To help small businesses become more successful online, whether it be winning new customers or driving sales, 123-reg wanted to understand how British adults feel about small business websites. What were we looking to answer? Why do customers choose to buy from small businesses over big businesses? What are a small businesses greatest strengths? Are these strengths reflected in their digital activity? How can small businesses improve their current digital activity to win customers and drive sales? Can digital personalisation of a website drive revenue?

1. Closing the digital
personalisation gap
#personalisetheweb

2. To help small businesses become more successful online, whether it be
winning new customers or driving sales, 123-reg wanted to understand how
British adults feel about small business websites.
Why did 123-reg complete this research?
“Our goal is to help our
customers grow their business
online. We commissioned this
research to share how
personalisation can help
businesses drive sales”
Kate Cox, CMO, 123-reg
What were we looking to answer?
 Why do customers choose to buy from
small businesses over big businesses?
 What are a small businesses greatest
strengths?
 Are these strengths reflected in their digital
activity?
 How can small businesses improve their
current digital activity to win customers and
drive sales?
 Can digital personalisation of a website
drive revenue?

3. Research partners
To understand the relative
strengths of small and large
businesses on and offline,
YouGov were chosen for their
robust research methodology and
objective reporting of results.
In order to understand the
behavioural influences impacting
website sales, 123-reg partnered
with Behavioural Scientist, Patrick
Fagan to define and run a live
experiment.
Patrick Fagan
Behavioural Scientist &
Author
We commissioned two research partners to help us investigate how
customers perceive small and large businesses on and offline.

4. This survey was conducted using an online interview administered to members of the
YouGov Plc GB panel of 350,000+ individuals who have agreed to take part in surveys.
Emails are sent to panellists selected at random from the base sample. The e-mail
invites them to take part in a survey and provides a generic survey link. Once a panel
member clicks on the link they are sent to the survey that they are most required for,
according to the sample definition and quotas.
The responding sample is weighted to the profile of the sample definition to provide a
representative reporting sample. The profile is normally derived from census data or, if
not available from the census, from industry accepted data.
Total sample size was 2052 adults of which, 1,861 have ever purchased items online
from a business’ website. Fieldwork was undertaken between 22nd - 23rd October 2015.
The survey was carried out online. The figures have been weighted and are
representative of all GB adults (aged 18+).
YouGov survey

5. Experiment methodology
A sample of online British respondents (N=567) were recruited through panel provider
Research Now. The sample was 55.4% male with ages ranging from 18 to 87. The
online survey was completed in October 2015.
On average, participants shopped online 2.0 times a week and visited small
businesses’ websites 1.0 times a week.
Participants were shown an illustrative small business website - a local restaurant -
mocked up especially for this study.
Participants randomly viewed one of six versions of the site according to its degree of
personalisation (i.e. experiential personalisation, user-driven personalisation, or no
personalisation).
Participant numbers were approximately equally divided among the six conditions.

6. Experiment methodology
Definition of User
Driven
Personalisation
Websites using personal
information (e.g. name,
product preferences) to
recommend items to you
(e.g. recommendations
based on previously
viewed or purchased
items)
User-driven personalisation was achieved by personalising the site using information
participants had submitted previously (e.g. welcoming users by name, customising
product recommendations to their purchase preferences)

7. Experiment methodology
Definition of
Experiential
Personalisation
Websites using data
about your visit (e.g. time
of day, location) to show
you specific things (e.g.
easier to use sites for
mobile users, local
recommendations)
Experiential personalisation used meta-data automatically recorded about users (e.g.
showing how long was left until the business closed, showing how far away the
businesses was, customising product recommendations to the day or time).

8. Participants viewed another illustrative site, this time comprising a screenshot of an
existing grocer’s website. Participants were randomly assigned to view the website of
either a small businesses, C.A. Belcher & Son, a local grocer in Reading (N=328), or a
large business, Tesco (N=239).
Experiment methodology

9. For each of the three websites, the following measures were recorded
Experiment methodology
Purchase Intention
As a measure of purchase
intent for the site,
participants answered
“No”, “Maybe” or “Yes” to
the question, “If you could
easily do so, would you buy
[product/service] from
[name of website]”.
Product Quality
Participants used a sliding
scale from 0 (“Worst”) to
100 (“Best”) to respond to
the question, “How would
you rate the quality of the
[product] sold?”
Website Evaluation
Participants used a sliding
scale from 0 (“:(“) to 100
(“:)”) to respond to, “What
is your reaction to the
website?”
Trust
Participants used the same
scale to respond to five
items about the website,
taken from Bart et al.
(2005), and indicate how
much they trusted it - an
example item being “This
website appears to be more
trustworthy than others I
have visited”.
Behavioural Intent
The agreement scale was
again used for five items,
additionally taken from
Bart et al. (2005), as a
measure of behavioural
intent for the site. An
example statement is “I
would recommend this
website to a friend who
was looking for a
[product/service] in this
area”.
Liking
The same agreement scale
was used to measure
responses to five
statements created anew
for this study - an example
item being “I like this
website”.
Empathy
A 5-point scale ranging
from 1 (“Strongly
Disagree”) to 5 (“Strongly
Agree”) was used to gauge
agreement to 15 items
adapted from Shen’s state
empathy scale for
messages (2010) to fit
website responses. An
example item is “I can
identify with the company”.
Browsing Behaviours
While participants were
browsing the sites, their
behaviour was
automatically recorded,
resulting in the following
browsing metrics: total
dwell time on the site,
number of pages visited,
number of key presses and
number of mouse clicks.

