Local journalists offered free advice on ecommerce in new report

This article was migrated from an old version of our website in 2025. As a result, it might have some low-quality images or non-functioning links - if there's any issues you'd like to see fixed, get in touch with us at info@journalism.co.uk.

Digital publishing and training group Econsultancy will give local journalists free access to its latest research on selling online. The report 'Start selling online' , which otherwise costs £150, is aimed at small businesses and written by ecommerce consultant Trevor Ginn. It covers how to set up an ecommerce website or section of your site; how to build a team to run an ecommerce project; as well as how to decide what to sell and how to sell it.

"Many tens of thousands of businesses could sell online but don't. So we devised a guide that shows them how to do it, and how to do it quickly. It's not technical, it's not scary, and it will help SMEs to expand their markets/sales," Chris Lake, editor in chief, told Journalism.co.uk.

Experts have predicted that consumers will spend £78 billion online in 2010, the report says. But in a study of 66 local UK newspapers conducted last year, director of the journalism leaders programme at the University of Central Lancashire Francois Nel found that ecommerce and online retail played only a limited part in the business models of local newspapers publishers in the UK.

By making the report available for free to local journalists, Lake hopes Econsultancy will help them understand how basic principles of ecommerce could be applied in their own newsrooms. Journalists reporting on retail and ecommerce will also be able to benefit from the research, he said.

Journalists can apply for a copy by emailing Econsultancy with their details.