Shift to online as small businesses adapt to new normal

Since the outbreak of the Coronavirus in the UK – one in seven small business owners have said they are transitioning more of their enterprises activity to operate online.

Our Business Barometer research showed that the percentage of small businesses that are offering services online has increased by more than 50% since the nationwide lockdown began.

Retail (43%), IT & Telecoms (40%) and media (40%) were the sectors that were most prepared to set up for online operations before the pandemic struck. Education (29%), health (22%) and finance and accounting (21%) were the sectors where small business owners transitioned their ventures online most urgently.

Are regions different?

The East of England (33%) and Scotland (29%) have the highest proportion of small businesses that currently operate online, which in part may be linked to their more rural location.

(The research was conducted by YouGov among a representative sample of 1,266 small business decision makes in April 2020 spanning industry sectors).