised audit will help get you as focused as an electron microscope.
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