Sage Blog

At the start of June we were finally able to launch our e-Business Benchmark report- a study of views and opinions of over 2000 online businesses currently operating in the UK.

Sage Pay's Amy Monro

For months, we’ve been compiling the views and opinions of online retailers to uncover what makes an e-commerce business successful – from attracting people to their sites through to delivering the goods.  And our report is now here!  It covers marketing, influencing a purchase, making it easy for people to pay and security and fraud, combining statistics and case studies from real businesses. Plus, valuable insights from e-commerce professionals including Graze.com, Hawes & Curtis, and Ethicalsuperstore.com.

So what did we find out?

Well, that the internet is awash with window shoppers.  We found that only 7% of those that visit a shop online actually commit to making a purchase.  Flitting from site to site, it takes a lot to entice today’s shoppers!  We all know that even when we have a full shopping basket, it doesn’t necessarily mean we will end up buying.  So why is this?  It seems to me that there are two sides to success in converting sales, the emotional and the technical. If you are running an online business you will need a mixture of the two to ensure you’re not losing customers at the crucial stages.

Getting the balance right

The modern shopper often looks for emotional reassurance from a positive review, an accessible security policy, a special offer to make it more affordable or inexpensive delivery options.  These factors support and encourage your shopper through the process. It’s what helps to differentiate you from your competitors and after all, an alternative is just a click away, so it’s important to get this bit right.

E-business Benchmarking Report

Once the shopper has filled their basket, the real checkout process begins and this is where the technical reassurances come in.  Factors such as customised payment pages and a seamless checkout go a long way to position a company as ‘reputable’ and continue to build the customers trust.

Equally, so do the types of payments you accept.  As well as the usual card types, if you’re selling high-value goods, for example, you might want to consider offering Amex.  But if you’re targeting the younger generation, PayPal e-wallet might be an option.  These are crucial elements as there are very few environments today where you hand over your money before receiving the goods.

So whether you’re an online trader or just simply an avid online shopper, we’d like to know about your emotional and technical reassurance factors…

Download the E-Business Benchmark Report today

Contact us at marketing@sagepay.com

Amy Monro, Sage Pay

It’s been a tough few years for the accountancy industry. And the toll taken by the recession has had very direct consequences for us all.

In an effort to cope with the economic downturn, we all know that many firms have had to freeze or even cut salaries, with some asking staff to accept reduced working or conditions in a bid to increase efficiency and minimise redundancies.

Steve Porter, Sage Accountants' Division

But now, as tentative recovery begins, accountants are starting to ask when they’ll be rewarded for their loyalty – and those personnel who settled for less will soon be asking for more.

So will they be successful? And will firms face even more difficult decisions in the months to come as a result of previous cost cutting?

What will the effect of the recession have on current staff whose careers have halted during the downturn and how will the new raft of summer graduates find their way in this changing landscape? One thing is for sure, there is no shortage of young people wishing to join the profession.

Almost 10% of all UK university leavers currently pursue a career in accountancy in some shape or form. The vast majority of these still enter the ‘big four’ firms – KMPG, Ernst and Young, PriceWaterhouseCoopers and Deloitte & Touche.

Although there is a small decline – the number of qualified workers employed by the top 50 firms has fallen by about 3,000 or about 5% over the past year – this means there are still almost 57,000 accountants working in the UK.

Access to such a large talent pool has been part of the problem. Having such a large number of staff and graduates to choose from means that in recent years employers have been able to offer reduced salaries as people compete for jobs.

In turn, new joiners have found themselves having to lower their pay expectations, sacrificing financial gain in return for job security.

Those already in position when the recession began have seen salaries frozen or hours shortened. And the introduction of four-day working weeks and optional extended leave have also been seen across the sector, as part of a longer-term strategy to stave off redundancies. Other smaller firms have laid off management staff and replaced them with less experienced, cheaper graduate recruits.

While this type of cost cutting might work well in the short-term, industry experts warn it could prove costly in the long run.

Although it could be argued that having such a large pool of talent to choose from means it is possible to secure strong candidates at reasonable rates, the departure rate of staff in such an environment is likely to be high.

If firms continue to offer non-competitive salaries even when the economic climate begins to improve, personnel will move on – wasting money and time spent on training and career guidance.

With this in mind, firms are urged to resist cutting training in a push to reduce costs.  Some argue that companies who don’t train their staff are far more likely to have problems later on – that those who invest in developing the talents of their employees are much better placed to weather tough times.

In some of the larger companies employers are offering accountancy professionals salaries that will not entice people to move, and those people who do move are more likely to do so with reluctance or because they feel they have no choice.

In order for employers to find and retain the most talented candidates on the market, there needs to be some change in the way they attract talent. Going on the understanding that people will be happy just to have a job isn’t feasible for the future, and there must be more forward thinking in the market.

As soon as there is evidence of an upturn, there will be huge unrest in the market if employees do not feel suitably engaged with employers or feel that they are not gaining enough recognition for their work. And unless comprehensive succession plans are in place, companies may not be prepared for a loss of skills and people when the market moves on.