10. Closing the digital personalisation gap
The results
#PersonaliseTheWeb

11. “Our research conclusively
confirmed what we all instinctively
know – that Britons value small
businesses highly for their
personal service offline, ahead of
larger businesses ”
Kate Cox, CMO, 123-reg
Small business are special

12. Over half of British adults
(56%) say that “the
personal service they offer
is a benefit of buying in
store from small
businesses”
You Gov
Small businesses are
special
71% of British adults who
ever purchase items online
from a businesses’ website
agree that “offline, small
businesses provide a more
personal service than big
businesses”
You Gov
The online YouGov research supports previous studies showing that British
adults see small businesses offer a far more personal service offline
Only 3% disagreed that
“offline, small businesses
provide a more personal
service than big businesses”
You Gov

13. Small businesses are
special
Qualitative data drawn from the experiment showed that people think small
businesses offer a friendly, personal service offline.
A word cloud was
created using
open-ended
responses to the
question,
“Thinking about
shopping
offline/in person,
what do you like
about shopping
with local
businesses?
What do they
provide that big
brands cannot?”

14. Presenting a
friendly face
Staff are attentive
to me personally
Good relationship
with staff
Knowing/remem
bering who I am
and what I like
Cares
about me
Community to
interact with
Fun/engaging to
shop with
Recommendations
based on past
purchases
Experiment participants believed that small businesses performed better on
eight out of twelve offline attributes. These were:
52% felt that small
businesses are better at
presenting a friendly face
52% felt that small business
staff are more personally
attentive
46% felt that they have better
relationships with the staff of small
businesses
Small businesses are
special

15. “Online the picture is the exact
opposite to the offline situation,
where people actually trust in and
empathise more with large business
websites rather than small
businesses”
Kate Cox, CMO, 123-reg
Brits prefer big business websites

16. Only 7% disagree that large
business websites featured
better personalisation
You Gov
Brits prefer big business
websites
In the online survey, British adults consistently express a preference for big
business websites over small, citing better personalisation as a difference
between the two
“59% British adults who ever
purchase items online from
a business’ website feel
large business websites are
generally better than small
business websites. This
rises to 78% for 18-24 year
olds”.
You Gov
When purchasing items
directly from a businesses’
website, almost a quarter of
all Brits (23%) prefer to buy
items from big businesses’
websites than small
businesses’. This rises to
45% of those aged 18-24.
You Gov

17. A fat and reliable
service
Large businesses perform better on 14 out of 22 website attributes tested. Big
businesses excel in usability, social functions, and information quality (including
personalisation).
Brits prefer big business websites
 Product reviews or rating from
other shoppers
 Product recommendations based
on personal information
 Looking after my personal data
 Product recommendation based
on past purchases
 Easy to use / clear navigation
 A fast and reliable service
 Showing me what my social
networking friends like or buy
 Website design is suited to my
device (e.g.PC versus smarthphone)
 Letting me like, share or
comment on products or
information
 No error or crashing
 Working links
 Knowing / remembering who I am
and what I like
 Helps me to find / buy what I
want
 Site information customised to
me (e.g. time of day and location)

18. Closing the digital personalisation gap
“Personalisation of a site significantly affected
people’s trust and empathy with the business
which in turn directly translated into purchase
and behavioural intent”
Patrick Fagan, Brainchimp

19. YouGov survey highlights disconnect
between small business online and
offline personal service
71% of British adults who ever purchase
items from a business’ website agree that
“offline, small businesses provide a more
personal service than big businesses” yet
nearly half (48%) believe “big businesses
websites feature better personalisation”
YouGov

20. User-driven - websites using personal information
(e.g. name, product preferences) to recommend
items to you (e.g. recommendations based on
previously viewed or purchased items)
Experiential - websites using data about your visit
(e.g. time of day, location etc.) to show you specific
things (e.g. easier to use sites for mobile users, local
recommendations etc.)
Social - websites linked with social networks (e.g.
Facebook, Twitter etc.) to show you what your
friends have purchased or allow you to share
purchases with your social networks (e.g.
recommendations based on friends' ratings)
Closing the digital personalisation gap
Brits want to see personalisation on websites
7%
5%
4%
37%
25%
15%
24%
30%
23%
22%
28%
50%
10%
13%
9%
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%
Value a lot
Value a bit
Don't value very much
Don't value at all
Don't know
The YouGov survey showed that the British online audience have truly embraced
personalisation, with many British adults online who ever purchase items from a
business’ website valuing some form of personalisation on a website.

