Grow your Business Online

Venda, PayPal and Webjam team up to help SMEs boost their online sales and presence

Online spending in the UK is set to reach £56bn by 2014 as the web defies the recession. 
For businesses to take advantage of this growth, Venda, the world’s largest on-Demand eCommerce provider, PayPal and Webjam are hosting a number of online seminars in partnership with nine Chambers of Commerce.

The practical demonstrations will show businesses/entrepreneurs how easy it is to start selling online, attract new customers and increase sales.  PayPal will be discussing how online payments can work for businesses and how using PayPal can increase sales, and Webjam will reveal how social networking and integrating with other social media applications like Facebook or Twitter can drive business forward.

Karen Herbert runs a small business in Ayrshire and recently launched her own online shop www.makeupandaccessories.co.uk.  Karen explains how her new online presence has helped develop her business:

“I wanted to make it easy for my existing clients to keep buying from me rather than looking for a competitor. I also wanted to expand my range, and to make that economic, I needed to attract a larger audience. Mostly I just wanted to stay a step ahead of the competition.

“Because the website looks so professional, I am attracting clients from further afield. It is an attractive shop front, which more than anything encourages people to browse through my products and the confidence to purchase. The greatest value has been the ease of use, and professional image without any real technical input from me at all.”

The first event is a seminar at the Sussex Chamber on the 17th September with the online webinars taking place during the week commencing the 24th September.

John Dunsmure, Managing Director of the British Chambers of Commerce, states:

“Businesses must now innovate even further to ensure they have a competitive edge whilst keeping costs down.  Trading online and an engaging web presence means they can achieve this whilst being able to sell to a worldwide audience and increase sales capabilities.”

Dan Wagner, Chairman and Founder of Venda (eCommerce solutions) adds:

“We identified that smaller businesses need and deserve the features, tools and business support that are required to transact successfully online. In a smaller organization, there will not be some of the specialist skills required to produce, maintain and enhance the online feature set. Venda can give them that at a fraction of the price. Our clients can concentrate on what they know: their Brand, Customers, Revenue, and Stakeholder Value; we support them with the required technology that is continually enhanced, and the services required every step of the way.  “Our clients receive a low risk eCommerce solution that frees up resources to devote to growing their customer base and top-line revenue.”

Cameron McLean of PayPal adds: “We’re seeing firms of all sizes using the internet to transform their business and we’re seeing very strong growth in e-commerce in the UK.   We know that many Britons believe that shopping online is more convenient than traditional shopping on the high street and in the current economic climate it is vital for businesses to adapt to and meet consumer demand.  Online sales are bucking the low sales high street trend and businesses should establish an online presence before they are left behind.  Creating an impressive ‘virtual shop’ is the way to stay ahead of the game.”

Yann Motte, Co-founder & CEO of Webjam adds:
“The way businesses interact with their clients has changed dramatically. They can no longer tell customers what to do and what to buy. They need to listen to what they say and what they need. Webjam helps businesses to do just that: Connect with their customers by providing them with easy and affordable tools to create their own website in which they can share content, build and grow a client community and use other tools like Facebook and Twitter.”

To book a place on the seminars, business owners should visit http://www.britishchambers.org.uk/vendaseminars

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About Venda
Venda delivers on-demand e-commerce to some of the world's leading retailers and manufacturers, including DeBeers, Crabtree & Evelyn, Sharp, Panasonic, Laura Ashley, Condé Nast, and Urban Outfitters.

The company's complete Software as a Service e-commerce platform combines flexibility, reliability and scalability with the operating advantages of an outsourced service. Multi-language and multi-currency capable, Venda's B2C, B2E and B2B solutions provide 'best of the web' capabilities to mid-tier and Fortune 1000 companies, giving them a complete service and support infrastructure on which to grow their business.
 
Venda allows customers to reduce the risk, complexity and cost associated with e-commerce, while empowering business users and delivering unprecedented ROI. With offices in New York, London and Bangkok, the Company is managed by a team of experienced e-commerce veterans.

About PayPal
PayPal is the faster, safer and easier way to pay and get paid online. PayPal stores your card and bank details, enabling you to pay online without entering your sensitive financial information every time you shop, and you can be confident that it is never shared with the seller. 

PayPal (Europe) S.àr.l. et Cie S.C.A. is a Luxembourg-based limited liability partnership, which is regulated by the Commission de Surveillance du Secteur Financier (‘CSSF') in Luxembourg. PayPal Inc is the ultimate parent of PayPal (Europe) S.àr.l. et Cie S.C.A. and is 100% owned by eBay Inc. PayPal Inc was set up in the US in December 1998 and acquired by eBay Inc in 2002.

• PayPal has 22 million accounts in the UK and is accepted on over 165,000 retailers’ websites across Europe
• PayPal’s 2008 full-year revenue was $2.38 billion, up 28 percent year over year
• PayPal’s net Total Payment Volume for 2008, the total value of transactions, was $60 billion, up 27 percent year over year
• PayPal’s Total Payment Volume in 2008 represented nearly 9 percent of global e-commerce and 15 percent of US e-commerce. (Based on Forrester estimates of US e-commerce with the addition of eBay Inc. internal metrics totaling $256B)

More information about the company can be found at www.paypal.co.uk or www.paypal.co.uk/press

About Webjam
Webjam helps companies to connect with their customers by providing them with an easy, affordable solution for social publishing and engagement. Our clients manage their own branded and customisable social media environment in which content is created and shared easily, communities grow naturally and social media networks integrate seamlessly.

Founded in 2006 and based in London, Webjam is a Guardian Tech Media 100™ company and its platform is being used across a variety of sectors, from the world’s largest media and directory companies, to consumer brands and professional organisations.   
 
For more information about Webjam, visit www.webjam.com/webjam/press/