So as the economic climate continues to change, how we attract, retain and reward staff looks set to be a talking point for some time to come.

Steve Porter, Sage Accountants’ Division

With the World Cup fast approaching many people are looking forward to watching some of the world’s best footballers in action. But with a lot of the early matches taking place during the day time and the opportunity to stream games on your computer live for the first time, there are concerns that it could create a serious drain on productivity in the workplace as well as internet bandwidth. It has been reported that two million employees in London alone are expected to tune into matches during work hours.

Planning for every eventuality

It has been well documented in the past that employee sickness levels often rise during key sporting events, so every business, regardless of size, must accept that the World Cup could potentially impact their business and contingency plans should be put in place. However, it was encouraging to see from research conducted amongst our own 800,000 customer base that only one in ten businesses (10.7%) are expecting the World Cup to lead directly to absenteeism.

Taking the appropriate steps

There are a number of measures that employers can take to ensure productivity levels remain high around the World Cup and if handled considerately firms can use the event as a great way to build morale and ensure employee satisfaction.

The Sage Omnibus conducted amongst 1,500 SMEs, showed that many small businesses are planning to adopt different working practices during the tournament. Twelve percent of SMEs will be setting up a TV in the office, 6% changing their working pattern and 2% are allowing staff to work from home during this period.

Top tips for improving staff morale during the World Cup

• Be flexible – By allowing staff to have flexibility over their hours is one way that employees are able to watch specific games. Staff may choose to start early, or finish late, to make up the hours taken or even swap shifts but as long as this has been agreed in advance the company should not suffer as a result.
• Screen games at work –  As long as the business owns a valid TV license, on-site viewing is a great way to increase staff morale.
• Allow the matches to be watched online –  Have clear procedures in place which outline the company’s stance on watching games online. By knowing in advance how many employees will be streaming live games on their computers, the firm can best monitor their bandwidth and ensure their business continues to run smoothly throughout the tournament.

No one wants to miss a rampaging run from Rooney or a dazzling goal from Terry and by taking a proactive approach, companies can enable employees to follow the tournament while maintaining productivity and boosting morale.

For loads more tips to help you manage your people check out our free guide.

Cath Sheldon, Sage Brand Marketing Team

There are a lot of things people don’t know about us here at Sage.  Working here for 11 years, I’m continuously learning new things about this place. For example, did you know that one of the founders of Sage was previously one of the four key navigators for the first Apollo mission to land on the moon? And the name Sage was inspired by a herb poster in a pub! We could have so easily been Thyme – although it doesn’t quite have the same ring.

Graeme Edwards, Sage Mid Market Division

Today we are the only FTSE 100 company in the North East, but something else that a lot of people aren’t aware of is our presence in mid-market as well as small business software. In fact, a third of the FTSE 100 uses Sage software to run their business.

Another interesting stat: every postcode area in the UK has a business using a Sage mid market software solution….

We have kept these kind of things quiet so far, but that’s all going to change…

Last week we’ve launched our “All business, not just small business” marketing campaign to support our presence in this part of the market and change perceptions that we are not just an market leader in the small business space but we are also market leading in the enterprise space too.

Apart from the awareness campaign, there’s lots more going on and coming later in the year are many exciting product launches for larger companies. We’ve also strengthened our leadership team with the appointment of General Managers Bob Anderson and Carlene Jackson in our focused ERP and CRM units.

We hope these strategic hires will help to ensure we are even better placed to meet the more complex business requirements of larger organisations and support the needs of our 20,500 mid-market customers.

Graeme Edwards, Head of Commercial Marketing, Sage Mid Market Division

It’s that time of the year again when we publish our Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) report and it always reminds me just how much we’ve achieved and what great activities happened last year across the business. It’s been another hectic twelve months for the CSR team but we wouldn’t have it any other way.

Leigh Thompson, Sage's CSR Consultant

Here at Sage, we believe that being a responsible business and committing to Corporate Social Responsibility isn’t just about giving money away and getting involved in loads of stuff (although we know this helps sometimes).

Actually, what we really care about is doing the right things, at the right time, in the right way, and that acting responsibly isn’t something we just talk about or do from time to time, it’s a way of life.

Our CSR activity covers our approach to getting greener, engaging our people and treating them in the right way, learning and development, our focus on customers and suppliers as well as community commitment and charitable donations, so there’s a lot going on!

As part of my role, I get out into the community and speak to businesses, small and large, about their own CSR activity, so we can learn from them, and hopefully help them by sharing what we know too.

As well as spreading the CSR word externally, it’s really important  to engage our people. In many organisations, like ours, they’re the power behind your CSR efforts. All you need to do is involve them in decisions where you can, let them know what you’re doing, and how they can get involved.

So whether they’re helping us to support charitable events, volunteering in the community, coming up with new ways to be ‘greener’ or living and breathing our guiding principles of simplicity, agility, innovation, trust and integrity, it’s our people who put our responsibilities into action.

Leigh Thompson, Sage CSR Consultant