21. increased purchase intentions by 39% behavioural intentions by 17%
These increases were shown to be driven by increases in trust (10%)
and empathy (6%), as well as general responses to the site (9%).
The experiment revealed, a big business’s website, when compared to that
of a small business performs better in driving purchase intentions and
behavioural intentions. These findings were found despite no significant
difference in perceived product quality.
Closing the digital personalisation gap
Big business websites drive purchase and behavioural
intent better than small business

22. “Whereas many large businesses
have successfully added
experiential personalisation to
their web activity, few small
businesses have done so given
the historical high costs and
complexity.
Simpler and lower cost
personalisation tools therefore
represent an opportunity for small
businesses to increase sales”
Kate Cox, CMO, 123-reg
Small businesses could almost half lost sales opportunities
by introducing experiential personalisation on their
websites
The experiment showed that the
proportion of respondent who
disagree with the statement "I
would purchase an item at this
website” fell from 52% to 29%
Closing the digital personalisation gap

23. Small businesses could double return visits by introducing
personalisation on their website
The experiment showed that the
proportion who wouldn't revisit the
website was halved through user
driven personalisation (proportion
who disagree with the statement “I
would visit this website again, or
browse more” of it fell from 35% to
17%)
“The YouGov study showed
that 48% of British adults
cited “Knowing who I am
and what I like” as an
attribute small businesses
are better at than big
businesses offline. So it
makes sense that reflecting
this style of service in the
online domain should
deliver good results, given
that is is clearly playing to a
small businesses strength”
Richard Winslow 123-reg
Closing the digital personalisation gap

24. The experiment showed that large
business websites that scored highly on
purchase and behavioural intent were
also rated highly for empathy and trust.
Trust and empathy for small business
websites also scored lower on purchase
and behavioural intent.
The experiment therefore showed a
causal relationship between trust and
empathy online, and behavioural and
purchase intent.
“Given the evidence that small
businesses are rated better
than large businesses for
empathy and trust offline (only
9% don’t trust small
businesses more than large
businesses YouGov), there
appears to be an empathy and
trust gap between small
businesses online and offline
activity.
Focusing web activity that
closes this gap is therefore a
clear opportunity for small
businesses.”
Kate Cox, CMO, 123-reg
Trust and empathy online drive purchase and behavioural
intent
Closing the digital personalisation gap

25. The experiment showed that applying
personalisation to a small business
website drove significant gains in
empathy and trust, and a
corresponding significant or near
significant increase in purchase and
behavioural intent.
The experiment therefore showed that
by applying digital personalisation to a
website trust and empathy online can
be increased, and therefore purchase
and behavioural intent.
“Applying personalisation to a
website drives trust and
empathy, which in turn drives
purchase and behavioural
intent. So, digital
personalisation closes the
trust and empathy gap
between small businesses
online and offline activity”
Patrick Fagan, BrainChimp
Applying digital personalisation to a small business website
drives trust and empathy
Closing the digital personalisation gap

26. Closing the digital personalisation gap
BEHAVIOURAL
INTENT
PURCHASE INTENT
TRUST
EMPATHY
Increases
in…
Providing site information customised to me
(e.g. time of day, location etc.)
Knowing/ remembering who I am and what I like
Having a nice/ appealing design
Making product recommendations based on past purchases
Helping me find/ buy what I want
Looking after my personal data securely
Providing websites that are suited to my device or
platform (e.g. PC versus smartphone)
Providing websites that are error free
(e.g. working links, doesn't crash etc.)
Being easy to use/ having clear navigation
Having product reviews or ratings from other shoppers
Improving these attributes
valued most highly on large
business sites
Closing the trust and empathy gap
Leads to
increase
in…

27. What can small
businesses learn from
these findings?

28.  Personal service offline is a primary reason people choose to buy
from a small business
 Most people believe large business websites score better than small
businesses around key areas such as personalisation
 Personalisation when applied to a website drives purchase and
behavioural intent
 Many people would prefer to buy from a small business online if their
website experience was better
 Small businesses that personalise and improve their customers’
website experience have the potential to significantly increase online
customers and sales
Digital personalisation helps small businesses
drives sales

29. “The live experiment showed that by
introducing personalisation to their site small
businesses can play to their offline personal
service strengths, with the potential to nearly
half lost sales or double return site visits. This
represents a real opportunity for businesses to
simply and at low cost significantly improve the
performance of their digital activity”
Kate Cox, CMO, 123-reg.

30. “We want to help SMEs to increase their
business performance online and have
focused on developing practical and easy to
use tools to enable our customers to compete
more successfully online. 123-reg’s new
website builder seeks to respond to this need
by allowing users to quickly construct
personalised websites using responsive
design.”
Matt Barry, COO Mass Hosting, 123-reg.